Webster County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Mar 1, 2007Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, GA concluded that a strong, violent, and long-lived EF3 tornado tracked across southeast Webster, much of Sumter, and far southern Macon counties. The tornado touched down near Chambliss on the Webster/Terrell county line and tracked east-northeast exiting the county into Sumter county near Bottsford. While the overall path length of the tornado was around 40 miles, the path length within Webster county was between seven and eight miles. While the tornado reached its maximum path width of 1.0 mile in Sumter county near Americus, it was determined to be less than this within Webster county. A path of…

2. Apr 5, 2017Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service survey team found that the tornado that began in Randolph County and moved across southeastern Stewart County moved into Webster County at EF1 intensity, with maximum wind speeds of 104 MPH and a maximum path width of 880 yards, south of Goodwins Pond Road. The tornado continued moving east crossing Highway 41 and Highway 520 before ending around the intersection of Hudson Leverette Road and County Road 23. The damage was mostly to trees, power lines, and small farm outbuildings. One peanut farm storage building was destroyed, but fortunately the employees had been sent home earlier in the day due to the threat for severe weather. The owner of the farm…

3. Feb 17, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$55,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Americus Times Recorder reported that thunderstorm winds caused significant damage within Webster county. A total of 12 mobile homes, one brick home, a pole barn, and a sanitation shop sustained minor to moderate damage. The majority of the damage was from Lynn Lane at Georgia Highway 520 northeastward through the county. Numerous trees and power lines were down within this same area.

4. May 4, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Webster County Emergency Manager reported numerous trees and a few power lines blown down across the entire county from the Seminole area across Preston, Weston, Dumas, Centerpoint and Leveretts.

5. Apr 27, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Public reports received from Webster county indicated damaging thunderstorms winds and an apparent tornado. Reports relayed through the Birmingham NWSFO, the Webster county sheriff's office,and the Webster county EMC indicated there was damage to a pecan orchard, trees, a barn, power lines and farm equipment near Georgia Highway 520 and Center Point Road.

6. Sep 6, 2004Strong Wind, Webster$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong wind damage, associated with Tropical Storm Frances, is listed below, in alphabetical order by county for those counties that "strong wind" criteria was either met or assumed to have been met.Banks: The Banks County News of Homer reported that several trees and power lines were down throughout the county. Three large pine trees were down on Carson Segars Road, blocking the road. (Estimated Damage: $7,000)Bartow: The Bartow County 911 Center reported that three trees and power lines were down around the county. (Estimated Damage: $5,000)Carroll: The Georgian Newspaper of Carrollton reported that several trees and power lines were down across the county. Several power outages…

7. Sep 11, 2017Tropical Storm, Webster$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The news media reported numerous trees and power lines blown down across the county. No injuries were reported.

8. Jul 11, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$45,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Webster County Emergency Manager reported a roof blown off of a small office building near the intersection of Washington Street and Industrial Boulevard and several trees and power lines blown down in Preston. One tree fell on a house.

9. Apr 7, 2016Tornado$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Webster County EMS/Fire Department found damage along a 5.1 mile long, 300 yard wide path from an EF-0 tornado. Maximum wind speeds were estimated at 80 MPH. The path stretched from just northeast of Weston along State Highway 41 to around the intersection of East Centerpoint Road and County Road 24. Numerous trees were uprooted or snapped along this path. Along County Road 26, minor roof damage occurred on two houses and the skirting along the bottom of a manufactured home was ripped off. A small shed was destroyed along East Centerpoint road. No injuries were reported. [04/07/16: Tornado #2, County #1-1, EF0, Webster, 2016:006].

10. Jan 2, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The Webster County Emergency Manager and the county 911 center reported trees blown down from around the intersection of Highway 41 and Center Point Road south of Preston to Wilson Pond Road north of Preston. There was damage to metal outbuildings and shingles blown off of several houses northwest of Preston.

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°FAug 19, 2000

All-time low

−2°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

78°FJul 14, 1980

Coldest day

23°F2 times, most recently Jan 22, 1985

Wettest day

7.82 inMar 28, 2005

Snowiest day

8.0 inFeb 10, 1973

Hottest year

2019mean 66.8°F

Coldest year

1976mean 62.6°F

Wettest year

196470.58 in

Driest year

201233.26 in

Snowiest season

8.0 in1972-73

Station Plains Sw Ga Experiment Station (USC00097087), 500 ft elevation, 11.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1956 to October 5, 2026; 86.1% 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 USC00097087.
• 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.