Jackson County, Alabama

What hazards hit Jackson County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 654 since 1956. 44% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1956 fell in May and June. The rank column places the county among Alabama's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Jackson County had?

NOAA records 64 tornadoes in Jackson County from 1958 to 2025, the strongest rated EF4, with 12 deaths and 44 injuries recorded in the county. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 63 tornadoes whose track touched Jackson County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 64: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 24 people, 12 of them in Jackson County.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Alabama.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Jackson County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the May 31, 2026 thunderstorm wind ($1,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Jackson County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Extreme cold in the 2010s: 35 records against 8 in the decade before, 35 of them forecast-zone records. Winter storms in the 2010s: 37 records against 10 in the decade before, 37 of them forecast-zone records. Cells marked z rose mostly through zone records. The local National Weather Service office files these once per forecast zone, so a change in how it draws its zones or splits a storm into records moves this count as much as the weather does; read it beside the Jackson County days with a record above.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

44% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1956 fell in May and June. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Jackson County

FEMA's register lists 28 declarations that include Jackson County: 17 major disasters, 9 emergencies and 2 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (11) and hurricane (6).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Jackson County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 86 flood or flash flood records for Jackson County from 1998 to 2026, on 52 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Jackson County ranks 1497th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $664,000 on 69 claims filed in Jackson County; the most in one year was 14 in 2003. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Jackson County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Jackson County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $29.4 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Jackson County

1. Madison County 2,450
2. DeKalb County 1,221
3. Jackson County 1,211
4. Marshall County 1,137
5. Franklin County, TN 735
6. Marion County, TN 422
7. Dade County, GA 380

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in AlabamaEvery Alabama tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in AlabamaThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Alabama recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Jackson CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Jackson County's FEMA declarations (CSV)28 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis