NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Forsyth, 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
25 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Forsyth, Georgia since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Helene in 2024. Since 1950, 93 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 25
- Tornadoes
- 93
- EF3 or stronger
- 8
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
14 deaths in all
What the records show for Forsyth
None of the 25 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Forsyth; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1851, a tropical storm with 70 mph winds when its centre passed 64 miles away. The record near Forsyth begins with an unnamed storm in 1851; the most recent system was Helene in 2024, a tropical storm 47 miles away. The 1880s and the 1900s were the busiest decades, with 5 systems each. Of the 25 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Forsyth has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 52% of the 405 Georgia cities on this site. The highest rating among the 93 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3 or EF3, reached 8 times; the most recent, on January 12, 2023, came within 22 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on March 13, 1954, killed 5 people. Of the 93, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 53 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 21. The most recent tornado was on May 21, 2025. Forsyth has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 63% of the 405 Georgia cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 38 times since 1979, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 405 Georgia cities, 66% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Forsyth.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Forsyth
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | HeleneSep 27 | 47 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2018 | MichaelOct 11 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1965 | Unnamed 1965 stormJun 15 | 30 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 28 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (66 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1940 | Unnamed 1940 stormAug 12 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormSep 4 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 14 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormSep 23 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 15 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 11 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1901 | Unnamed 1901 stormSep 28 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1901 | Unnamed 1901 stormSep 18 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormOct 3 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormSep 1 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormJul 8 | 9 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 3 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1889 | Unnamed 1889 stormSep 24 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1887 | Unnamed 1887 stormJul 28 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormJun 22 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 10 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1881 | Unnamed 1881 stormAug 28 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1859 | Unnamed 1859 stormSep 16 | 30 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1856 | Unnamed 1856 stormAug 31 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1852 | Unnamed 1852 stormAug 27 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1851 | Unnamed 1851 stormAug 24 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (70 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Forsyth: 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 Forsyth
By decade
- 2020s16(3 EF3+)
- 2010s20(1 EF3+)
- 2000s17(1 EF3+)
- 1990s9
- 1980s3
- 1970s10
- 1960s6(1 EF3+)
- 1950s12(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 13, 1954 | F3 | 19 mi | 49.5 mi | 5 / 75 |
| Apr 27, 2011 | EF3 | 8 mi | 30.82 mi | 2 / 22 |
| Dec 25, 1964 | F3 | 16 mi | 0.1 mi | 2 / 16 |
| Jan 12, 2023 | EF3 | 22 mi | 31.16 mi | 0 / 18 |
| Apr 13, 2020 | EF3 | 3 mi | 5.3 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 13, 2020 | EF3 | 11 mi | 16.63 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 1, 2007 | EF3 | 19 mi | 9.72 mi | 0 / 9 |
| Mar 3, 1952 | F3 | 22 mi | 4.3 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Jan 12, 2023 | EF2 | 19 mi | 125.76 mi | 4 / 40 |
| Feb 21, 1993 | F2 | 24 mi | 8 mi | 1 / 2 |
| May 11, 2008 | EF2 | 17 mi | 18.42 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 22, 1992 | F2 | 8 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 93, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Forsyth
The Storm Prediction Center has 38 hail reports within 10 miles of Forsyth since 1979, made on 34 separate days. Of these, 19 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on October 4, 1979. The most recent report is from April 9, 2020. April has the most reports, 12.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Forsyth
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Thomaston 4SE, GA, 23 miles southwest of Forsyth at 620 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 91°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 58°F and 33°F. July is the wettest at 5.4 inches of precipitation on average and May and October the driest at 2.9 inches; the year adds up to 50.4 inches over 69 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 49% of the year's precipitation (24.7 of 50.4 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 25 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (10); a normal September there has highs of 86°F and 3.9 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 62 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 50 nights a year. That 50.4 inches is more than at 45 of the 108 Georgia stations used on this site (42%). Juliette, 8 miles east, has its own station (Monticello, GA): 46.7 inches a year, 3.7 less than here, and a July average high of 92°F against 91°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 58 | 33 | 4.4 | 7 |
| Feb | 61 | 36 | 4.5 | 6 |
| Mar | 69 | 42 | 5.0 | 6 |
| Apr | 77 | 49 | 4.0 | 5 |
| May | 83 | 58 | 2.9 | 4 |
| Jun | 88 | 66 | 4.3 | 7 |
| Jul | 91 | 69 | 5.4 | 8 |
| Aug | 90 | 69 | 4.2 | 5 |
| Sep | 86 | 63 | 3.9 | 5 |
| Oct | 78 | 52 | 2.9 | 4 |
| Nov | 68 | 41 | 4.0 | 5 |
| Dec | 60 | 36 | 4.9 | 6 |
| Year | 76 | 51 | 50.4 | 69 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Thomaston 4SE, GA (620 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 Forsyth
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 91 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Forsyth: 76 thunderstorm wind reports, 6 lightning strikes, 4 flash floods, 4 floods and 1 heavy rain event. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $2.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 96 mph, on June 3, 2018.
August 5, 2007: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Forsyth — $500,000 damage.
NWS: “An official with the Monroe County Emergency Management Agency reported that an apparent thunderstorm downburst or microburst caused considerable damage throughout the city of Forsyth and along Interstate-75 from mile marker 193 in the northwest part of the county to mile marker 185 just southeast of Forsyth.”
March 28, 2009: flood 7 miles from the centre of Forsyth — $500,000 damage.
NWS: “The Monroe County Emergency Management Director and local newspapers reported that up to five inches of rain fell during a 24-hour period on top of already saturated soils resulting in flooding of area creeks and streams. This caused several roads to be washed out and closed.”
August 24, 2007: lightning strike 10 miles from the centre of Forsyth — $250,000 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Forsyth's ZIP code 31029 have filed 13 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1994, and were paid $535,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 46% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 154 Georgia cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 18 have fewer than Forsyth.
Monroe County, which includes Forsyth, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 hurricanes, 5 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 ice storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Hurricane Helene, on September 30, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Monroe County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for inland flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $6.8 million a year, the 99th highest of 159 Georgia counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $3.6 million (53%), 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.
Cities near Forsyth
- Juliette, GA8 mi
- Barnesville, GA13 mi
- Flovilla, GA15 mi
- Milner, GA17 mi
- Jackson, GA18 mi
- Lizella, GA19 mi
- Macon, GA20 mi
- Gray, GA22 mi
- Zebulon, GA23 mi
- Meansville, GA23 mi
- Monticello, GA23 mi
- Locust Grove, GA24 mi
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