Newton County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 18, 2013Hail$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Newton County 911 Center reported golfball sized hail in the Mansfield area.

2. Apr 28, 2013Hail$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public reported golf ball sized hail across Covington.

3. Jun 15, 2020Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public reported hail ranging from the size of nickels to the size of golf balls at the intersection of Highway 278 and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, damaging at least 1 vehicle.

4. Jan 22, 2000Ice Storm, Newton$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…

5. Dec 30, 2015Flash Flood$781,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Newton County Emergency Manager reported an entire shopping center parking lot in the Covington area was flooded by the adjacent Dried Indian Creek. Flood waters entered some of the stores.

6. Mar 15, 2008Hail$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several reports of half-dollar to golf ball-sized hail were received from the public and amateur radio operators across the northern portions of Newton county. Golf ball-sized hail was observed in Covington as well.

7. Sep 21, 2009Flood$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Newton County Emergency Management Director reported that a mobile home community was completely flooded out. Many creeks, streams, and rivers in the area were at or above bankfull. Some roads were also flooded. Monetary damage within the county, mostly within the flooded mobile home park, was estimated to be $700,000.

8. Mar 15, 2008Hail$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Newton County Sheriff's office observed golf ball-sized hail near Covington. Radar supported that this thunderstorm tracked mainly across southern Newton county.

9. Feb 18, 2009Tornado$625,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that an EF1 tornado had touched down in southern Newton county causing extensive damage to some 30 homes in a heavily wooded subdivision just south of High Point. The tornado touched down near the intersection of King Bostwick Road and Channing Cope Road and travelled approximately three miles almost due east to a point approximately 1/2 mile southeast of the intersection of Henderson Mill Road and Taylor Road. Damage to the homes was nearly 100 percent the result of downed trees.

10. Apr 19, 2013Tornado$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A National Weather Service storm survey determined that an EF-2 tornado formed within a line of storms moving through Newton County. It first touched down along Dukes Road, southwest of Mansfield, where it snapped and uprooted a few trees. As the tornado moved east along Kellogg Street it increased in intensity, producing EF-1 damage to several homes along Kellogg Street and Savannah Street. The EF-2 damage occurred to an older home on the north side of Kellogg Street where the home was completely destroyed. A mobile home further east along Kellogg Street was also completely destroyed. One person was injured in the mobile home and was trapped within the debris. Numerous trees and…

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

−8°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

82°FAug 8, 2007

Coldest day

15°F2 times, most recently Jan 30, 1966

Wettest day

6.68 inOct 4, 1995

Snowiest day

8.3 inJan 23, 1940

Hottest year

2019mean 66.2°F

Coldest year

1976mean 59.1°F

Wettest year

194871.45 in

Driest year

195431.80 in

Snowiest season

10.9 in1935-36

Station Atlanta Hartsfield-jackson Int (USW00013874), 1,011 ft elevation, 31.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1930 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00013874.
• 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.