Cook County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Cook County: 7.
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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 26, 2024Hurricane (Typhoon), Cook$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees were blown down countywide. Many trees fell on homes and businesses with many roads blocked. Power was out to most of the county.

2. Aug 30, 2023Tropical Storm, Cook$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Approximately 872 residents, or 53% lost power due to numerous trees and power lines down.

3. Jan 22, 2017Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is a continuation of the northeast Brooks county tornado. The tornado then continued into Cook County. Still at EF-3 strength, it swept about 35 manufactured homes into a pile of rubble at the far end of the Sunshine Acres mobile home park. Seven people lost their lives. The tornado then went on to destroy about two thirds of a brick home on Val Del Road, collapsing in two walls and removing most of the second story. Another home built of concrete blocks was destroyed. A nearby farm had several concrete anchors for a large metal structure pulled from the ground. Max winds were estimated near 140 mph. Damage cost was estimated.

4. Sep 10, 2017Tropical Storm, Cook$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Irma brought numerous impacts to the Florida Big Bend, southwest Georgia and southeast Alabama including widespread downed trees and power lines, roads blocked by trees, power outages, and trees on homes. Two people died during the event - one due to a car crash (Liberty County, FL) and another that had a heart attack (Worth County, GA). Two indirect deaths occurred due to carbon monoxide from a generator (Taylor County, FL). While many counties across the Florida Big Bend and southwest Georgia were impacted, the greatest impacts were across the eastern portion of the area near the I-75 corridor. There were over 6.5 million customers without power in Florida, over…

5. Jan 22, 2023Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado began just west of Interstate-75 before crossing through portions of Adel, GA in Cook County. The first significant structural damage consistent with EF2 intensity was done to a single-family home-style building on W Mitchell St between I-75 and N Elm St. Half of the structure was shifted off its slab and bolted foundation. Adjacent mini trailers were also flipped in addition to sheets of metal lofted about a hundred feet from the property. The second location of EF2 damage was off US-Highway 41 and South Ave near Carr Dr where a large metal structure building was shifted off its bolted foundation. Some steel beams were also ripped off with a couple lofted to a nearby…

6. Mar 8, 1998Flood, Cook$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense Gulf storm produced 5 to 12 inches of rain across much of southwest Georgia on March 7-9 which caused widespread flooding. Baker, Ben Hill, Cook, Colquitt, Dougherty, Lee, Miller, Mitchell, Terrell, Decatur, Early, Brooks, Colquitt, Clay, Seminole, Calhoun, Thomas, and Worth counties were declared federal disaster areas. In Ben Hill County, floodwaters claimed the life of a Irwinville man whose vehicle overturned. In Baker County, several homes and businesses were flooded in Newton. 100 residents within the Newton city limits were evacuated. Numerous county and secondary roads were closed. Flooding along the Itchuaway-Nochaway Creek forced additional evacuations at…

7. Jun 25, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$175,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorm winds raked the Cook County Airport in Adel, damaging four planes and two hangars. The winds knocked out power to 1,000 Sparks residents. A few billboards near Interstate 75 were damaged.

8. Jun 18, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds downed numerous trees along a line from Lenox to Adel. Several trees fell on houses. Three large trees were uprooted at a residence on Concord Church Circle near Sparks, with one falling on a trailer. Winds also tore the top off a shelter.

9. Apr 23, 2020Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This long-track tornado was produced by the same thunderstorm that spawned a tornado in upstream Pelham, GA. The tornado touched down south of Moultrie, GA just west of U.S. 319 and produced damage consistent with EF-1 winds through most of its|long track. Most of the damage was in the form of snapped or uprooted trees. As the tornado crossed GA route 133, it caused significant damage to a warehouse at the Farmer's Gin and Peanut Company. The tornado reached its maximum intensity of 110 mph, which is just shy of EF-2, at the east end of Pike Creek Turf Circle. Here it snapped many large pine trees at their base. The tornado caused some minor roof damage to a home on McConnell…

10. Dec 30, 2021Tornado$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An NWS survey team determined an EF-1 tornado with maximum winds of 90 mph occurred northeast of Adel, GA on Thursday, December 30. The tornado initially touched down on Boone Road, west of Rowan Road where it snapped multiple trees. As the tornado crossed Rowan Road, it caused roof damage to several homes and outbuildings. In addition, several outbuildings were destroyed near this location. The tornado continued to track northeast and eventually lifted north of the intersection of Lonnie Grimsley Road and Tarrant Road. The tornado was on the ground for approximately 2.2 miles.

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

106°F2 times, most recently Jun 15, 2011

All-time low

3°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

86°FAug 4, 2015

Coldest day

24°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

7.62 inMar 27, 1984

Snowiest day

1.2 inJan 21, 2025

Hottest year

2024mean 71.0°F

Coldest year

1966mean 65.1°F

Wettest year

199167.99 in

Driest year

200731.25 in

Snowiest season

2.2 in2024-25

Station Valdosta Regional Airport (USW00093845), 193 ft elevation, 27.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 98.7% 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 USW00093845.
• 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.