Spalding County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Spalding County: 3.
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. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that the EF3 tornado that first touched down in northeast Meriwether county around 1155 pm EDT continued into western Spalding county. The tornado entered Spalding county approximately three miles south of Digbey, then continued northeast across the communities of Vaughn, Birdie, and Sunny Side before moving into southern Henry county and then lifting just across the Henry county line, approximately two miles south of Hampton. Approximately 15.6 miles of the near 20-mile long path of this EF3 tornado were within Spalding county. The total path length of the tornado within…

2. Mar 26, 2011Hail$888,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Spalding County Emergency Management Director and the public observed quarter to golf ball-sized hail along Georgia Highway 16 near Griffin. Quarter to golf ball-sized hail was also observed in Coweta county near the Spalding county line. Radar data suggested that similar-sized hail continued across much of central Spalding county along Georgia Highway 16.

3. Feb 18, 2009Tornado$825,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that the tornado that initially touched down in Meriwether county, then tracked across southern Coweta county, crossed into Spalding county approximately four miles east-northeast of Haralson or 7 miles west of Zetella. The tornado remain an EF2 as it tracked across southwest and into south central Spalding county, lifting just shy of the Pike county line about five miles west of Rover. Extensive damage was observed along the track of the tornado Four homes were completely destroyed and 40 others sustained minor to moderate damage. Dozens of trees were also down along the…

4. Sep 11, 2017Tropical Storm, Spalding$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Spalding County Emergency Manager reported hundreds of trees and numerous power lines blown down across the county. Forty four structures had minor damage, 45 had major damage, and 2 were destroyed. Most of the damage to structures was due to falling trees. No injuries were reported. Radar estimates indicate between 2.5 and 5 inches of rain fell across the county with 4.8 inches measured in the Griffin area.

5. Mar 28, 2009Hail$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An amateur radio operator relayed a report of golf ball-sized hail on the east side of Griffin. Nickel-sized hail was observed in Griffin. Radar data suggests that hail of nickel or larger size likely continued to the far east central portion of the county as the storm produced hail just across the line in Henry county.

6. Apr 3, 1998Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Spalding county EMA reported 30 homes suffered minor to heavy damage. One on North Walkers Mill Road was completely destroyed. In the Amelia Road area, homes sustained moderate damage with one shifted off its foundation. Light to moderate damage was in the Gainer Road area. The path length and width were estimated, but the storm apparently only touched down intermittently along the track.

7. Aug 29, 2005Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service concluded that an F1 tornado had touched down in a rural area of southeast Spalding county approximately five miles north of Orchard Hill in the vicinity of Wild Plum and McDonough Roads. The tornado continued north from this location for approximately one mile. The overall tornado path was one mile long and 100 yards wide. One small home was completely destroyed and another nearby brick home under construction suffered major damage. A sport utility vehicle was also damaged at this home when the garage collapsed. Two people in the small home were injured during the tornado. A few other homes nearby sustained minor damage. A…

8. Jan 28, 2005Winter Storm, Spalding$250,000
   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…

9. Sep 16, 2004Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service and the Spalding County Emergency Management Director concluded that a high end F0 tornado affected a small, 1/5-mile long and 50-yard wide path just southeast of the Griffin-Spalding Airport near the intersection of Maddox and Etheridge Roads. Extensive damage to around one dozen large mature pecan trees was observed, along with minor damage to several surrounding trees in a residental neighborhood. Minor roof damage was also noted to several of the homes. Many of the trees were uprooted inward to the path showing convergence and consistent with high end F0 70 mph tornado damage.

10. Jul 15, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Several trees were knocked down on houses near the Spalding county airport. The most substantial damage was several aircraft which were parked at the airport. Five planes received irreparable damage with at least three planes flipped onto their backs, and one on its nose. As many as six other aircraft were damaged to a lesser degree due to wind stress on the ropes tying them down , or contact with the other aircraft. One airplane was lifted off the groung, and then carried approximately 70 feet over a fuel truck along the edge of the airport property, landing upside-down on the county fairgrounds. The terminal building at the airport also experienced significant damage to its…

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, 27.4 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.