Gwinnett County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Apr 8, 1998Tornado$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant widespread damage continued into Gwinnett county in a path from Norcross through Duluth and Suwanee to north of Lawrenceville. Large trees were knocked down or snapped. Many of them fell on homes and apartments causing damage. Roofs were torn off of houses. At least 5000 homes were affected. Ten people at an apartment complex were treated for minor injuries.

2. Sep 21, 2009Flood$12.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Record flooding continued to expand eastern the eastern suburbs of the Atlanta metropolitan area as renewed rounds of showers and thunderstorms with very heavy rain tracked repeatedly over the same areas throughout the day. Portions of hundreds of roads in the county were closed from flooding and washed out bridges and/or culverts. Hundreds of homes, apartments, and businesses sustained significant flood damage. Record flooding was occurring on Suwanee Creek near Suwanee. Some of the most significant flooding occurred in the Stone Mountain area on U.S. Highway 78 from the DeKalb county line to Ross Road. Monetary damage to property and roads during this time frame across Gwinnett…

3. Sep 21, 2009Flood$5.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Gwinnett county emergency management personnel and USGS stream gages confirmed that record to catastrophic flooding continued across much of the county. Hundreds of homes, apartments, businesses, and roads sustained damages from flooding. A number of culverts and/or bridges were washed out and several roads were closed. Flood waters began to recede after 830 am EDT on the 22nd. However, many locations remained in major to record flood until 715 am EDT on the 23rd. Monetary damage from flooding continued to mount, with damages exceeding $5.6 million during this time frame.

4. Nov 30, 2010Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that an EF2 tornado touched down near Holland Park Drive in east central Gwinnett county, or about five miles northwest of Dacula. The tornado then tracked slightly over two miles to the north-northeast between Mountain View High School and Twin Rivers Middle School before lifting just east of the intersection of Gravel Springs Road and Interstate-85. The tornado was determined to have a path width of 300 yards with maximum wind gusts of 130 mph. Extensive damage was observed to homes mainly in the Kirkstone Subdivision of Buford. A total of 56 homes and one business…

5. Feb 21, 2005Hail$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Gwinnett County SkyWarn coordinator reported golf ball-sized hail in Lilburn. The public reported nickel-sized hail in the eastern portions of Norcross/western portions of Lilburn near Interstate-85. The Gwinnett Daily-Post reported that 90 percent of the vehicles parked at the Mall of Georgia were damaged by the hail.

6. Sep 21, 2009Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Gwinnett County 911 Center reported that significant flooding continued and was expanding into all parts of the county. At least 30 roads were flooded, impassable, and closed throughout the county. Dozens of homes were flooded as well. Monetary damage of at least $5 million was incurred during this time frame.

7. Jul 21, 2018Hail$4.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A report of tennis ball size hail near the intersection of Highway 29 and Highway 316 was received over social media.

8. Feb 21, 2005Hail$3.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous reports of large hail, ranging in size from pennies to golf balls, were received from the public in the Buford, Sugar Hill, Suwanee, and Dacula areas. Penny to golf ball-sized hail was reported in Suwanee, quarter to golf ball-sized hail in Buford, quarter-sized hail in Sugar Hill, and quarter-sized hail in Dacula.

9. Apr 11, 2013Hail$3.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Spotters, the public and broadcast media all reported golf ball sized hail from northeast of Norcross to Duluth.

10. Apr 15, 2011Hail$3.1 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Amateur radio operators and the public reported hail up to the size of half-dollars and ping-pong balls, possibly some as large as golf balls, across far northwest and north central Gwinnett county from Norcross, to Sugar Hill and Buford. Several reports of penny to quarter-sized hail were also received from this same general area. WSR-88D radar data suggests that the largest hail likely fell near Norcross.

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°FJun 30, 2012

All-time low

−8°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

82°FAug 8, 2007

Coldest day

15°F2 times, most recently Jan 30, 1966

Wettest day

6.68 inOct 4, 1995

Snowiest day

8.3 inJan 23, 1940

Hottest year

2019mean 66.2°F

Coldest year

1976mean 59.1°F

Wettest year

194871.45 in

Driest year

195431.80 in

Snowiest season

10.9 in1935-36

Station Atlanta Hartsfield-jackson Int (USW00013874), 1,011 ft elevation, 31.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1930 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 USW00013874.
• 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.