NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Grayson, 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
16 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Grayson, Georgia since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Helene in 2024. Since 1950, 77 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 16
- Tornadoes
- 77
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
10 deaths in all
What the records show for Grayson
None of the 16 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Grayson; the strongest was Helene in 2024, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre passed 46 miles away. The record near Grayson begins with an unnamed storm in 1852; the most recent system was Helene in 2024. The busiest decade was the 1900s, with 4 systems. Of the 16 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Of the 405 Georgia cities on this site, 67% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Grayson. The highest rating among the 77 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 3 times; the most recent, on March 24, 1975, came within 21 miles. Of the 77, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 31 have come since 2000. April and May have had the most tornadoes, 12 each. The most recent tornado was on May 3, 2025. Of the 405 Georgia cities, 58% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Grayson. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 124 times since 1979, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Grayson has more hail reports within 10 miles than 85% of the 405 Georgia cities.
Compare Grayson's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Grayson
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | HeleneSep 27 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1975 | EloiseSep 23 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormSep 5 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 14 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormSep 23 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 15 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 11 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1901 | Unnamed 1901 stormSep 28 | 35 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormOct 3 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormJul 8 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 3 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1889 | Unnamed 1889 stormSep 24 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 10 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1859 | Unnamed 1859 stormSep 16 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1852 | Unnamed 1852 stormAug 27 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Grayson: 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 Grayson
By decade
- 2020s10
- 2010s11
- 2000s10
- 1990s12
- 1980s11
- 1970s13(3 EF3+)
- 1960s5
- 1950s5
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 24, 1975 | F3 | 21 mi | 14.8 mi | 3 / 152 |
| May 28, 1973 | F3 | 19 mi | 18.7 mi | 1 / 65 |
| Jan 10, 1972 | F3 | 23 mi | 6.3 mi | 1 / 9 |
| Mar 31, 1973 | F2 | 12 mi | 72.4 mi | 2 / 100 |
| Mar 14, 2008 | EF2 | 23 mi | 6.25 mi | 1 / 30 |
| Apr 8, 1998 | F2 | 9 mi | 19 mi | 1 / 10 |
| Jun 27, 1994 | F2 | in town | 8 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Apr 2, 2024 | EF2 | 13 mi | 9.47 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 30, 2010 | EF2 | 11 mi | 2.11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 11, 2008 | EF2 | 22 mi | 17.51 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 27, 1994 | F2 | 25 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 1, 1989 | F2 | 13 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 77, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Grayson
The Storm Prediction Center has 124 hail reports within 10 miles of Grayson since 1979, made on 93 separate days. Of these, 70 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on February 18, 2009. The most recent report is from June 17, 2022. June has the most reports, 28.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Grayson
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Winder 4S, GA, 14 miles east of Grayson at 889 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 54°F and 32°F. March is the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and December the driest at 2.5 inches; the year adds up to 50.9 inches over 69 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 50% of the year's precipitation (25.3 of 50.9 inches). September has brought the most of the 16 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (9); a normal September there has highs of 83°F and 4.3 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 37 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 60 nights a year. Snowfall averages 0.5 inches a year, most of it in January. That 50.9 inches is more than at 52 of the 108 Georgia stations used on this site (48%). Snellville, 5 miles southwest, has its own station (Atlanta Peachtree Airport, GA): 51.5 inches a year, 0.6 more than here, and the same July average high, 89°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 54 | 32 | 5.0 | 7 | 0.3 |
| Feb | 58 | 35 | 4.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Mar | 66 | 40 | 5.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Apr | 74 | 47 | 4.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| May | 81 | 56 | 4.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 87 | 64 | 4.6 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 89 | 68 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 89 | 67 | 4.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 83 | 62 | 4.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 74 | 51 | 3.4 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 64 | 41 | 4.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 55 | 35 | 2.5 | 5 | 0.2 |
| Year | 73 | 50 | 50.9 | 69 | 0.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Winder 4S, GA (889 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 Grayson
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 276 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Grayson: 212 thunderstorm wind reports, 48 lightning strikes, 12 flash floods and 4 floods. They killed 0 people and injured 7, and the NWS estimated $11.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on June 1, 2018. February has had the most flash floods, 3 of 12. Of the 392 Georgia cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 223 have had fewer than Grayson.
June 28, 2018: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Grayson — 1 injured, $100,000 damage.
July 8, 2008: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Grayson — 1 injured, $25,000 damage.
NWS: “The Gwinnett Daily Post of Lawrenceville reported that a tree fell on a home in the 850 block of Chandler Road as a result of a downburst associated with a thunderstorm. A woman inside was injured and treated at the scene by paramedics.”
March 28, 2021: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Grayson — 1 injured, $12,000 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
Gwinnett County, which includes Grayson, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 6 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 hurricanes, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 tropical storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 29, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Gwinnett County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for lightning; Relatively High for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding and strong wind; Relatively Moderate for heat waves; Relatively Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $211.5 million a year, the 3rd highest of 159 Georgia counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $144.9 million (68%), 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.