Bradley County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Bradley County: 13.
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.

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. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$23.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ringgold-Apison Tornado. This tornado touched down in north Georgia and tracked northeast into Hamilton County, Tennessee, and then into Bradley County. In Bradley County, the max intensity still caused EF4 damage with the max wind extimated at 170 mph and did extensive damage to many homes and businesses. An additional 4 people were killed by the tornado in Bradley County in the Blue Springs Community. The fatalities included a 42 year old women from Wisconsin visiting her son in the Blue Springs community as well as the 3 month old boy in the same house she was trying to protect. In addition, a 40 year old women died in her home. Also, a 67 year old woman died in her home.

2. May 6, 2003Flash Flood$13.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flooding, road closures, damage, evacuations.

3. Mar 2, 2012Tornado$3.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Harrison Tornado - Segment #2. The Harrison Tornado entered western Bradley County near the saddlepoint along a ridgeline named Mahan Gap. It roughly followed Harrison Pike ENE for about 4 miles, until the highway turned off to the south. The tornado continued into the northern parts of the city of Cleveland and then across the remainder of the county into Polk County. ||The tornado was near its strongest in the first mile or two into Bradley County where it downed vast swaths of trees along the highway. The maximum estimated winds were 130 MPH, making it a high EF2 at its peak. This area was very rugged with no houses near the county line.||Overall there were 46 houses that were…

4. Mar 29, 1997Tornado$3.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   In Hamilton county...the tornado first touched down in the Tiftonia community just west of downtown Chattanooga around 1:10 am EDT. As the tornado moved due east across the southern part of the county, 50 homes were completely destroyed. Another 600 homes and one business were heavily damaged. Most of the damage was concentrated in the East Brainerd community. There, about half of the 180-unit Hickory Villa apartment complex was destroyed, and 18 of 23 townhomes of the Hickory Trace complex were destroyed. Two more apartment complexes, Hickory Valley and Ledford Apartments, were severely damaged. Around 20000 homes were without electricity after the storm. Most power had been…

5. Apr 16, 1998Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The woman was killed when she was making her way into the basement in her home to take shelter from the approaching tornado. High winds caused the house to shift on its foundation, crushing her. Two homes were completely destroyed. Damage occurred to 33 homes, 10 barns, 2 mobile homes and a church.

6. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Cleveland-to-Etowah Tornado. A NWS storm survey reported this tornado formed south of Cleveland. The max wind of 130 mph downed many trees and caused EF2 damage to several homes. Four people died in the hardest-hit area. The fatalities included a 42 year old women as well as a 77 year old man both dying in their homes. In addition, a 34 year old women and a 56 year old women both died in their homes. The tornado continued to the east-northeast then tracked into Polk County.

7. May 7, 1998Tornado$375,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado initially touched down in an industrial park on the south side of Cleveland. It then moved across several subdivisions causing roof and siding damage to numerous houses and knocking down a number of trees and powerlines. This tornadic storm moved east and produced another tornado in neighboring Polk County.

8. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The 5W Cleveland Tornado. A NWS storm survey reported an EF2 tornado developed west of Cleveland. It had a path width of 150 yards and a path length of 2 miles. The max wind 120 mph destroyed 3 mobile homes and other structures were damaged. One person was injured.

9. Oct 26, 2010Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An short lived EF-1 tornado with maximum wind speeds at 90 mph touched down and produced roof damage to a convenient store, knocked a gas pump over and downed two trees near highway 11.

10. Apr 28, 2014Tornado$90,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An NWS Survey team determined an EF1 tornado touched down near Gap Springs with wind around 105 mph. It touched down 7 miles east-northeast of Cohutta Georgia and tracked into southern Bradley County, then lifted 7.5 east-northeast of Cohutta. The 100 yard wide track traveled along Hughes Lake Road SE where a home was shifted off its foundation. The path length was only 0.56 miles. No injuries or fatalities were reported.

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°F3 times, most recently Jul 1, 2012

All-time low

−16°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

77°FJul 22, 2026

Coldest day

15°F5 times, most recently Feb 4, 1996

Wettest day

11.60 inSep 5, 2011

Snowiest day

7.0 inJan 9, 2011

Hottest year

2019mean 61.4°F

Coldest year

1976mean 55.7°F

Wettest year

202079.86 in

Driest year

200732.74 in

Snowiest season

14.9 in1969-70

Station Cleveland Fltr Plt (USC00401808), 842 ft elevation, 5.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1955 to October 22, 2026; 98.5% 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 USC00401808.
• 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.