Union County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Union County: 0.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the county boundary (or inside the county).
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Mar 1, 1998Flood, Union$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Total flooding related to El Nino, More than 2800 homes and more than 175 businesses destroyed.

2. Feb 6, 2020High Wind, Union$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tree was blown down onto a small home which caused major damage about 2 miles WSW of Lake Butler. No injuries reported. There were widespread wind gusts of 40-50 mph that afternoon ahead of a potent squall line. The cost of damage was unknown but it was estimated for inclusion in Storm Data.

3. Mar 30, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two barns damaged. One home damaged. Two cows dead.

4. Jun 3, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roof blown off mobile home. Large trees and power lines were blown down.

5. Jun 28, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Suwannee county 911 call center reported a tree fell onto a power line which then caused the power line pole to fall onto a residence at 4555 west state road 238. Fire rescue responded and there were no injuries or structure fire. The time of damage was based on radar imagery.

6. Mar 29, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large trees and power lines were blown down. Two mobile homes damaged. More than one half of the county was without power.

7. Jul 19, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Barn damaged. Large trees and power lines were blown down.

8. Apr 28, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$8,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large trees and power lines were blown down. One vehicle was also damaged.

9. Jun 11, 2001Tornado$4,500
   National Weather Service narrative

   Weak FO tornado. Large trees and power lines were blown down.

10. Jul 9, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$3,500
    National Weather Service narrative

    Large trees were blown down along SR-231.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

103°FJun 15, 2011

All-time low

10°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

81°FSep 16, 2018

Coldest day

29°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

6.95 inJun 24, 2012

Hottest year

2019mean 72.2°F

Coldest year

1963mean 67.5°F

Wettest year

201771.31 in

Driest year

201133.38 in

Station Gainesville Regional Airport (USW00012816), 133 ft elevation, 22.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1960 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

Neighbouring counties

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00012816.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.