DeKalb County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Jun 9, 1998Hail$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Golf ball size hail was reported. News article mentioned 70 cars and 17 homes were damaged by the hailstorm. The wind driven hailstones caused holes in the siding of homes.

2. Feb 29, 2012Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF1 tornado with maximum wind speeds around 95 mph touched down about 1 mile northwest of Smithville along Highway 83, then tracked rapidly east-northeast across Center Hill Lake before ending in western White County about 7 miles northwest of Sparta. A barn was damaged near the beginning of the path, with sheet metal blown across fields and into power lines. Scattered trees were snapped or uprooted and some minor damage to homes occurred on the north side of Smithville as the tornado traveled generally along and just south of Highway 83 and Smithville Highway. A small warehouse-type building was destroyed at Smithville Highway and Pine Grove Road with debris thrown northward…

3. Feb 14, 2021Winter Storm, Dekalb$379,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Freezing rain brought ice accumulations up to 1/2 inch across De Kalb County, resulting in dozens of downed trees, power lines, and power poles. Some trees, power lines, and power poles fell onto homes and blocked numerous roads. Damage estimates from the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency reached 379,000 dollars.

4. May 5, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Newspaper related story of many trees blown down, trees on homes and cars and trees blocking roads. A half dozen or more homes were damaged. There were downed trees and power lines as well. The hardest hit area was the eastern part of the county at Ragland Bottom and Hillcrest Hills. 38 homes were damaged in Dekalb County.

5. May 6, 2024Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF1 tornado touched down east of Highway 70 in northwest Smithville then moved east paralleling Allen Ferry Road. Numerous trees were broken, snapped, and uprooted along the road, and several farm buildings lost roofing. The tornado then curved southeast and caused the worst damage along Highway 56 north of Smith Road where dozens of trees were snapped and uprooted and a couple homes suffered significant roof, garage, and exterior wall damage. The tornado then lifted east of the highway. Damages are a rough estimate.

6. Jul 3, 2026Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorm winds produced extensive timber damage at Edgar Evins State Park near Dowelltown. Several dozen trees were blown town, blocking roads and causing utility line damage. Some park goers were trapped in the park for several hours. Damages are a rough estimate.

7. Jan 24, 1997Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado caused structural damage to 12 homes. 3 barns were also damaged along with many sheds and outbuildings. Most of the damage to homes were on Allens Ferry Rd., Cordell Love Rd. and Big Hurricane Rd. Tornado path width and length are approximations.

8. Jun 11, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A two story barn destroyed along with roof blown of building. Type of building was unkown. Newspaper reported that barn was violently thrown, sending splintered wood piercing through the roof of a home and other debris scattered across the property. The roof of the barn was blown over a house nearby. Debris was found across Robinson Road and into an adjacent field. The flying debris and winds damaged the back corner of this home also and destroyed its carport. Two vehicles were damaged in the activity also. Type and amount of damage to vehicles was unkown.

9. Dec 23, 2015Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This EF2 tornado touched down on Helton Creek just southwest of Dry Branch Road. At this location, the path width was narrow at 50-75 yards wide but snapped numerous trees and did some minor roof damage to a home. The tornado continued to the east-northeast snapping large trees and doing minor roof damage to a home on Corley Road. As the tornado crossed over TN Highway 264 and Smith Fork Creek it widened to 250 yards. It was here where it produced the greatest damage. The roof and two exterior walls were removed, along with its carport and 2 covered porches. Based on the exterior walls only being toe-nailed in place, it was decided that the maximum wind speed would be reduced…

10. May 26, 2011Tornado$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A brief tornado occurred in Smithville. It severely damaged a gas station building but the canopy remained intact. It also damaged a nearby restaurant. Many trees were also snapped or uprooted. Specific details on how much damage occurred to the restaurant where unknown.

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

110°F2 times, most recently Jul 6, 2012

All-time low

−28°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

76°F2 times, most recently Aug 25, 1993

Coldest day

10°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

7.13 inMar 13, 1975

Snowiest day

12.0 inFeb 14, 1960

Hottest year

2017mean 61.2°F

Coldest year

1976mean 55.8°F

Wettest year

197375.45 in

Driest year

200735.91 in

Snowiest season

39.0 in1959-60

Station Woodbury 1 Wnw (USC00409866), 1,207 ft elevation, 16.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1958 to October 23, 2026; 95.0% 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 USC00409866.
• 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.