Morgan County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Morgan 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. Apr 28, 2011Tornado$7.0 million
   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 originally touched down in southeast Newton county tracked across central Morgan county before finally moving into western Greene county, where the tornado finally lifted approximately six miles west of Greensboro. The total path length of the tornado was 25 miles, of which nearly 20 miles fell within Morgan county. The maximum path width was 1/2 mile with maximum winds estimated to be 105 mph. Indeed, the majority of the damage associated with this tornado occurred within Morgan county. Several dozen homes were heavily damaged, many around…

2. Jan 22, 2000Ice Storm, Morgan$980,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wintry precipitation plagued the northern third of Georgia beginning Saturday and continued into Sunday. A shallow cold airmass with single-digit dewpoint temperatures was in place over north Georgia, with temperatures in the upper 20s to lower 30s over much of the area. An upper level disturbance moved rapidly over the area in a fast zonal flow, bringing an increase in mid-tropospheric moisture. At the same time, lower level moisture spread into the area from the Gulf of Mexico. Precipitation began falling into the colder layer of air near the surface by mid-morning on the 22nd. The mixture of light rain, snow and sleet had spread from northwest to northeast Georgia by early…

3. Aug 20, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$450,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Madison county Emergency Management Director reported that major damage was caused by thunderstorm winds across the north part of the county, particularly along and near Bostwick Road. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down or uprooted throughout the north part of the county. One tree caused significant damage to a home when it fell through the roof and also collapsed the front porch. A nearby parked vehicle also sustained damage during this incident. Several homes sustained minor to moderate damage when shingles or portions of their roofs were blown off, including one home with a tin roof which was partially ripped off and another with siding damage. A mobile home was…

4. Mar 15, 2008Hail$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public reported golf ball to baseball-sized hail in southeast Morgan county as yet another severe thunderstorm moved through the county.

5. Dec 30, 2015Flash Flood$334,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A USGS stream gauge on the Little River at Newborn Road or around 3 miles northeast of Newborn reached flood stage of 12 feet. The river crest at 13.7 feet. Minor flooding occurred in the natural flood plain and woodlands along the river upstream and downstream from the gauge. Several roads and culverts were washed out by tributaries flowing into the Little River.

6. Aug 13, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$325,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorm winds damaged farm buildings and knocked down several trees in the east and south part of Madison county. In the Godfrey community, winds damaged as many as 9 chicken houses, 5 of which were almost totally destroyed. Six people were trapped in the collapsed buildings and four were injured.

7. Aug 20, 2002Lightning$308,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Madisonian Newspaper reported that lightning struck and set on fire a historic home in town on Washington Street. Many of its contents were antiques and irreplaceable. The structure and its contents were destroyed. The county's 911 communication system was also struck and knocked out of service by lightning.

8. Sep 17, 2009Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Morgan County Emergency Management Director reported flash flooding along Little Sandy Creek at Georgia Highway 83 and U.S. Highway 441, north of Madison. The Georgia Highway 83 bridge was washed out. U.S. Highway 441 was not damaged, but the road was closed for several hours as water was flowing over the road at the bridge. Flash flooding was also reported along Hunnicut Creek in southern Morgan county as well.

9. Jul 24, 2002Lightning$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Madisonian newspaper of Madison reported that lightning struck a large two-story home in the Cedar Lakes subdivision. The lightning struck the bonus room above the garage, but fire, smoke and water left the house virtually destroyed.

10. Apr 4, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The Morgan County Emergency Management Director reported that thunderstorm winds had caused extensive damage throughout the county. A storm spotter reported that anywhere from 60 to 80 trees were down across the county. At least five homes in the Madison area were damaged as a result of downed trees. A family was trapped in one of these damaged homes, but was removed safely and without injury. In addition, the roof was blown off a home in Buckhead.

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

109°FJun 29, 2012

All-time low

−4°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

79°F4 times, most recently Aug 11, 2007

Coldest day

18°FJan 30, 1966

Wettest day

9.93 inJun 4, 1967

Snowiest day

8.7 inMar 24, 1983

Hottest year

2016mean 65.0°F

Coldest year

1968mean 59.7°F

Wettest year

196471.39 in

Driest year

195428.61 in

Snowiest season

10.6 in1982-83

Station Athens Ben Epps Airport (USW00013873), 784 ft elevation, 25.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1944 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 USW00013873.
• 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.