Pike County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Jan 2, 2006Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service and confirmed by Emergency Managers from both Pike and Meriwether counties concluded that an F3 tornado touched down one mile southeast of Hollonville in northwest Pike county and traveled east for approximately 3 miles, terminating at a point about 4 miles east-southeast of Hollonville in north central Pike county. Five homes along the path were extensively damaged or destroyed. One home was moved 60 feet from its foundation. Two vehicles were thrown 250 yards. Several farm structures were also damaged in the area. A number of trees and power lines were also down in the area. Three injuries were reported during the event.…

2. Sep 6, 2004High Wind, Pike$500,000
   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…

3. Jan 2, 2006Hail$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public reported golf ball to softball-sized hail in the southwest part of Pike county near Molena. This hail was caused by a different thunderstorm from the one that spawned the F3 tornado in northern Pike southeast of Hollenville earlier. The thunderstorm that caused the large hail in southwest and south central Pike county was a separate supercell thunderstorm moving east across the southern part of the county.

4. Oct 7, 1998Lightning$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Fire set by lightning destroyed a large home on County Line Road in northeast Pike county. Most of the family's belongings were also lost.

5. Sep 16, 2004High Wind, Pike$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…

6. Mar 18, 2013Tornado$160,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service survey team determined that an EF-2 tornado that touched down in Meriwether County continued into Pike County. A home sustained minor roof damage, had both doors blown out, and four front windows were damaged. One barn was completely destroyed, and another shifted several feet off its foundation. A pontoon boat was thrown into a third barn. Two neighboring houses sustained minor damage, one to the roof and another to the garage. Thousands of trees were snapped or uprooted, some falling on homes.|[03/18/13: Tornado #1, County #2-2, EF2, Meriwether-Pike, 2013:004].

7. Jul 17, 2024Lightning$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Zebulon UMC caught fire due to lightning strike. Building is a total loss.

8. Sep 11, 2017Tropical Storm, Pike$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Pike County Emergency Manager reported 75-85 trees blown down across the county. Some downed trees did strike structures, however only minor damage was reported with no structures uninhabitable. Numerous power lines were downed as well with 50-75% of the county without power initially. Schools were closed for two days after the storm due to power outages and roads blocked by debris. Radar estimated 2.5 to 5 inches of rain fell across the county with 4.68 inches measured in Zebulon. No injuries were reported.

9. Jan 28, 2005Winter Storm, Pike$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…

10. Jun 17, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The Pike County Emergency Manager reported numerous, over 50, trees blown down across the eastern portion of the county from around Zebulon to Meansville and the Lamar County line. Damage was reported along and between Highways 18 and 109.

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 Jul 1, 2012

All-time low

2°FJan 30, 2014

Warmest night

77°F3 times, most recently Jun 30, 2024

Coldest day

26°FJan 7, 2014

Wettest day

6.44 inOct 4, 1995

Hottest year

2019mean 65.8°F

Coldest year

1997mean 59.5°F

Wettest year

201567.49 in

Driest year

200731.55 in

Station Atlanta (USW00053819), 972 ft elevation, 21.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1994 to October 26, 2026; 99.6% 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 USW00053819.
• 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.