NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Buckhead, GA
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
20 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Buckhead, Georgia since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Helene in 2024. Since 1950, 36 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 20
- Tornadoes
- 36
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
10 deaths in all
What the records show for Buckhead
None of the 20 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Buckhead; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1851, a tropical storm with 67 mph winds when its centre passed 70 miles away. The record near Buckhead begins with an unnamed storm in 1851; the most recent system was Helene in 2024, a tropical storm 12 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1900s, with 4 systems. Of the 20 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Of the 405 Georgia cities on this site, 53% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Buckhead. The strongest of the 36 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on November 22, 1992; its path came within 15 miles, and it killed 5 people. Of the 36, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 20 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 10. The most recent tornado was on January 12, 2023. Of the 405 Georgia cities, 98% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Buckhead. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 36 times since 1984, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 405 Georgia cities, 70% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Buckhead.
Compare Buckhead's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Buckhead
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | HeleneSep 27 | 12 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2018 | MichaelOct 11 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1965 | Unnamed 1965 stormJun 15 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1964 | CleoAug 30 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 28 | 42 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1940 | Unnamed 1940 stormAug 12 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 14 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormSep 23 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 11 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1901 | Unnamed 1901 stormSep 28 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1901 | Unnamed 1901 stormSep 18 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormSep 1 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormJul 8 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 3 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1889 | Unnamed 1889 stormSep 24 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormJun 22 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 10 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1859 | Unnamed 1859 stormSep 16 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1852 | Unnamed 1852 stormAug 27 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1851 | Unnamed 1851 stormAug 24 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Buckhead: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Buckhead
By decade
- 2020s4
- 2010s8
- 2000s8
- 1990s5(1 EF3+)
- 1980s1
- 1970s4
- 1960s6
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 22, 1992 | F4 | 15 mi | 32 mi | 5 / 86 |
| Jan 12, 2023 | EF2 | 23 mi | 125.76 mi | 4 / 40 |
| Apr 19, 2013 | EF2 | 16 mi | 7.64 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 27, 1994 | F2 | 16 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 18, 1969 | F2 | 25 mi | 15.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 6, 1967 | F2 | 16 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 11, 1965 | F2 | 14 mi | 7.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 23, 1965 | F2 | 19 mi | 5.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 27, 1994 | F1 | 14 mi | 2.5 mi | 1 / 3 |
| Aug 17, 2021 | EF1 | 7 mi | 5.54 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 13, 2020 | EF1 | 9 mi | 6.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 13, 2020 | EF1 | 8 mi | 12.91 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 36, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Buckhead
The Storm Prediction Center has 36 hail reports within 10 miles of Buckhead since 1984, made on 31 separate days. Of these, 13 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on March 15, 2008. The most recent report is from August 15, 2023. April has the most reports, 10.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Buckhead
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Siloam 3N, GA, 16 miles east of Buckhead at 695 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 91°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 55°F and 32°F. March is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and October the driest at 2.7 inches; the year adds up to 46.0 inches over 71 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 48% of the year's precipitation (21.9 of 46.0 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 20 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (8); a normal September there has highs of 84°F and 3.7 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 59 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 59 nights a year. That 46.0 inches is more than at 7 of the 108 Georgia stations used on this site (6%). Madison, 9 miles northwest, has its own station (Watkinsville 5 SSE, GA): 47.8 inches a year, 1.8 more than here, and a July average high of 90°F against 91°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 55 | 32 | 4.0 | 7 |
| Feb | 59 | 35 | 4.5 | 6 |
| Mar | 66 | 41 | 4.8 | 7 |
| Apr | 74 | 48 | 3.3 | 6 |
| May | 82 | 57 | 3.0 | 5 |
| Jun | 88 | 65 | 4.2 | 7 |
| Jul | 91 | 69 | 3.7 | 6 |
| Aug | 90 | 68 | 4.1 | 6 |
| Sep | 84 | 62 | 3.7 | 5 |
| Oct | 75 | 50 | 2.7 | 4 |
| Nov | 65 | 40 | 3.5 | 5 |
| Dec | 57 | 35 | 4.5 | 7 |
| Year | 74 | 50 | 46.0 | 71 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Siloam 3N, GA (695 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Buckhead
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 88 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Buckhead: 78 thunderstorm wind reports, 7 flash floods, 2 lightning strikes and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 0 people and injured 5, and the NWS estimated $1.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 86 mph, on August 6, 2015. Of the 392 Georgia cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 129 have had fewer than Buckhead.
August 13, 1999: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Buckhead — 4 injured, $325,000 damage.
NWS: “Severe thunderstorm winds damaged farm buildings and knocked down several trees in the east and south part of Madison county. In the Godfrey community, winds damaged as many as 9 chicken houses, 5 of which were almost totally destroyed.”
January 11, 2020: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Buckhead — 1 injured, $1,000 damage.
August 6, 2015: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Buckhead — $200,000 damage.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Morgan County, which includes Buckhead, has been named in 13 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 5 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 hurricanes, 2 biological emergencies, 2 ice storms, 2 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 29, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Morgan County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Very Low for hurricanes and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $8.2 million a year, the 92nd highest of 159 Georgia counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $5.2 million (64%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 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).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets 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).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.