Giles County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. May 8, 2024Tornado$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This EF-2 tornado touched down along Case Road southwest of Prospect where some trees were damaged. As the tornado continued east, a home sustained roof damage, and a tied-down manufactured home was completely removed from its base and destroyed. One person was critically injured in the manufactured home. As the tornado continued east, major tree damage occurred along Bethel Prospect Road, a metal shop building was destroyed, and another tied-down mobile was completely lifted off its base and wrapped around a tree with the remaining debris blown down a hillside. More trees continued to be blown down with roof damage to some homes and outbuildings as the tornado passed across the…

2. Apr 11, 2008Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A low end EF3 tornado hit northwest Giles County near Liberty Hill. This was part of the same storm complex that hit Lawrence County. Numerous trees were snapped and uprooted. Many homes had roof damage. The hardest hit area was along Rhea Branch Rd. One residential home was completely leveled. Major damage occurred to the back of the Liberty Hill Baptist Church.||A newspaper article stated that 8 homes were completely destroyed, and 30 other homes had serious damage.

3. Apr 16, 1998Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The most extensive damage was north of Yokley. There were downed trees and power lines, a ruptured gas tank, cars overturned, and homes damaged. 5 homes and 8 mobile homes were destroyed in Giles county.

4. Mar 3, 2023High Wind, Giles$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several hours of non-thunderstorm severe winds led to numerous damage reports, including downed and uprooted trees, downed powerlines, and roof and property damage across all of Giles County. The Pulaski Abernathy Field Airport AWOS lost power due to the high winds for several hours along with other weather stations in the area. Therefore, exact wind speeds are unknown. Damages are estimated.

5. Mar 15, 2026Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This narrative is a continuation of the tornado that originated in Lauderdale County, Alabama and traveled into Lawrence County and then Giles County. As the tornado crossed into Giles County, damage was mostly trees downed or uprooted and branches snapped. A few structures were impacted in Giles County south to southwest of Minor Hill due to trees falling. A few metal farm outbuildings were also collapsed. The tornado ended quickly south-southeast of Minor Hill. Damages are a rough estimate.

6. May 9, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS storm survey team found straight line wind damage in Giles County, particularly around the Pulaski area. Numerous trees were snapped and uprooted in a northwest to southeast direction. Some of the worst damage was found on Cherry Drive and Richland Street where some trees fell onto homes. Winds were estimated up to 75 mph. Damages are a rough estimate.

7. May 28, 2017Lightning$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A business on Liberty Hill Loop was struck by lightning and destroyed in the ensuing fire. A nearby home was also damaged.

8. Jul 7, 1999Lightning$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Four mobile homes were struck by lightning. These homes were fully loaded when they were struck at the Oakwood Homes on Highway 31.

9. Sep 16, 2004High Wind, Giles$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds from the remains of Hurricane Ivan blew down many trees and power lines across Middle Tennessee from Thursday evening into early Friday morning. There were 30 incidents on Thursday night where trees had fallen across roadways or downed power lines in Lawrence County alone. Many homes in Lawrence County sustained damage from fallen trees and tree limbs. U.S. Highway 64 west and east was blocked for a time in Lawrence County by fallen trees. Lawrence County students enjoyed a day off on Friday due to clean up efforts. In the city of Loretto, a tree fell on a building on Broad Street and caused some structural damage. A pine tree fell on a shed in Tullahoma. A large oak…

10. May 3, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$113,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across Giles County.

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°FJun 30, 2012

All-time low

−16°F2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Warmest night

82°FSep 11, 1991

Coldest day

8°FDec 24, 2022

Wettest day

7.06 inAug 29, 1963

Snowiest day

11.5 inJan 1, 1964

Hottest year

1986mean 62.3°F

Coldest year

2022mean 55.8°F

Wettest year

198978.12 in

Driest year

200734.89 in

Snowiest season

24.5 in1963-64

Station Pulaski Wwtp (USC00407459), 644 ft elevation, 0.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1957 to October 23, 2026; 98.6% 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 USC00407459.
• 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.