Jefferson County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. May 11, 2008Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that the EF0 tornado that originally touched down in north central Washington county, just northeast of Sandersville, continued on a long 33 mile track across eastern Washington, central Jefferson, and into far western Burke county before lifting one mile south of Vidette. The tornado entered Jefferson county approximately 10 miles west-northwest of Louisville and skirted across the northern part of Louisville, then continued eastward, exiting the county about seven miles east-northeast of Louisville. A little over 17 miles of the tornado path occurred within Jefferson…

2. Mar 7, 1996Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado destroyed 2 brick homes and 7 mobile homes. 15 other homes were heavily damaged and 10 others had minor damage. The path and duration of the tornado was estimated. There were intermittent touchdowns.

3. Mar 15, 2008Tornado$500,000
   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 in northern Jefferson county. The tornado touched down approximately one mile northwest of Wrens and traveled east a little less than nine miles across northeastern Jefferson county and the town of Matthews, before crossing into Burke county just south of the town of Keysville. The tornado continued on the ground an additional eight to nine miles into Burke county before finally lifting near the Applewood County Club in Burke county. The total tornado path length was 19 miles. The maximum path width was one-quarter mile and maximum…

4. May 11, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia, concluded that strong straight-line winds of 60 to 70 mph up to one mile south of the EF0 tornado track across central Jefferson county caused moderate damage to structures in Louisville and minor to moderate damage to structures elsewhere along the path. A number of trees and power lines were downed as well.

5. Mar 15, 2008Hail$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public observed tennis ball-sized hail across northern Jefferson county, especially in the Wrens area. The Huddle House restaurant on Main Street in Wrens suffered considerable damage from the large hail as a number of windows were broken.

6. Jul 23, 1997Lightning$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning was responsible for at least three house fires in Jefferson County. The first one was reported at approximately 1:33 am in Zebina. Lightning struck a tree and jumped to a nearby home, entering the home through electrical wiring. Several appliances were damaged and the front door was knocked off of its hinges. A second strike at 1:38 am, entered the homes attic, after having struck a nearby tree. Some of the attic's insulation caught fire. The third lightning strike occurred just before 3:00 am. The lightning struck a pecan tree at the corner of a home, then entered the house. The sole occupant was able to escape and drive for help. The house was a total loss.

7. Sep 11, 2017Tropical Storm, Jefferson$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The media reported many trees and power lines blown down across the county. A few homes had minor damage from falling trees and large limbs. A wind gust of 40 mph was measured near Louisville. Much of the county was without electricity for varying periods of time. Radar estimated between 2 and 4 inches of rain fell across the county with 2.32 inches measured in Grange. No injuries were reported.

8. Mar 18, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Jefferson County Emergency Manager reported that numerous trees and power lines were blown down between Wrens and Louisville. Two houses had trees fall on them; on had minor and the other had major damage. Up to 22 roads were blocked by falling trees.

9. Apr 10, 2009Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that the EF1 tornado that initially touched down in extreme eastern Glascock county continued into far northern Jefferson county along a five mile-long path before lifting approximately three miles northeast of Stapleton. The tornado was determined to have a maximum path width of 200 yards with maximum winds estimated at 110 mph. The majority of the damage associated with this tornado occurred in Jefferson county. Significant damage was observed to the Heartsgrove Baptist Church at the intersection of Georgia Highways 80 and 296, just across from the Glascock county line.…

10. Jul 28, 2008Hail$80,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The public observed golf ball-sized hail in Wrens. Radar supports that large hail of similar size likely fell across a good portion of northeast Jefferson county.

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

112°FJul 24, 1952

All-time low

−2°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

82°FJul 5, 1943

Coldest day

25°FDec 25, 1983

Wettest day

16.42 inOct 12, 1990

Snowiest day

14.8 inFeb 10, 1973

Hottest year

1990mean 67.2°F

Coldest year

1901mean 61.9°F

Wettest year

199463.95 in

Driest year

195424.96 in

Station Louisville 1 E (USC00095314), 322 ft elevation, 4.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 26, 2026; 87.5% 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 USC00095314.
• 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.