Wayne County

Every recorded tornado

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

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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.

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 25, 2026Wildfire, Wayne$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   On April 20, 2026 at 4 PM EDT, the Georgia Forestry Commission reported a wildfire developed along Highway 82 near Atkinson, GA. The Highway 82 fire was caused by a Mylar balloon coming into contact with a power line, creating an electrical arc that ignited the surrounding vegetation. This wildfire resulted in the worst home loss from a single fire in Georgia history, with 110 homes destroyed and 27 homes damaged. On April 25th, the fire grew to 9,578 acres per overnight infrared flight mapping. Evacuation areas were expanded to the Brantley���Wayne County line due to the fire movement to the north and northeast, while evacuations and road closures on the southern portion of…

2. May 1, 2026Wildfire, Wayne$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   On April 20, 2026 at 4 PM EDT, the Georgia Forestry Commission reported a wildfire developed along Highway 82 near Atkinson, GA. The Highway 82 fire was caused by a Mylar balloon coming into contact with a power line, creating an electrical arc that ignited the surrounding vegetation. This wildfire resulted in the worst home loss from a single fire in Georgia history, with 110 homes destroyed and 27 homes damaged. On May 1st, the fire was 22,532 acres and 45% contained. On May 2nd, all voluntary evacuations were rescinded but mandatory evacuations along Mobile Road remained in place. About an inch of rain fell on the wildfire on May 2nd which helped reduce fire activity and helped…

3. Dec 17, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees were blown down an damage was done to agricultural equipment. The cost of property loss was reported at $200,000.

4. Aug 19, 2013Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Around 9:47 pm EDT, Wayne County Dispatch reported that a portion of Odum Screven Road was flooded near Route 203. By 10:22 pm EDT, Dispatch reported that many roads in Jesup were flooded, and a few structures had water flowing into them. By 10:45 pm, the county emergency manager relayed that there was widespread flash flooding occurring in Jesup. Numerous roads were flooded including Main Road 84. There were 4 vehicles completely covered in water, and water was entering homes, motels and fire stations in Jesup. Around 12 am on 8/20, the emergency manager relayed that 20 to 30 homes in downtown Jesup were flooded with about 1 ft of standing water. There was about 4 inches of…

5. Mar 12, 2026Thunderstorm Wind$70,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous mobile homes suffered major damage to roofs and siding in the Odum area. Many roofs were peeled off completely destroying the roof. A shipping container was also flipped onto its side. Time was estimated from radar.

6. Mar 30, 2000Tornado$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A weak F0 tornado with some areas of straight line winds. Damaged 10 homes and destroyed three sheds.

7. Oct 25, 1997Lightning$30,000
8. Feb 21, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two large trees were blown down onto a building which caused damage near U.S. Highway 84 about 1 mile south of the Altamaha River.

9. Aug 23, 2000Lightning$15,000
10. Jun 13, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$12,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Large trees and power lines were blown down on Gail Road. Roof blown off mobile home.

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, 35.1 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.