Charlton County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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. Oct 7, 1996Flash Flood$160,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains... more than 7 inches from a Nor'easter and Tropical Storm Josephine caused flooding across the entire county. The flooding closed Highway 40 between Folkston and Kingsland and destroyed six homes near the St. Marys River.

2. Jul 21, 2019Lightning$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A lightning strike caused a structure fire to the Badcock Home Furniture storm in Folkston near 1st and Elm Streets. The structure was a total loss. A home nearby was also struck by lightning, but did not catch fire. The cost of damage was unknown, but it was estimated for inclusion of the even tin Storm Data.

3. Dec 24, 2002Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Structural damage to buildings in Homeland, Camp Pickney and Winokur. Shop roof off in Winokur. Numerous trees down with a .5 mile damage path.

4. Dec 24, 2002Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Residents reported tornado on the ground. Two homes on Camp Pickney Road damaged. Right mover moving down State Road 40 into Camden County.

5. Mar 1, 1998Flood, Charlton$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Total flooding related to El Nino. More than 200 homes damaged. Flooding mainly along the St Mary's, Altamaha, and Satilla Rivers. Some areas also effect with Closed Basin flooding.

6. Sep 30, 1996Flash Flood$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding occured along Highway 121 South of Folkston, closing a 11/2 section. Flooding also closed Highway 40 win the eastern portion of the county.

7. Oct 4, 1998Flash Flood$15,000
8. Feb 2, 1996Tornado$12,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado was up and down. Tornado Blew several signs down along US-1, caused damage to a barn and shed, and turned over a trailer.

9. Feb 22, 2026Wildfire, Western Charlton$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Georgia Forestry Commission responded to a wildfire caused by a downed powerline at approximately 3:00 p.m. this afternoon north of Folkston along Hwy 301. Upon arrival, the fire was estimated at 100 acres. The wildfire increased to an estimated 697 acres and stretched nearly 2 miles from U.S.-301 to County Road 252. Two homes received minor damage and eight minor structures were destroyed. Charlton County EMA reported evacuations due to the wildfire near Hwy 301 / Humphries Rd Area in Folkston. Roads under evacuation orders included Harold White Road, Humphries Road, Bill Knight Road, Willow Creek Road.

10. Nov 6, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Many large trees down across power lines.

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

105°FJul 21, 1942

All-time low

7°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

83°FJul 14, 1980

Coldest day

30°F2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Wettest day

10.13 inSep 25, 1949

Snowiest day

1.5 inFeb 13, 1958

Hottest year

1949mean 71.4°F

Coldest year

1976mean 66.2°F

Wettest year

199179.63 in

Driest year

199031.20 in

Snowiest season

1.5 in1957-58

Station Jacksonville (USW00013889), 160 ft elevation, 28.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1938 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 USW00013889.
• 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.