Oglethorpe County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Jan 22, 2000Ice Storm, Oglethorpe$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…

2. Feb 21, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   On Beaver Dam Road in Winterville, a permanent structure home was 60 percent destroyed, and several other houses had roof damage. Several chicken coops were knocked over and numerous trees were knocked down. The damage was confined to a path which was approximately 300 feet wide and 2 miles long. The path of tree damage was descibed as having a domino effect.

3. Sep 16, 2004High Wind, Oglethorpe$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High wind damage, associated with Tropical Storm Ivan, is listed below, in alphabetical order by county for those counties that "high wind" criteria was either met or assumed to be met.Banks: The Banks County News of Homer reported widespread damage to trees and power lines throughout the county. More than 73 trees were uprooted or blown down, and many roads were blocked by downed trees and power lines. One home and an unoccupied camper were damaged when trees fell on them and a power line fell on a vehicle while traveling on a county highway. (Estimated Damage: $250,000)Barrow: The Barrow County News and the Gwinnett Daily Post both reported widespread damage to trees and power…

4. Dec 30, 2015Flash Flood$123,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Oglethorpe County Emergency Manager reported a dam failed on a farm pond which flooded Centerville Road near Georgia Highway 77. A vehicle plunged into a flooded creek off of Arnold Caldwell Road. A swift water rescue was necessary to help the driver to safety. A few roads and culverts in the same area were either damaged or washed out due to flooded streams.

5. May 3, 2021Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service survey determined that an EF0 tornado with maximum winds of 80 MPH and a maximum path width of 200 yards touched down along Robert Hardeman Road on the Clarke/Oglethorpe county line just south of Winterville. The tornado travelled east, snapping and uprooting several trees from Robert Hardeman Road across W. Beaverdam Road to just past Arnoldsville Road. Along Tim Lane, a roof was blown off a small barn. The tornado ended just south of Hargrove Lake Road where just a few larger tree limbs were seen snapped. [5/3/21: Tornado #5, County #1/1, EF-0, Oglethorpe, 2021:013].

6. Aug 17, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Fleming poultry farm suffered damage from severe thunderstorm winds . Three 3 chicken houses were destroyed and 5 others were damaged. A small pickup truck was totaled. There was damage to the corner of a home on the farm. Roofs were blown off a hay barn and another shed. Almost every electrical fence on the property was also blown down. Most of the 50,000 chickens on the farm had to be destroyed due to unsuitability for marketing after the storm damage.

7. Jan 28, 2005Winter Storm, Oglethorpe$100,000
   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…

8. May 6, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$90,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Oglethorpe county Emergency Management Director reported that a number of large trees were blown down, some on power lines and some on vehicles. The power was out in the area for several hours following the event.

9. Sep 11, 2017Tropical Storm, Oglethorpe$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Local news media reported numerous trees and power lines blown down across the county. Many customers were without electricity for varying periods of time. A few homes were damaged by falling trees. Radar estimated between 2 and 4 inches of rain fell across the county with 3.33 inches measured in Smithonia. No injuries were reported.

10. Mar 1, 2009Heavy Snow, Oglethorpe$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The maximum snowfall reported was 4.0 inches. The weight of the heavy, wet snow brought down numerous trees and power lines. Many residents of the county were left without power, in some cases up to two to three days.

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, 10.5 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.