Georgia severe thunderstorm wind
Every recorded severe thunderstorm wind event since 1955 · 159 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 24,657 severe thunderstorm wind events in Georgia from 1955 through June 30, 2026, about 689 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the October 5, 1995 thunderstorm wind: 8 deaths, 7 injuries and $242 million in damage in 2025 dollars. Georgia ranks 3rd of 52 states and territories by count and 13th of 51 per square mile.
Severe thunderstorm wind in Georgia, 1955 to 2026
Thunderstorm wind records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996.
- recorded, no damage figure
- under $1 million
- $1 million or more
- $10 million or more
- $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
- $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
- a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
- a year with a death
- 1996: all 48 event types recorded from 1996
- Records
- 24,6571955 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 689average
- Deaths
- 62482 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $802Mas filed
- Busiest year
- 20231,951 records
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.
Are severe thunderstorm wind events common in Georgia?
Georgia averages about 689 severe thunderstorm wind events a year since 2000, 3rd of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2023 (1,951). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Georgia records 4272 severe thunderstorm wind events since 1955, 13th of 51 states and territories by that measure.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1955, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.
Which counties in Georgia have the most severe thunderstorm wind events?
Per square mile, Clarke County leads Georgia: 122 days with a severe thunderstorm wind event since 1955, 1022.6 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Chatham County has the most thunderstorm wind records (617 since 1955); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1955 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.
When is the severe thunderstorm season in Georgia?
41% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1955 fell in June and July. The busiest month is June (5,531 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 994 · Feb 1,183 · Mar 1,865 · Apr 2,569 · May 2,869 · Jun 5,531 · Jul 4,657 · Aug 3,121 · Sep 538 · Oct 297 · Nov 585 · Dec 448 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1955.
What were the deadliest severe thunderstorm wind events in Georgia?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995-10-05 | Thunderstorm WindGaz001>17 19>23>30>34>41>46>52>57 66>70>78>80 89>93 102>106 120 122 Hurricane Opal, which formed in the Gulf of Mexico, began threatening the Florida panhandle and Alabama on Tuesday October 3. At approximately 1645 EDT on Wednesday October 4, Hurricane Opal made landfall just west of Fort Walton Beach Florida and began a northward track through eastern Alabama, where it was ... | 8 | 7 | $242M | |
| 2007-07-11 | Thunderstorm WindAugusta, Richmond County Sheriff reported trees and powerlines down. One man died when storms swept across the area. 40-year-old Robert Walker was riding his bike when a tree fell, killing him. Nearby, there were four others trapped in a store on the corner of 11th and Dugas Street. Inmate crews were out for hours today cleaning up the mess. ... | 60 kt wind | 5 | 4 | – |
| 1990-02-10 | Thunderstorm WindFulton County Every thunderstorm wind record filed in the state that day (12, in 10 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's. | 3 | 25 | – | |
| 1989-04-04 | Thunderstorm WindCherokee County Every thunderstorm wind record filed in the state that day (9, in 8 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's. | 3 | 10 | – | |
| 2011-04-04 | Thunderstorm WindJenkinsburg, Butts County One storm episode: 14 records in 14 places, 2011-04-04 to 2011-04-05; the totals are the episode's. An extremely progressive and highly kinematic upper flow remained in place across the U.S. A deep, full-latitude negatively tilted trough and associated strong Pacific cold front swept through the eastern U.S. April 4th into April 5th. An intense northeast to southwest oriented squall line of thunderstorms accompanied ... | 52 kt wind | 3 | 1 | $6.2M |
| 2011-05-26 | Thunderstorm WindAtlanta, Fulton County One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. A deep, closed upper low was moving from the Southern Plains into the mid-south with an accompanying strong Pacific cold front. This system had been slowing moving through the Southern Plains and Midwest in the prior days and had wreaked havoc on that region in the form of many devastating tornadoes, including the EF5 ... | 53 kt wind | 3 | 0 | $630K |
| 2003-07-10 | Thunderstorm WindAtlanta, Fulton County The Fulton county Emergency Management Director, as well as the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, reported that a large, 100-year old oak tree fell on a Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) stopped in traffic in the Virginia-Highland neighborhood of midtown Atlanta. Three of the four people in the vehicle were killed instantly ... | 53 kt wind | 3 | 0 | $56K |
| 2013-03-18 | Thunderstorm WindWoodland, Talbot County One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. A strong upper level system combined with a moist south to southeast flow, moderate instability, a cold pool aloft, and enhanced surface convergence along and ahead of an approaching cold front moving through the Deep South. This combination of parameters resulted in widespread severe weather across northwest, west ... | 50 kt wind | 2 | 9 | $1.0M |
| 2022-08-09 | Thunderstorm WindYonah, White County Report of numerous trees down on top of Mt Yonah. | 56 kt wind | 2 | 3 | – |
| 2011-04-05 | Thunderstorm WindOcilla, Irwin County One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. A potent squall line of severe thunderstorms raced eastward across the entire southeastern U.S. from the morning of April 4 through the afternoon of April 5, 2011. In a matter of just 30 hours, this squall line brought widespread damaging winds to the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys, southeast Alabama, southwest and south ... | 60 kt wind | 2 | 2 | $125K |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.
The costliest severe thunderstorm wind events in Georgia
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995-10-05 | Thunderstorm WindGaz001>17 19>23>30>34>41>46>52>57 66>70>78>80 89>93 102>106 120 122 | 8 | 7 | $242M | |
| 1993-02-21 | Thunderstorm WindMonroe, Walton County Every thunderstorm wind record filed in the state that day (4, in 4 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's. | 0 | 3 | $103M | |
| 2011-04-27 | Thunderstorm WindCave Spg, Floyd County One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. | 56 kt wind | 0 | 4 | $28M |
| 1993-10-30 | Thunderstorm WindFitzgerald To, Ben Hill County Every thunderstorm wind record filed in the state that day (4, in 4 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's. | 0 | 10 | $24M | |
| 2017-01-02 | Thunderstorm WindDakota, Turner County One storm episode: 13 records in 5 places; the totals are the episode's. | 70 kt wind | 1 | 0 | $21M |
| 2000-07-23 | Thunderstorm WindCollege Park, Fulton County One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $21M | |
| 2002-05-01 | Thunderstorm WindCountywide, Gordon County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 87 kt wind | 0 | 1 | $21M |
| 2008-02-26 | Thunderstorm WindAcworth, Cobb County One storm episode: 6 records in 6 places; the totals are the episode's. | 78 kt wind | 0 | 2 | $15M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are severe thunderstorm wind events becoming more frequent in Georgia?
Georgia's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.
| Decade | Georgia | United States | Georgia's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955-59 | 81 | 3,482 | 2.3% |
| 1960s | 260 | 10,124 | 2.6% |
| 1970s | 631 | 18,714 | 3.4% |
| 1980s | 1,658 | 39,604 | 4.2% |
| 1990s | 3,737 | 85,554 | 4.4% |
| 2000s | 4,944 | 129,990 | 3.8% |
| 2010s | 6,987 | 161,286 | 4.3% |
| 2020-26 | 6,359 | 126,815 | 5.0% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent severe thunderstorm wind events in Georgia
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-29 | Thunderstorm WindZeigler, Screven County | 45 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $1K |
| 2026-06-29 | Thunderstorm WindHephzibah, Richmond County | 52 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-29 | Thunderstorm WindGreens Cut, Burke County | 52 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-29 | Thunderstorm WindKeysville, Burke County | 52 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $2K |
| 2026-06-29 | Thunderstorm WindAyersville, Stephens County | 50 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-23 | Thunderstorm WindSt George, Charlton County | 50 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $5K |
| 2026-06-22 | Thunderstorm WindWeber, Berrien County | 55 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-22 | Thunderstorm WindNashville, Berrien County | 55 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-22 | Thunderstorm WindCottle, Berrien County | 50 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-22 | Thunderstorm WindHomeland, Charlton County | 50 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-21 | Thunderstorm WindWaycross, Ware County | 35 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $1K |
| 2026-06-20 | Thunderstorm WindMurphy, Colquitt County | 50 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.
Federal disaster declarations for severe thunderstorm wind events in Georgia
FEMA files hail and wind disasters under the incident type Severe Storm: 17 declarations in Georgia, 17 of them major disasters; the latest on January 16, 2023.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-01-16 | DR-4685 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes | 9 |
| 2021-05-05 | DR-4600 | Severe Storms and Tornadoes | 9 |
| 2017-01-25 | DR-4294 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Straight-Line Winds | 7 |
| 2016-02-26 | DR-4259 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 34 |
| 2011-04-29 | DR-1973 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Associated Flooding | 26 |
| 2009-09-24 | DR-1858 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 23 |
| 2009-04-23 | DR-1833 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes, and Straight-Line Winds | 47 |
| 2008-05-23 | DR-1761 | Severe Storms and Tornadoes | 14 |
| 2008-03-20 | DR-1750 | Severe Storms and Tornadoes | 7 |
| 2007-03-03 | DR-1686 | Severe Storms and Tornadoes | 16 |
| 2000-02-15 | DR-1315 | Severe Storms/Tornados | 6 |
| 2000-01-28 | DR-1311 | Severe Winter Storm | 51 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
- Clarke County: the county's whole recordThe Georgia county with the most severe thunderstorm wind events per square mile
- Severe thunderstorm wind across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
- Every natural hazard in GeorgiaTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
- Hail in Georgia8,810 records
- Drought in Georgia5,192 records
- Winter storms in Georgia3,362 records