Stephens County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Stephens 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. Sep 20, 2009Flash Flood$4.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe flash flooding affected Stephens County. Numerous creeks left their banks in the central and western part of the county, including Toccoa Creek which flooded highway 17. Portions of highway 441 and 123 were also closed. At least 300 homes in the county suffered flood damage. Uninsured property losses were estimated to be over 2 million dollars, and damage to roads and water lines was estimated to be around 3 million. A 20 foot section of Dick's Hill Parkway, the major road between Toccoa and Cornelia, was washed away.

2. Dec 4, 2002Ice Storm, Stephens$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Freezing rain began over extreme northeast Georgia around noon on the 4th, and resultant tree and power line damage began during the mid afternoon. By dawn on the 5th, 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice had accumulated. Power outages lasted for several days in some areas.

3. Apr 28, 2002Hail$100,000
4. Dec 15, 2005Ice Storm, Stephens$100,000
5. Jan 4, 2023Lightning$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Spotter reported a lightning strike ignited a house fire southeast of Toccoa.

6. Sep 16, 2004Flood, Stephens$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   After isolated flash flooding developed earlier in the evening, persistent moderate to heavy rainfall led to a gradual expansion of general flooding across extreme northeast Georgia. By far the hardest hit area was Rabun County, where numerous streams flooded severely, including Toccoa Falls and Worley Creeks, and the Tallulah River. Numerous homes, businesses, and several apartment buildings were damaged by flood water. Another home was destroyed by a mudslide. Many roads and bridges were washed out or otherwise damaged across the area, including highways 15 and 76 in Rabun County, and Yonah Dam Rd in Stephens County, which was washed out to a depth of 30 feet in one section.…

7. Jun 16, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of severe thunderstorms downed numerous trees and power lines across much of the above listed counties. A roof was blown off a house southeast of Toccoa and several trees fell on houses and vehicles in Elbert county.

8. Apr 28, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were reported down near Lake Hartwell. At least one tree fell onto a house.

9. Sep 16, 2004High Wind, Stephens$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High winds developed across the mountains and foothills of northeast Georgia during the evening, as the remnants of Hurricane Ivan moved just west of the area. Widespread tree damage occurred, and many trees fell on structures and vehicles.

10. Jun 14, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Spotter reported multiple power poles blown down on Shorewood Cir. County comms reported a tree down on a house on Ridgemore Dr in the same area.

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

107°FJul 21, 1926

All-time low

−5°FJan 30, 1966

Warmest night

81°FJul 7, 1897

Coldest day

18°FJan 26, 1905

Wettest day

11.87 inSep 21, 2009

Snowiest day

12.0 inJan 26, 1906

Hottest year

2016mean 63.8°F

Coldest year

1910mean 57.6°F

Wettest year

200985.85 in

Driest year

198133.72 in

Snowiest season

18.7 in1935-36

Station Toccoa (USC00098740), 1,012 ft elevation, 2.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1891 to October 27, 2026; 88.6% 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 USC00098740.
• 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.