Barrow County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Barrow 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.

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.

River crests

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 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.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

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. Jul 26, 2012Lightning$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A historic church, built in 1904, was completely destroyed by a lightning strike and resulting fire at 71 West Candler Street. The church was the oldest in Winder and had recently undergone over $700,000 worth of restoration and renovation, with only $10,000 left of repairs to go before it was fully restored. As it was, the historic church was worth millions. Firefighters were able to contain the blaze to the church alone, although other homes along the block were evacuated as a precaution.

2. Feb 21, 2005Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous reports of large hail were received from the Barrow County Emergency Management Director, the 911 center, and the public. Most of the hail fell within a narrow area along and near Georgia Highway 211 in the northwest part of the county from near its intersection with Interstate 85 to the city of County Line. The hail accumulated to a significant depth and still reported to be covering the roads several hours after the storm had passed.

3. Jan 22, 2000Ice Storm, Barrow$980,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wintry precipitation plagued the northern third of Georgia beginning Saturday and continued into Sunday. A shallow cold airmass with single-digit dewpoint temperatures was in place over north Georgia, with temperatures in the upper 20s to lower 30s over much of the area. An upper level disturbance moved rapidly over the area in a fast zonal flow, bringing an increase in mid-tropospheric moisture. At the same time, lower level moisture spread into the area from the Gulf of Mexico. Precipitation began falling into the colder layer of air near the surface by mid-morning on the 22nd. The mixture of light rain, snow and sleet had spread from northwest to northeast Georgia by early…

4. Apr 23, 2009Hail$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public observed quarter to golf ball-sized hail in the far western part of Barrow county, especially in the Auburn area. They reported that it hailed for up to 10 minutes in the Auburn area. The public also reported nickel-sized hail in the Bethlehem area.

5. Apr 10, 2009Hail$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Barrow County 911 Center reported golf ball-sized hail in the Winder area.

6. Jul 22, 2008Hail$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two separate embedded thunderstorms, less than 10 miles apart, produced large hail. The public observed golf ball-sized hail in the Thompsons Mill/Braselton area, while several reports of penny-sized hail were received from the public in the far western and northwestern part of the county near the Gwinnett county line in the Auburn and Carl areas.

7. Mar 15, 2008Hail$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An amateur radio operator reported penny golf ball-sized hail from the Winder area. Most of the hail was penny size.

8. Jul 4, 2004Lightning$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that lightning struck the Holsenbeck Elementary School causing extensive damage to the media center and the administrative offices. Heat from the fire also burst a large pipe causing flooding in the school as well.

9. Sep 7, 2004High Wind, Barrow$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High wind damage, associated with Tropical Storm Frances, is listed below, in alphabetical order by county for those counties that "high wind" criteria was either met or assumed to be met.Baldwin: The Georgia Emergency Management Agency reported that extensive and widespread wind damage was observed. Many trees and power lines were down throughout the county and many parts of the county were expected to be without power for up to four days as a result. In addition, four homes suffered major damage and five suffered minor damage. One man was injured and taken to a local hospital when a tree fell on his mobile home. Four to five inches of rain was also reported throughout the…

10. Aug 23, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The Barrow County Emergency Manager reported that nine trees were blown down, and two of them on houses. One of the trees on a house was on Nunnally Road, and the other on Soloman Drive. A resident on Nunnally Road had minor injuries, and the Red Cross was called for the Soloman Drive residence.

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

109°FJun 29, 2012

All-time low

−4°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

79°F4 times, most recently Aug 11, 2007

Coldest day

18°FJan 30, 1966

Wettest day

9.93 inJun 4, 1967

Snowiest day

8.7 inMar 24, 1983

Hottest year

2016mean 65.0°F

Coldest year

1968mean 59.7°F

Wettest year

196471.39 in

Driest year

195428.61 in

Snowiest season

10.6 in1982-83

Station Athens Ben Epps Airport (USW00013873), 784 ft elevation, 23.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1944 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00013873.
• 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.