Tift County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 26, 2024Hurricane (Typhoon), Tift$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were 40 roads were closed due to downed power lines, large trees on the road, or washouts. Numerous power outages occurred.

2. Feb 14, 2000Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong tornado crossed U.S. Highway 319 from extreme northeast Colquitt County into extreme southwest Tift County, just south of Omega. Twelve mobile homes and eight pre-fabricated homes were destroyed. Numerous frame homes were damaged, including some moved off their block foundations. Ten persons were injured. Numerous trees and power lines were down. Just northeast of Omega, a school bus was blown into a nearby home. Tift County was declared a federal disaster area. Reported by the Tift County EMA.

3. Mar 2, 2007Tornado$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The EF-1 tornado touched down west of Chula. It damaged 20 homes, of which seven were heavily damaged and 13 suffered minor damage. The tornado also snapped and uprooted numerous trees before it crossed into southeastern Turner County.

4. Feb 23, 2013Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Persistent moderate to heavy rainfall over a long duration led to a gradual accumulation of water that caused areal flooding. Around 9 roads were closed, some of which were heavily damaged. Water reached the bottom of the bridge at Old Brookfield Road from Christian Way to Carpenter Road. Monetary damage was estimated.

5. Sep 10, 2017Tropical Storm, Tift$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Irma brought numerous impacts to the Florida Big Bend, southwest Georgia and southeast Alabama including widespread downed trees and power lines, roads blocked by trees, power outages, and trees on homes. Two people died during the event - one due to a car crash (Liberty County, FL) and another that had a heart attack (Worth County, GA). Two indirect deaths occurred due to carbon monoxide from a generator (Taylor County, FL). While many counties across the Florida Big Bend and southwest Georgia were impacted, the greatest impacts were across the eastern portion of the area near the I-75 corridor. There were over 6.5 million customers without power in Florida, over…

6. Oct 10, 2018Tropical Storm, Tift$477,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Michael started as typical weak October Caribbean tropical system. However, after approximately a week of slow development, the system moved into warm Gulf of Mexico waters and rapidly intensified into a major hurricane as it moved north towards the Florida Panhandle. After a 2-day long intensification period over the eastern Gulf, Michael made landfall as an unprecedented (for the region) high-end category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale in the Florida Panhandle with maximum sustained wind speed of 155 mph and a minimum pressure 919 mb. Based on wind, Michael is the fourth most powerful hurricane to hit the United States, behind the Labor Day…

7. Aug 8, 2012Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant flash flooding occurred across Tifton and extending eastward into eastern Tift county along Highway 82. In Tifton, the bottom floor of the Ramada Inn hotel had to be evacuated due to water entering the hotel. There was also water damage to the Shoney's restaurant in Tifton. Exit 59 off of I-75 was also closed due to flooding along with Highway 82 east of Tifton. Around 11 inches rain fell during the overnight hours across the area. Monetary damage was estimated.

8. Sep 26, 2004Tropical Storm, Tift$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical Storm Jeanne moved north across south central Georgia during the early morning hours of September 27. Maximum sustained winds up to 40 knots with peak gusts to 50 knots were reported. The lowest sea-level pressure was 987.8 mb at Valdosta, GA. Rainfall totals varied from an inch at Albany, GA to nine inches at Tifton, GA. Widespread areal flooding was reported over portions of south central Georgia. In Lowndes County, high water forced 700 residents of a Valdosta subdivision to evacuate. The Withlacoochee River near Valdosta rose above flood stage. Many county and dirt roads were washed out. Schools and local businesses were closed on September 27. There were numerous…

9. Jul 9, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Tift$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Dennis came ashore along the central Gulf coast on July 10. The lowest sea-level pressure and peak wind gust recorded were 1007.5 mb and 42 mph, respectively, at Albany, GA. Heavy rainfall commenced July 10, and persisted into the early morning hours of July 11. A nearly stationary feeder band from the eastern Florida Panhandle into southwest Georgia produced four to eight inches, with isolated amounts up to a foot. In Colquitt County, flash flooding along the Okapilco Creek in Moultrie damaged many homes, washed out roads, and forced the evacuation of 100 homes. Heavy rains in the upper Flint River basin generated high flows which reached as far south as Bainbridge, GA.…

10. May 28, 2006Lightning$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Lightning from an early evening thunderstorm was blamed for two house fires. Both structures suffered severe damage from flames and smoke. Reported by the Tifton Gazette.

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°FSep 5, 1925

All-time low

0°F2 times, most recently Jan 22, 1985

Warmest night

80°FJun 29, 1931

Coldest day

22°F2 times, most recently Dec 24, 1989

Wettest day

9.01 inAug 8, 2012

Snowiest day

5.0 inJan 21, 2025

Hottest year

1990mean 68.9°F

Coldest year

1966mean 63.7°F

Wettest year

196468.82 in

Driest year

195423.25 in

Snowiest season

5.0 in2024-25

Station Tifton (USC00098703), 380 ft elevation, 2.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1911 to September 30, 2026; 94.6% 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 USC00098703.
• 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.