Jefferson County, Georgia

What hazards hit Jefferson County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 89 since 1961. The rank column places the county among Georgia'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 Jefferson County had?

NOAA records 15 tornadoes in Jefferson County from 1970 to 2023, the strongest rated F3, with 0 deaths and 12 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 15 tornadoes whose track touched Jefferson County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 15, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Georgia.

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 Jefferson County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the April 13, 2020 tornado ($23,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

This tornado began along News Bridge Road destroying a building before moving over more rural sections and snapping hundreds of trees consisting of both softwoods and hardwoods. The tornado was remarkably consistent in its track, producing EF1 damage between 95 and 100 mph nearly the entire path. Dozens of homes were damaged with a few destroyed from trees falling on them. The tornado near HJ lane pick up two vehicles including a truck and displaced them 100 yards. Shortly before the tornado lifted, it crossed into Jefferson county where additional tree damage occurred. [04/13/20: Tornado #21, County #2/2, EF-0, Jefferson, 2020:027].
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 893112)

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 Jefferson 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).

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

What time of year?

Records by month in Jefferson County. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Jefferson County

FEMA's register lists 19 declarations that include Jefferson County: 10 major disasters, 9 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (6) and severe storm (3).

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 Jefferson County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 4 flood or flash flood records for Jefferson County from 2009 to 2020, on 3 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Jefferson County ranks 2756th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $11,000 on 2 claims filed in Jefferson County; the most in one year was 1 in 2010. 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 Jefferson County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Jefferson County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $6.6 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 Jefferson County

1. Richmond County 442
2. Burke County 384
3. Washington County 307
4. Emanuel County 285
5. Johnson County 258
6. Jefferson County 232
7. McDuffie County 173
8. Warren County 171
9. Glascock County 128

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 GeorgiaEvery Georgia tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in GeorgiaThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Georgia recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Jefferson CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Jefferson County's FEMA declarations (CSV)19 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis