White County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within White County: 2.
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. Mar 20, 1998Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado began in northwest Hall county and moved into southern White county. Total distance covered was about 13 miles. Aerial and ground surveys by NWS employees showed extensive damage along the path. There was significant damage to Lanier Elementary School and North Hall High School. Houses, trailers, businesses, and agricultural interests (namely the poultry industry) were demolished or damaged. Large areas of forest were flattened. A tractor-trailer truck was thrown 100 feet from the road into a school, killing the driver. All of the other 11 persons killed were in mobile homes. The damage path varied from 50 to 200 yards, but averaged around 100 yards wide.

2. Aug 29, 2005Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service in cooperation with the White County Emergency Management Director and the White County Sheriff concluded that an F2 tornado had carved a five mile long path of destruction, roughly parallel to Georgia Highway 75, causing major destruction to the town of Helen. Extensive damage was reported to several business in downtown Helen, a Bavarian tourist town in the northeast Georgia mountains. The entire second floor was ripped off the Helen Econo Lodge by the tornado. A nearby chapel was completely destroyed. The roof of Hansel & Gretel's Candy Kitchen, the Alpine Village Shoppes, as well as that of a nearby barbecue company…

3. Oct 29, 2012High Wind, White$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The White County Emergency Manager reported at least 10 trees down across the county due to high winds.

4. Nov 8, 1996Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The storm moved northeast into White county. Twelve homes were damaged and two large chicken houses were destroyed. Hundreds of trees were uprooted or snapped off. In Cleveland nine businesses in a shopping center were damaged, mainly roof damage or windows blown out. The path of the tornado varied in width from 75 yards to 50-75 feet. Because of the mountainous terrain, it was not possible to determine where breaks occurred.

5. Jan 22, 2000Ice Storm, White$980,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wintry precipitation plagued the northern third of Georgia beginning Saturday and continued into Sunday. A shallow cold airmass with single-digit dewpoint temperatures was in place over north Georgia, with temperatures in the upper 20s to lower 30s over much of the area. An upper level disturbance moved rapidly over the area in a fast zonal flow, bringing an increase in mid-tropospheric moisture. At the same time, lower level moisture spread into the area from the Gulf of Mexico. Precipitation began falling into the colder layer of air near the surface by mid-morning on the 22nd. The mixture of light rain, snow and sleet had spread from northwest to northeast Georgia by early…

6. Mar 17, 2018Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service survey team found that an EF1 tornado, with a maximum wind speed of 105 mph and a maximum path width of 630 yards, moved across northern White County. The tornado touched down at the Upper Chattahoochee River Campground in the Chattahoochee Wildlife Management area, just south of the Union County line. Hundreds of trees were blown down as the tornado travelled southeast across the northern portion of the Wildlife Management Area. The tornado passed out of the Chattahoochee WMA along Highway 17 north of Dyers Drive where it struck an RV resort containing dozens of recreational vehicles. Dozens of trees were blown down in the resort area destroying four…

7. Mar 21, 2017Hail$432,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The White County Emergency Manager reported golf ball size hail in Cleveland.

8. Mar 21, 2017Hail$432,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The White County Fire Department reported golf ball size hail along Old Highway 75 near the Hall County line.

9. Aug 21, 2010Flash Flood$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The White County Emergency Management Director reported significant flash flooding near and just south of Cleveland. The most significant incident occurred along a service road of U.S. Highway 129, approximately one mile south of Cleveland. Significant erosion, six to eight feet deep in spots, occurred in the area resulting in a pavement collapse. The collapsed pavement resulted in a sink hole causing damage to a car wash and adjacent Sonic Drive In restaurant along U.S. Highway 129. Most of the damage was in the form of collapsed awnings and damage to adjacent property at the drive in. In addition, Cox Creek overflowed its banks onto U.S. Highway 129 near Campbell Street with…

10. Mar 20, 2001High Wind, White$300,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A very strong, cutoff upper-level low pressure system moved slowly through the southeast U.S. from the evening of the 19th of March through the morning of the 20th. The accompanying surface low took a path from near Columbus, Georgia to near Athens, Georgia, to near Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina between midnight and noon on the 20th. Very strong east to northeast winds accompanied the surface low as it took this path through central and northeast Georgia during the early morning hours on the 20th. Sustained wind speeds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts to near 60 mph were common throughout central, north central, and northeast Georgia during the morning hours on the 20th,…

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

103°FJul 12, 1930

All-time low

−10°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

84°FJun 29, 1945

Coldest day

9°FDec 24, 1989

Wettest day

10.50 inSep 30, 1936

Snowiest day

11.2 inJan 23, 1940

Hottest year

1927mean 61.7°F

Coldest year

1976mean 54.9°F

Wettest year

201385.75 in

Driest year

201633.27 in

Station Cornelia (USC00092283), 1,470 ft elevation, 13.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1919 to October 23, 2026; 99.6% 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 USC00092283.
• 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.