Jones County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Jones County: 2.
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.

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. Mar 1, 2007Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Georgia concluded that an EF1 tornado touched down approximately three miles northwest of Griswoldville in southwest Jones county and tracked very close to Georgia Highway 49 lifting about two miles southwest of James. The tornado path was around four miles long with a maximum path width of 150 yards. Extensive damage was noted to commercial and residential buildings along the path of the tornado. Dozens of trees were down in the area, many falling on and causing damage to homes. A number of large hardwood and pine trees were either uprooted or snapped. Three metal warehouses sustained significant damage.…

2. Mar 15, 2008Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public observed tennis to baseball-sized hail in eastern Jones county from Bountsville to east of Haddock near the Baldwin county line. A number of vehicles and mobile homes in the area were damaged from the large hail, especially near the Baldwin county line.

3. Dec 12, 1996Lightning$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning set fire to a fire station burning it out. The blaze moved quickly through the building destroying two trucks and other fire fighting equipment.

4. Jan 2, 2006Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A storm survey conducted by the National Weather Service concluded that an F1 tornado had touched down near the town of Wayside and roughly paralleled Georgia Highway 11 from there to the town of Bradley. The tornado had a path length of three miles with a path width of 300 yards at its maximum point. Four buildings, including a barn and machine shop, were destroyed and a double wide mobile home sustained considerable damage. At least six other mobile homes were severely damaged along the path of the tornado, two of which were on Wheeler Road near Bradley. A number of trees were uprooted and snapped off along the path as well. A large pine tree fell across and destroyed two…

5. Jun 11, 2004Lightning$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Jones county Emergency Management Director reported that lightning struck a tree adjacent to a brick home. The lightning apparently arced over to the roof, blowing a hole in the roof and setting the home on fire. The home was nearly a total loss.

6. Mar 27, 2023Flash Flood$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public relayed a report of a flooded home off Graham Road due to high water on Walnut Creek. There was approximately 50 inches of water inundating the home, causing catastrophic damage to the property. Radar estimates indicate that 3 to 4 inches of rain occurred during the day on March 27, on top of 1.5 to 2 inches that fell the day prior. The combination of high rainfall rates, runoff rates, wet antecedent conditions, and ongoing flooding on the mainstem rivers caused the floodwaters to rise to a point of inundating the home.

7. Jan 2, 2006Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   WXGA Television of Macon, Georgia broadcast a report from the public of baseball size hail in southwest Jones county, six to eight miles north-northeast of Macon. A number of vehicles sustained damage in the area.

8. Apr 5, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Jones County Sheriff's Office reported that several trees and power lines were down across the county. Five homes in the county sustained minor to moderate damage from downed trees. Two roads were closed from downed trees and power lines.

9. Sep 6, 2004High Wind, Jones$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High wind damage, associated with Tropical Storm Frances, is listed below, in alphabetical order by county for those counties that "high wind" criteria was either met or assumed to be met.Baldwin: The Georgia Emergency Management Agency reported that extensive and widespread wind damage was observed. Many trees and power lines were down throughout the county and many parts of the county were expected to be without power for up to four days as a result. In addition, four homes suffered major damage and five suffered minor damage. One man was injured and taken to a local hospital when a tree fell on his mobile home. Four to five inches of rain was also reported throughout the…

10. Jul 9, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported numerous trees snapped or uprooted by winds on the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge. In one half acre area where the damage was greatest, all of the trees were blown down.

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

108°F3 times, most recently Jul 1, 2012

All-time low

−6°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

79°F8 times, most recently Jul 25, 2010

Coldest day

25°F2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Wettest day

10.25 inJul 5, 1994

Snowiest day

11.0 inFeb 9, 1973

Hottest year

2019mean 67.3°F

Coldest year

1968mean 62.2°F

Wettest year

201372.67 in

Driest year

195426.05 in

Snowiest season

16.5 in1972-73

Station Macon Middle Ga Regional Airport (USW00003813), 343 ft elevation, 19.7 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 USW00003813.
• 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.