Pierce County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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. Oct 21, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees down on north end of town. Numerous mobile homes and houses damaged. Several houses had roofs torn off them.

2. Aug 17, 2010Lightning$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning directly hit the Pierce County Emergency Operations Tower. The strike traveled down the tower and severely damage the center's control box for the tower, its server, radio for both the county EMS and Pierce County jail as well as radios for dispatch stations and telephone lines. The strike also destroyed lightning arrestors which were designed to alleviate impacts from lightning stirkes.

3. Oct 21, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large tree down on mobile home destroying it. Highway 84 and Railroad Lane.

4. Jan 2, 1999Tornado$35,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Seven residents with minor roof damage, church steeple damaged and a roof was blown off a silo.

5. Mar 1, 1998Flood, Pierce$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Total flooding related to El Nino. More than 200 homes damaged. Flooding mainly along the St Mary's, Altamaha, and Satilla Rivers. Some areas also effect with Closed Basin flooding.

6. Jul 27, 2010Lightning$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck the steeple of the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Patterson, Ga. The time of the event was based on radar. The strike split the fiberglass steeple in half, and major damage was done to the church's electrical systems including the sound system, video equipment, projectors and air conditioning. Damage was estimated in the $10's of thousands.

7. Dec 24, 2002Tornado$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees and power poles snapped off near ground. Large trees down on power lines.

8. Oct 21, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large trees down on houses. Highway 84 closed due to downed trees.

9. Sep 29, 1998Flash Flood$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall amounts of 5 to 7 inches from the remnants of Hurricane Georges caused the closing of numerous street and roads.

10. Dec 24, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Large trees down across two mobile homes. Some structural damage.

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

105°F2 times, most recently Jun 23, 2022

All-time low

−1°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

80°F2 times, most recently Jun 18, 1996

Coldest day

25°F2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Wettest day

7.66 inApr 24, 2021

Snowiest day

4.4 inFeb 10, 1973

Hottest year

1990mean 70.1°F

Coldest year

1940mean 64.1°F

Wettest year

194764.56 in

Driest year

195426.08 in

Snowiest season

5.0 in2024-25

Station Alma Bacon County Airport (USW00013870), 191 ft elevation, 22.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1938 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 USW00013870.
• 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.