Harris County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Nov 16, 2011Tornado$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 caused extensive damage across Harris county. The tornado first touched down as an EF1 in Macon county, Alabama before moving east into Lee county, Alabama and then into Harris county, Georgia. The tornado had already caused considerable damage to the town of Auburn, Alabama as an EF1 before it continued into Harris county, Georgia. As the tornado approached the county seat of Hamilton, it strengthened to an EF2. The tornado entered Harris county from Alabama at the north end of Lake Harding and tracked across the central part of the county, then moved…

2. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that the tenth tornado of the April 27, 2011 outbreak in the Peachtree City, Georgia county warning area touched down in northeast Harris county in west central Georgia. This tornado, an EF2, touched down two miles northwest of Pine Mountain Valley and tracked a total of 24 miles across northeast Harris, southern Meriwether, and into northern Upson county before lifting about nine miles northwest of Thomaston. The tornado tracked a little over 7.5 miles with northeast Harris county. The tornado had a maximum path width of 3/4 mile in Harris county, decreasing to 1/2 mile…

3. May 8, 2003Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Georgia Emergency Management Agency reported that excessive rain resulted in excessive, historical flooding across the entire county. A number of roads and bridges were flooded and washed out and approximately 100 homes in the county sustained significant damage because of flooding. Around 200 residents of the Lake Harding area had to be evacuated from the area because of the flooding.

4. Apr 15, 2011Hail$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public and amateur radio operators observed quarter, golf ball, and baseball-sized hail across the county from Mountain Hill to northeast of Pine Mountain Valley. The largest hail, golf ball to baseball-sized was observed near and just east of Hamilton, decreasing to east of Pine-Mountain Valley.

5. Mar 3, 2019Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service survey found an EF2 tornado moved out of Muscogee County into Harris County just north of Gray Rock Road west of Heiferhorn Creek, snapping hundreds of trees. The Tornado moved east northeast up Rip Shin Road to Highway 315 as it entered Ellerslie downing hundreds more trees. Minor roof damage was noted at several homes with shingles pulled off. One home had a portion of the attic and top floor removed. Further east northeast along highway 315 and Mount Airy Road, there were hundreds of softwood trees blown down, as well as a home with significant damage to the top floor. Several homes had missing shingles and a carport was destroyed. The tornado then…

6. Apr 19, 2006Hail$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous reports of hail were received from the eastern portions of Harris county. Penny-sized hail was reported in the Pine Mountain area by the county 911 center and a former National Weather Service employee. Golf ball to tennis ball-sized hail was reported from Waverly Hall to south of Waverly Hall near the Muscogee county line. Damage was reported to roofs and trees were stripped of leaves in the area.

7. Mar 26, 2011Hail$267,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Harris County Sheriff's Department, amateur radio operators, and the public observed quarter to golf ball-sized hail across northern Harris county from just east of Whitesville-Pine Lake, to Pine Mountain Valley, to Shiloh.

8. Jun 11, 2008Lightning$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Harris County Journal reported that lightning struck a large single-story wood frame home at the corner of Second Street and First Avenue. The house was completely destroyed from the resulting fire.

9. Feb 7, 2017Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service survey team determined that an EF-1 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 95 MPH and a maximum path width of 250 yards travelled for just under 2.5 miles along U.S Highway 27 in southern Harris County between the communities of Fortson and Cataula. The tornado began on West Bonacre Road just west of Highway 27, where a few small trees were snapped, and moved northeast, intensifying as it crossed Highway 27 north of Raymond Road where numerous trees were snapped or uprooted and several power lines and poles were brought down. The most significant damage was observed just northeast of this location along Gatlin Road where an estimated 50-100 large trees were…

10. Mar 3, 2019Tornado$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A National Weather Service survey found that an EF1 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 100 mph and a maximum path width of 900 yards occurred in Harris County. The tornado touched down just west of the intersection of Hopewell Church Road and Hamilton Pleasant Grove Road. The tornado traveled east northeast along Hopewell Church Road and then Highway 18 where it intensified, downing hundreds of trees, several falling on homes. As the tornado approached the city of Pine Mountain it reached its maximum intensity of 100 mph and moved across the south side of the city. A large tree fell onto an apartment on S. King Avenue destroying one of the rooms on the second floor. The tornado…

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

−2°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

82°FAug 2, 1999

Coldest day

23°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

5.92 inApr 19, 2020

Snowiest day

11.0 inFeb 9, 1973

Hottest year

2019mean 68.6°F

Coldest year

1968mean 62.8°F

Wettest year

200980.20 in

Driest year

199926.39 in

Snowiest season

14.0 in1972-73

Station Columbus Metro Airport (USW00093842), 394 ft elevation, 12.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00093842.
• 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.