Forsyth County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 22, 2020Hail$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public reported hail the size of quarters to half dollars near the Polo Golf and Country Club and hail the size of golf balls 1 mile north of Cumming.

2. Mar 15, 2012Hail$4.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public called to report golf ball size hail fell for over ten minutes between 12:27 AM EDT to 12:39 AM EDT.

3. Apr 11, 2013Hail$4.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Broadcast media and the public reported golf ball sized hail northwest of Cumming.

4. Mar 15, 2008Hail$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several reports of large hail were received from north central and northeast Forsyth county. The public reported two inch-diameter hail two miles south of Chestatee and penny to quarter-sized hail northeast of Cumming near the intersection of Georgia Highway 400 and Georgia Highway 20, and on Georgia Highway 369. Nickel-sized hail was observed just west of Lake Lanier near the intersection of Georgia Highways 53 and 300. Finally, Forsyth County Fire and Rescue Services observed quarter-sized hail near Cumming.

5. Jun 12, 2007Hail$2.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several reports of large hail were received from the public across the central and southern portions of Forsyth county from Cumming southwest to near the Fulton county line, including Brookwood and Big Creek. Golf ball-sized hail was reported in the Brookwood and Big Creek areas, with penny to nickel-sized hail around Cumming.

6. Mar 15, 2008Hail$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public reported quarter to golf ball-sized hail across central Forsyth county, particularly in the Cumming area. One report of 2.00 inch diameter hail was received from the public within the city of Cumming.

7. Apr 4, 2004Wildfire, Forsyth$2.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Forsyth county Emergency Management Director reported that an outdoor burning incident, fueled by gusty northwest winds at speeds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts over 30 mph and low relative humidity values in the 15 to 20% range, quickly turned into a ravaging out of control fire that destroyed seven homes and damaged 18 others. Vehicles and other contents within the homes were destroyed as well. Seven firefighters were injured during the incident.

8. Feb 26, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Forsyth County Emergency Management Director reported that numerous trees and power lines were down across the southern half of the county. Significant damage to homes was reported in the southern part of the county from near the Fulton county line northeast of Alpharetta to Cumming. Fifteen homes were damaged in this portion of the county, mostly from trees which fell on the structures. Much of the damage was concentrated in the area along Atlanta Highway, Georgia Highway 9 in the southern portion of the county and along Georgia Highway 400 near McFarland Road. The winds blew in the door of a fire station near McFarland Road. A total of 30 homes within the county sustained some damage.

9. Apr 10, 2009Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Amateur radio operators relayed a report of golf ball-sized hail in the extreme southeast part of the county near the Gwinnett and Hall county line.

10. May 25, 2006Hail$1.8 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    The public reported penny-sized hail around and on the north and west side of Cumming and golf ball-sized hail on the south side of Cumming.

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

107°F3 times, most recently Jul 29, 1952

All-time low

−8°F2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Warmest night

82°FAug 4, 1928

Coldest day

9°FFeb 14, 1899

Wettest day

6.60 inOct 2, 2012

Snowiest day

11.0 inMar 3, 1942

Hottest year

1998mean 63.7°F

Coldest year

1968mean 56.7°F

Wettest year

200980.25 in

Driest year

190420.96 in

Snowiest season

18.7 in1959-60

Station Gainesville (USC00093621), 1,170 ft elevation, 18.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1891 to September 10, 2026; 94.1% 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 USC00093621.
• 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.