Columbia County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Columbia 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. Sep 27, 2024Tropical Storm, Columbia$225 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant and widespread tree and power line damage across the county. Vast majority of the county lost power for an extended period of time and many roads were closed. Falling trees and wind caused substantial structural damage across the county. At least 5103 homes sustained some level of damage including 248 destroyed and 2538 with major damage. Max wind gust observed was 62 mph at a GADOT mesonet site along I-20 north of Grovetown. NWS storm survey estimated max wind gusts were between 80 to 100+mph. Areas of flooding were observed with two day rain totals exceeding 10 inches. Maximum measured 2 day rainfall was 12.37 inches near Evans. A man in Grovetown died when a tree…

2. Apr 10, 2009Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A supercell tornado tracked across Columbia county from northeast of Harlem through Grovetown damaging many homes and taking down numerous trees and powerlines. Several vehicles were crushed and there were about a dozen minor injuries.

3. May 20, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   EM reported numerous trees down on homes, one home split in half, in the Country Place subdivision. Trees were laid out in a typical fan shape microburst pattern.

4. Feb 22, 2003Tornado$310,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A combination of an intense microburst and a tornado produced winds estimated at 120-130mph. A barn and camper trailer. Moderate damage was done to 4 homes with minor damage to 34 other homes. Debris from the barn was found a mile downstream. The microburst width was 1/8-1/4 mile wide with the vortex circulation about 50 yds wide.

5. Aug 7, 2012Flash Flood$280,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sheriff reported 3 1/2 feet of wather covering Habersham Road in the Watervale subdivision.

6. Apr 6, 2022Lightning$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Media reported a fire to a home on Wells Dr in Harlem that was caused by a lightning strike. The home sustained major damage. No injuries reported.

7. May 23, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm produced a microburst in the western end of Columbia County early this morning around 12:30 a.m. downing numerous trees and power lines. Quarter size hail was also reported in the affected area. ||Columbia County Roads & Bridges crews have been out since 2am clearing the trees from the roadways. The supervisor advised me at 7:45 a.m. that they were near finished clearing the fallen trees from the roadways.||One of the affected residents on Old Lincolnton Road in Appling advised me this morning that her family had been awakened by the loud boom of thunder and then saw the rain blowing sideways, followed by the large hail pounding on her home. That���s…

8. Apr 5, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$180,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and powerlines down across the county with several homes sustaining severe damage.

9. May 6, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   EOC and damage survey found trees down all across northern Columbia county. A downburst 8 miles wide with a 4 mile focus took down many trees and damaged a few homes. An abandoned mobile home was totaled.

10. Mar 15, 2008Tornado$140,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Several mobile homes had moderate damage and one was destroyed. Numerous trees and powerlines were down along path. Two people had minor injuries.

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

108°F2 times, most recently Aug 10, 2007

All-time low

−1°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

81°FJun 24, 1944

Coldest day

24°F2 times, most recently Dec 23, 1989

Wettest day

7.30 inSep 3, 1998

Snowiest day

8.0 in2 times, most recently Feb 12, 2010

Hottest year

2017mean 67.7°F

Coldest year

1981mean 61.4°F

Wettest year

196466.04 in

Driest year

201028.61 in

Snowiest season

14.4 in1972-73

Station Augusta Bush Field Airport (USW00003820), 134 ft elevation, 16.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1944 to October 26, 2026; 99.8% 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 USW00003820.
• 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.