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: 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.

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.

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. Sep 25, 1998Hurricane (Typhoon), Wayne$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Please see the narrative on Hurricane Georges under Alabama, Southwest, September 25-29, 1998.

2. Dec 27, 2018Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A swatch of 10 to 15 inches of rain caused major flash flooding over a large part of Wayne County. The heaviest axis of rain and most significant area of flash flooding impacts was located from southwest of Clara northeast into and just north of Waynesboro. Numerous roads across the county were closed due to the flooding. In total, 11 roads and 4 bridges suffered major damage. Another 17 roads had minor damage. One home and 2 mobile homes suffered major flood damage. Another 8 homes suffered minor flood damage.||The costs of damage listed is a very rough estimate as a more detailed estimate was not available.

3. Apr 28, 2014Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The NWS Survey team found evidence of a strong tornado that tracked across north central and northeast Wayne County. The tornado tracked from the west to the east at around 50 mph. A single family home located on Waller Ridge Road and several single family homes and mobile homes on Spinkes Hayes Road were destroyed. Minor to moderate damage occurred to numerous other residences from Spinkes Hayes Road to Matherville Diamond Road.

4. Nov 15, 2006Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado entered the southwest part of Wayne County from Jones County just south of US Highway 84. The tornado moved northeast causing mostly tree damage and crossed Highway 84. The tornado then crossed Harry Pippen Drive where it pushed a large tree on to a house. The tornado continued northeast over private property where it strengthened to an F1. Here it caused considerable tree damage and damaged a barn near Pleasant Grove Altair Road. The tornado crossed the road and this is where most of the damage occurred. A mobile home that was tied down was flipped and demolished. A large shed was flattened. Other homes in this area lost shingles and trees. The tornado lifted near…

5. Feb 10, 2013Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down in the southwest portions of Wayne County just south of Strickland Road and just west of Salem Road along Byrd Creek in the Desoto National Forest. The tornado quickly intensified to EF-1 strength as it crossed Shows Road where it damaged the roofs of 2 homes and snapped or uprooted numerous large trees. The tornado overturned camping trailers at a hunting camp off of Fire Road 726 and continued east northeast crossing Pine Grove Road. The tornado weakened to EF-0 strength as it crossed a large section of the Desoto National Forest and Highway 63 approximately 4 miles southwest of Clara where it produced minor damage to the roofs of a few homes...destroyed…

6. Jan 13, 2013Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The initial tornado touchdown was located near|Odell Chambers Drive where it produced sporadic tree damage. The|tornado continued northeastward...Intensifying to EF-1 intensity|and widening to 200 yards as it moved across Oscar Jordan Road. In|this area...significant tree damage was observed. Numerous pine|trees were snapped and several large oak trees were uprooted.|The tornado continued northeast...Producing structural damage|near the intersection of John Pettis Drive and Jordan Sumrall|Road. One modular home and one mobile home suffered the loss of their|roofs. Additional tree damage was noted with pine trees snapped|and oak trees uprooted. The damage was consistent with EF-1…

7. Mar 11, 2016Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused flooding which washed out several roads across Wayne County.

8. Feb 23, 2016Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The storm survey team found a third tornado touchdown in a heavily wooded area near the Greene/Wayne county line. Numerous large diameter (greater than 2 feet) hardwood and pine trees were either snapped near the base of the trunk or |uprooted. Significant damage occurred to a log cabin built in 1909 just inside the Wayne County line...with window panes blown out and large portions of the roof destroyed. A detached outbuilding...built roughly at the same time...was destroyed by a large tree falling on its north side. The tornado continued affecting mostly wooded areas before lifting just to the northeast of Woulard Bend River Road.

9. Jun 5, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of severe thunderstorms moved through the county between 950 and 1035 pm. Trees and power lines were blown down throughout the county. No injuries were reported.

10. Feb 10, 2013Tornado$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The tornado touched down near Mallie Bonner Road southwest|of the Denham area where it snapped a few pine trees. The tornado|strengthened quickly and widened to nearly 200 yards wide as it crossed|Denham Progress Road just north of Joe Taylor Road...destroying a single wide|mobile home...damaging the roofs of several wood frame homes...and snapping|or uprooting numerous large trees. The tornado quickly weakened and|dissipated as it crossed Joe Taylor Road. This tornado was produced by the|same supercell thunderstorm that produced the Clara tornado a few minutes|earlier.

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°F3 times, most recently Aug 27, 2023

All-time low

−2°FFeb 13, 1899

Warmest night

98°FSep 26, 1894

Coldest day

14°FFeb 13, 1899

Wettest day

12.75 inDec 28, 2018

Snowiest day

10.0 inDec 31, 1963

Hottest year

1922mean 68.9°F

Coldest year

1894mean 61.8°F

Wettest year

191985.10 in

Driest year

195433.89 in

Snowiest season

10.9 in1963-64

Station Waynesboro 2 W (USC00229439), 200 ft elevation, 1.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1892 to October 27, 2026; 96.3% 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 USC00229439.
• 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.