Morgan County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Morgan County: 9.
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.

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Nov 10, 2002Tornado$968,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong F3 tornado (with wind speeds estimated around 175 mph) touched down 4.4 miles south of Wartburg in the Mossy Grove community killing 5 people and injuring 28. This tornado then struck Joyner at 8:40 P.M. killing two more people for a total of 7 dead. The tornado damaged 63 homes while destroying 24 others. In addition, 18 mobile homes were damaged and 12 others were destroyed.

2. Feb 6, 2025Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado first formed in Fentress County before tracking into heavily forested and rugged areas of Morgan County. Aerial imagery from Tennessee Highway Patrol indicated the tornado produced tree damage as it moved through the forests of Morgan County. The tornado continued to moved southeast where it produced EF-2 damage by destroying two manufactured homes, and damaged multiple barns and outbuildings near the intersection of Twin Bridge Rd and Thurman Lavender Rd. At this location is where the two fatalities and two injuries occurred, both fatalities were inside a manufactured house that was completely destroyed by the tornado. At a separate family residence, a dozen chickens…

3. Jul 19, 2010Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A slow moving thunderstorm produced widespread flash flooding in the area. A bridge was also damaged by the flash flooding in Oakdale.

4. Feb 28, 2011Flood$146,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A trained spotter reported water over the White Oak Creek Bridge on Highway 27 in Sunbright. Highway 27 was closed from flooding.

5. May 5, 2003Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Road closures, minor damage to tiles, private drives countywide.

6. May 15, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm downburst occurred at Joann Henry's trailer park damaging nearly every mobile home in the park with six homes totally destroyed. Four persons in one family were injured in the downburst event. In addition, several trees were downed.

7. Jul 3, 2026Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and powerlines blown down by severe thunderstorm wind gusts across the county.

8. Aug 16, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple trees were blown down by severe thunderstorm wind gusts, with one tree landing on a car. A nearby barn suffered the loss of its roof to the high storm winds.

9. Oct 11, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several trees and powerlines down in Mossy Grove. At least two homes heavily damaged by falling trees.

10. Apr 28, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Emergency manager personnel reported numerous trees and powerlines downed by thunderstorm wind 2 miles south of Wartburg. In addition, one barn was mostly destroyed and several homes had roofs destroyed.

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°FJul 28, 1952

All-time low

−17°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

81°FAug 8, 1998

Coldest day

10°F3 times, most recently Dec 22, 1989

Wettest day

7.45 inAug 10, 1960

Snowiest day

12.0 inMar 9, 1960

Hottest year

1998mean 61.6°F

Coldest year

1976mean 54.4°F

Wettest year

200378.18 in

Driest year

195837.43 in

Snowiest season

41.4 in1959-60

Station Oak Ridge Atdd (USW00003841), 1,019 ft elevation, 22.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to November 30, 2025; 94.5% 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 USW00003841.
• 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.