Wilkes County

Every recorded tornado

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

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

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 16, 2004Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage assessment conducted by the Wilkes County Emergency Management Director indicated that an F1 tornado, briefly at the high end of the F1 scale, touched down just south of Tignall near Georgia Highway 17 and continued north from six to seven miles along or just west of Georgia Highway 17 to just north of Norman. The path width of the tornado was mostly between 100 and 200 yards, but briefly was up to 500 yards wide between Mallorysville and Georgia Highway 17. The tornado was believed to have been on the ground from 70 to 80 percent of the time along its path. Large trees were uprooted on six single-family dwellings in the Tignall area and several other dwellings were…

2. Jan 22, 2000Ice Storm, Wilkes$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…

3. Jan 25, 2004Ice Storm, Wilkes$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An extensive and formidable wedge of cold air associated with a back door cold front invaded the area during the late morning and afternoon of the 25th and moved west toward the Alabama border by the morning of the 26th. The wedge of cold air remained in place until a cold front moved the persistent wedge of cold air out of the area during the morning hours of the 27th. Temperatures within the wedge area ranged from the upper 20s in northeast Georgia near Danielsville and Homer to around freezing in Atlanta and surrounding areas. In general, all areas north and east of a line from Dahlonega, to Atlanta, to Milledgeville were below freezing during this period. Meanwhile, several…

4. Feb 18, 2009Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast office in Columbia, South Carolina, confirmed that an EF3 tornado had tracked across far southern Wilkes county causing considerable damage along its path. The tornado continued its east-southeastward track into extreme northeastern McDuffie county. The total tornado path length was 18.6 miles. The tornado initially touched down in the Tyrone community in southwest Washington county. Here a cinder block home was completely destroyed with the cinder block debris blown downstream nearly 1/2 mile. Fifteen other homes along the path of the tornado sustained moderate to major damage from the tornado. Nineteen…

5. May 20, 2005Lightning$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The News Reporter of Washington reported that lightning struck the Wilkes County Law Enforcement Center, causing significant damage to computer equipment in the 911 Center and sheriff's office. Electronic circuitry was damaged in electronic locks, security cameras, computers, and fax machines. It was noted that this was the third time since opening that this building has sustained a lightning strike.

6. Sep 11, 2017Tropical Storm, Wilkes$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Local news media reported numerous trees and power lines blown down across the county. A local newspaper reported that at one time during the storm, for several hours, every electric utility customer in the county was without power. Some homes and vehicles were damaged by falling trees. A wind gust of 39 mph was measured near Celeste. Radar estimated between 2 and 4 inches of rain fell across the county with 2.77 inches measured near Celeste. No injuries were reported.

7. Apr 5, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Wilkes County Emergency Management Director reported that more than a dozen trees and several power lines were down across the county. Two homes sustained minor to moderate damage.

8. Jun 18, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Wilkes County Emergency Manager reported that trees were blown down across the county, including on Independence, South Butler, Lincolnton Highway, Lexington Highway, Susan Road, Beaverdam Road, Newtown Road, and Alexander Drive. A few trees were down on houses.

9. Nov 11, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$115,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Wilkes county Emergency Management Director reported that a vacant home north of Washington was destroyed and another home west of Washington suffered significant damage. A third home in Washington suffered minor damage. Numerous trees and power lines were also down in the area. Georgia Highway 17, Tignall Road, was completely blocked north of Washington. In addition, up to 3500 residents were without power for several hours.

10. Jan 28, 2005Winter Storm, Wilkes$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A significant and fairly prolonged winter storm/ice storm affected nearly all of North and Central Georgia from the evening of Friday January 28th to late morning on Sunday January 30th. The winter storm was a result of a very strong and very cold Arctic surface high pressure system located across the Mid-Atlantic states and an upper-level disturbance moving across the region from the west. North of a line from La Grange, to Thomaston, to Sandersville, the precipitation fell mostly as a mixture of sleet and freezing rain, with typical accumulations of one-half inch glaze ice and one to two inches of sleet. Some areas in North Central and Northeast Georgia experienced significant…

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

111°FSep 8, 1925

All-time low

−2°F4 times, most recently Jan 22, 1985

Warmest night

86°FJun 27, 1949

Coldest day

20°FJan 28, 1986

Wettest day

7.80 inJul 17, 1991

Snowiest day

7.0 in2 times, most recently Mar 25, 1983

Hottest year

1945mean 64.9°F

Coldest year

1997mean 58.9°F

Wettest year

196471.77 in

Driest year

202425.00 in

Snowiest season

11.5 in1935-36

Station Calhoun Falls (USC00381277), 530 ft elevation, 24.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1917 to September 16, 2026; 97.3% 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 USC00381277.
• 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.