Marion County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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. Apr 4, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Marion County 911 Center reported extensive and widespread damage to trees and power lines across the county. Several homes and business sustained minor to moderate damage from downed trees on the structures, especially within the city of Buena Vista. Over 12 roads were closed as a result of downed trees and power lines.

2. Nov 21, 1997Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   West of Draneville, nearly 50 trees were knocked down and several grain silos and out-buildings were damaged. A church just southeast of Draneville on highway 30 was destroyed. Its roof was blown into a nearby orchard, where 116 pecan trees were also destroyed. The roof of a youth center was lifted off. A gas station/grocery store sustained minor damage.

3. Jun 2, 2005Lightning$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Tri-County Journal reported that lightning struck a propane line leading into a home on McAllister Drive west of Buena Vista. The lightning ignited the line and set the home on fire. The flames were reported to have been up to 50 feet in the air. The home was completely destroyed.

4. Feb 17, 2008Tornado$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An aerial and ground survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia concluded that the EF0 tornado that originated in Stewart county and then tracked through Chattahoochee county, continued into Marion county. The tornado entered Marion county about three miles northwest of Union, where Georgia Highway 137 touches the Chattahoochee county line. The tornado then continued on an east-northeastward track across the county exiting into Taylor county across Georgia Highway 127/240C, about one mile south of Mauk. The tornado passed about fives miles north of the county seat, Buena Vista, crossing Georgia Highway 41 at that point. The tornado…

5. Sep 6, 2004High Wind, Marion$50,000
   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…

6. Jan 28, 2005Winter Storm, Marion$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A significant and fairly prolonged winter storm/ice storm affected nearly all of North and Central Georgia from the evening of Friday January 28th to late morning on Sunday January 30th. The winter storm was a result of a very strong and very cold Arctic surface high pressure system located across the Mid-Atlantic states and an upper-level disturbance moving across the region from the west. North of a line from La Grange, to Thomaston, to Sandersville, the precipitation fell mostly as a mixture of sleet and freezing rain, with typical accumulations of one-half inch glaze ice and one to two inches of sleet. Some areas in North Central and Northeast Georgia experienced significant…

7. Sep 11, 2017Tropical Storm, Marion$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The media reported numerous trees and power lines blown down across the county. Many customers were without electricity for varying periods of time. Radar estimated between 2 and 4 inches of rain fell across the county with 3.32 inches of rain measured in Buena Vista. No injuries were reported.

8. Mar 18, 2013Hail$41,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Marion County Emergency Manager reported that widespread dime-sized hail covered the ground along Georgia Highway 30. Some of the hailstones were as large as golfballs.

9. Feb 6, 2020Flash Flood$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Emergency Manager reported that Anthony Road was washed out due to high flow through Juniper Creek. Radar estimates indicate that 2 to 3 inches of rain occurred over the area, falling on already wet soils and resulting in flash flooding.

10. Aug 9, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$28,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The Marion county 911 center reported that two trees fell down. One was a large oak tree that fell on a church in Tazewell, resulting in significant structural damage. The other fell down on a power line along county road 80 at Brantley.

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, 26.0 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.