Rhea County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. May 6, 2003Flash Flood$8.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flooding, road closures, damage, evacuations.

2. Feb 14, 2003Flood, Rhea$3.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Four day rainfall totals of two to eight inches fell across east Tennessee, with the highest amounts occurring across the Cumberland Plateau and adjacent valleys areas. This rainfall combined with a melting snowpack (reports of up to a foot in the higher elevations) to produce widespread flooding of rivers and streams with numerous mudslides also reported (one notable mudslide pushed an apartment complex off its foundation in Knox County). The Powell, Clinch and Holston rivers measured the most significant rises with Claiborne, Rhea and Knox counties reporting the most significant damage.

3. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   New Harmony Tornado. This tornado continued its destuctive path into Rhea County. The 190 mph wind destroyed 19 roofs and 21 homes had damage. Trees and powerlines were also downed. Two people were injured.||This tornado had a total path length of 40.2 miles and was responsible for four deaths in Bledsoe County.

4. Jul 19, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   High wind flipped a boat dock at the Arrowhead Marina onto an adjacent boat dock.|Twenty five boats were damaged during the event and a HAZMAT team arrived at the scene to contain gasoline and oil leaks from the damaged boats.

5. Jul 28, 2005Lightning$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A lightning strike completely destroyed two businesses in the southern portion of Dayton.

6. Dec 25, 2015Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two homes...an apartment building...schools...and a few businesses were flooded across the county.

7. Mar 6, 2004Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A bridge was washed out on Aslinger Circle in Graysville. Garrison Lane on Grandview Mountain was also, washed out and, hence, became impassable. Pikeville Road became impassable due to high water.

8. Jul 6, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The 28-slip Eden Resort and Marina boat dock was totally destroyed. 15 boats were docked there at the time. 12 sustained minor damage.

9. May 19, 2013Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant flooding of a church and a local corner market on Dayton Mountain Hwy. Debris from church rushed downstream. TV media covered.

10. Jul 4, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$40,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Several trees and large limbs downed and a few roofs were damaged in Spring City.

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

107°FJul 16, 1980

All-time low

−15°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

79°F2 times, most recently Jun 21, 2009

Coldest day

9°FDec 24, 2022

Wettest day

7.57 inSep 17, 2004

Snowiest day

9.6 inFeb 13, 1960

Hottest year

1957mean 60.7°F

Coldest year

1996mean 56.1°F

Wettest year

201882.17 in

Driest year

195837.87 in

Snowiest season

24.5 in1959-60

Station Dayton 2SE (USC00402360), 822 ft elevation, 6.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1956 to October 23, 2026; 86.5% 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 USC00402360.
• 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.