Emanuel County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. May 11, 2008Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that the second tornado, an EF2, that touched down in far eastern Johnson county, just northwest of Kite, continued on an east-northeastward track into far northwestern Emanuel county, lifting approximately one mile west of Blundale, just north of Cordie Road. Maximum winds within the tornado were estimated to be 130 mph with a maximum path width up to 1/2 mile as the tornado first entered Emanuel county. Approximately 28 homes in Emanuel county sustained damage from the tornado, two of which were destroyed, 13 of which suffered major damage, and 10 had minor damage.

2. Aug 14, 2010Lightning$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Savannah Morning News reported that lightning struck the high school wing of the David Emanuel Academy near Stillmore in rural southeast Emanuel county. The two-story building, which was constructed in 1904, was set on fire by the lightning strike and completely destroyed. The fire destroyed a science lab, classroom, and wrestling gym.

3. Sep 11, 2017Tropical Storm, Emanuel$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Emanuel County Emergency Manager reported hundreds of trees and power lines blown down across the county. A wind gust of 39 mph was measured near Swainsboro. Radar estimated between 2.5 and 5 inches or rain fell across the county with 4.88 inches measured near Garfield. No injuries were reported.

4. Jul 31, 2002Lightning$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Forest Blade newspaper of Swainsboro, as well as the Macon Telegraph, and other local media outlets reported that lightning struck several homes and the Hillcrest Baptist Church. The church was completely destroyed by the resulting fire. Damage to the homes was minor to moderate, but the church was completely destroyed. No injuries or deaths occurred with the incidents.

5. Apr 15, 2007Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that yet another tornado struck in Emanuel county, this time on the far eastern end of the county. This tornado was an EF2 tornado and touched down about two miles southeast of Twin City and traveled northeast to a point about five miles northeast of Twin City. The total tornado path length was five miles with a maximum path width of 200 yards. The maximum wind speed in this tornado was estimated to be 115 mph. Two homes along the path of the tornado sustained major damage when they both lost a significant portion of their roofs and outer walls. A mobile home was also damaged and some…

6. Apr 15, 2007Tornado$175,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A storm survey conducted by the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that the EF1 tornado that began in western Treutlen county near Orland, continued into the extreme western portion of Emanuel county just south of Adrian, and then continued into extreme southern Johnson county. This was the first of two touchdowns of this tornado in Emanuel county as it tracked into the county again after moving out of Johnson county. This portion of the tornado track was approximately one mile long with a maximum path width of 440 yards. Most of the damage done by this portion of the tornado was within the city of Adrian, which sits right on the Emanuel/Johnson county…

7. Dec 25, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Emanuel County Emergency Management Director reported that strong thunderstorm wind gusts blew down 10-12 large pine trees in the Swainsboro area. In addition, the front wall of a brick warehouse was blown down and several plate glass windows were blown out. Nearby, a tree was blown down onto a home and another tree fell on and destroyed a vehicle and a utility building. Several power lines were down in the area and a number of power outages were reported. Finally, the winds were strong enough to blow windows out of several vehicles at a car dealership.

8. Jun 3, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Emanuel county Emergency Management Director reported that strong straight line easterly winds from a westward moving thunderstorm complex destroyed two mobile homes, severely damaged two more, caused minor damage to 13 homes, and downed numerous trees and power lines. The entire city was reported to have been without power through the entire evening.

9. Oct 7, 2016Tropical Storm, Emanuel$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Emanuel County Emergency Manager reported 25-50 trees and 10-15 power lines blown down across the eastern half of Emanuel County late in the evening of October 7th and during the early morning hours of October 8th. A peak wind gust of 37 MPH was recorded at 12:15 AM EST at the Emanuel County Airport near Swainsboro. Radar rainfall estimates ranged from around 1 inch in the western portion of the county to around 5 inches in the east. In the far eastern portion of the county, 4.69 inches of rain was recorded north of Garfield. No flooding was reported.

10. Mar 27, 2011Hail$55,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A trained spotter observed golf ball-sized hail from Adrian to Nunez. WSR-88D radar data suggests that quarter-sized hail likely continued to Lexsy before the storm weakened below severe limits.

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°F6 times, most recently Jul 1, 2012

All-time low

−10°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

79°F3 times, most recently Jul 13, 1996

Coldest day

14°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

8.19 inOct 12, 1990

Snowiest day

14.0 inFeb 10, 1973

Hottest year

1986mean 67.6°F

Coldest year

1994mean 63.0°F

Wettest year

196464.68 in

Driest year

198130.56 in

Snowiest season

14.0 in1972-73

Station Midville Experiment Station (USC00095863), 280 ft elevation, 20.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1957 to October 12, 2026; 97.3% 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 USC00095863.
• 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.