Blount County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NASA (3), USGS Conterminous (2).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 23, 1999Lightning$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning started a fire at Fayerweather Hall at Maryville College. The fire gutted the entire third floor of the 100 year-old structure. Smoke and water damaged the remainder of the building. Up to 100 firefighters were involved in the two hour effort to extinguish the blaze.

2. May 5, 2003Flash Flood$3.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Streams and roads flooding countywide. High water problems across the county.

3. Feb 23, 2019Flood$2.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Over 250 homes affected. Several roads flooded.

4. Mar 23, 2011Tornado$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-3 tornado produced 140 mph winds along a 5.8 mile path with a maximum damage path width of 500 yards. Twenty six homes sustained damage ranging from fifty percent to entirely demolished as a result of the tornado.

5. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Chilhowee EF4 Tornado. An NWS survey team reported an EF4 tornado touched down west of Chilhowee Lake in northern Monroe County. The max wind of 170 mph smashed a TVA transmission tower in the Lake, and ground up miles of forest in both Cherokee National Forest, then in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. ||This tornado started in northern Monroe County in the Cherokee National Forest, then crossed Chilhowee Lake where it smash the tower, entering into Blount County. On the far shore of the lake (now in Blount County and also entering the Great Smoky Mountains National Park), it took a right turn at 33.5574/84.0061, traveled ENE deeper into the park, towards Cades Cove. Before…

6. Oct 17, 2006High Wind, Blount/Smoky Mountains$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and powerlines down across the higher elevations. Several park facilities were damaged. In addition, many camper trailers, RVs and vehicles using the park were also damaged.

7. Jun 2, 2001Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong F0 tornado touched down at the intersection of West Hunt Road and Middlesettlement Road near Old Glory. 1 house and 12 mobile homes were damaged. The path was 1.5 miles non-continuous.

8. Apr 25, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Law enforcement personnel reported a home destroyed and several trees downed by thunderstorm winds on Cannon Road.

9. Jul 27, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   One hundred trees were downed at Alcoa's Green Meadow Country Club. One of the trees fell on a car parked at the club as well.

10. Apr 20, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorm winds overturned two tractor trailers, blew several barn rooves off, downed numerous trees and powerlines.

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 Jul 1, 2012

All-time low

−24°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

80°FJul 25, 2010

Coldest day

7°FJan 30, 1966

Wettest day

6.14 inJul 16, 1917

Snowiest day

17.5 inFeb 13, 1960

Hottest year

2016mean 61.9°F

Coldest year

1917mean 56.4°F

Wettest year

201369.35 in

Driest year

198632.48 in

Snowiest season

56.7 in1959-60

Station Knoxville Airport (USW00013891), 971 ft elevation, 4.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1910 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 USW00013891.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.