NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Roanoke, AL
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
21 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Roanoke, Alabama since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Zeta in 2020. Since 1950, 85 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 21
- Tornadoes
- 85
- EF3 or stronger
- 8
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
27 deaths in all
What the records show for Roanoke
None of the 21 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Roanoke; the strongest was Eloise in 1975, a tropical storm with 67 mph winds when its centre passed 13 miles away. The record near Roanoke begins with an unnamed storm in 1852; the most recent system was Zeta in 2020, a tropical storm 55 miles away. The 1880s and the 1900s were the busiest decades, with 4 systems each. Of the 21 systems, one has come since 2000. Roanoke has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 57% of the 323 Alabama cities on this site. The highest rating among the 85 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 3 times; the most recent, on March 25, 2021, came within 12 miles. The deadliest, an EF3 on January 12, 2023, killed 7 people. Of the 85, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 49 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 17. The most recent tornado was on May 27, 2025. Of the 323 Alabama cities, 88% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Roanoke. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 57 times since 1982, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Roanoke has more hail reports within 10 miles than 49% of the 323 Alabama cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Roanoke
Of the 21 tracks on the map, 12 were moving northeast as they passed Roanoke, 3 north and 2 east. Eloise (1975), the strongest pass, was heading northeast; its centre passed 13 miles northwest of Roanoke. None made landfall within 75 miles of Roanoke; 17 of the 21 were hurricanes at their peak, none at their closest to the city. In the last 30 seasons (1996–2025), 1 came near Roanoke: 0.3 a decade, against 1.4 a decade from 1851 to 1995.
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1995 | OpalOct 5 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1975 | EloiseSep 23 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormOct 17 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormAug 15 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 8 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormSep 4 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 14 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormSep 22 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1906 | Unnamed 1906 stormJun 13 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 15 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 11 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormOct 3 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormSep 1 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 3 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1889 | Unnamed 1889 stormSep 23 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1887 | Unnamed 1887 stormJul 28 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 10 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1881 | Unnamed 1881 stormAug 28 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1859 | Unnamed 1859 stormSep 16 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1852 | Unnamed 1852 stormAug 27 | 35 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 Roanoke: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Roanoke
By decade
- 2020s17(4 EF3+)
- 2010s16(1 EF3+)
- 2000s16
- 1990s6
- 1980s17
- 1970s9(2 EF3+)
- 1960s2
- 1950s2(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 27, 2011 | EF4 | 19 mi | 44.18 mi | 7 / 30 |
| May 1, 1953 | F4 | 24 mi | 12.1 mi | 7 / 12 |
| Mar 25, 2021 | EF4 | 12 mi | 38.56 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 12, 2023 | EF3 | 12 mi | 82.31 mi | 7 / 16 |
| Mar 19, 1970 | F3 | 25 mi | 2 mi | 2 / 14 |
| Jan 26, 1974 | F3 | 4 mi | 21.3 mi | 1 / 7 |
| Mar 15, 2025 | EF3 | 16 mi | 20.45 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 26, 2023 | EF3 | 21 mi | 21.54 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Mar 2, 2012 | EF2 | 11 mi | 34.04 mi | 1 / 4 |
| Aug 29, 2005 | F2 | 24 mi | 5.5 mi | 1 / 3 |
| Mar 5, 1989 | F2 | 7 mi | 45.5 mi | 1 / 6 |
| Jan 12, 2023 | EF2 | 21 mi | 35.82 mi | 0 / 8 |
The strongest 12 of 85, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Roanoke
The Storm Prediction Center has 57 hail reports within 10 miles of Roanoke since 1982, made on 40 separate days. Of these, 30 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on March 19, 2003. The most recent report is from May 17, 2025. April has the most reports, 15.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Roanoke
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Rock Mills, AL, 5 miles east of Roanoke at 750 feet. August 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. January and February are the wettest at 5.3 inches of precipitation on average and October the driest at 2.8 inches; the year adds up to 53.1 inches over 76 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 45% of the year's precipitation (23.7 of 53.1 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 21 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (8); a normal September there has highs of 85°F and 3.4 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 64 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 73 nights a year. That 53.1 inches is more than at 10 of the 107 Alabama stations used on this site (9%). Wadley, 12 miles west, has its own station (Ashland 3 ENE, AL): 59.7 inches a year, 6.6 more than here, and the same August average high, 89°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 54 | 32 | 5.3 | 7 |
| Feb | 60 | 36 | 5.3 | 7 |
| Mar | 68 | 42 | 5.2 | 7 |
| Apr | 75 | 48 | 4.4 | 6 |
| May | 82 | 57 | 4.1 | 6 |
| Jun | 87 | 65 | 4.9 | 8 |
| Jul | 89 | 68 | 4.5 | 8 |
| Aug | 89 | 68 | 4.0 | 6 |
| Sep | 85 | 61 | 3.4 | 5 |
| Oct | 75 | 49 | 2.8 | 4 |
| Nov | 65 | 40 | 4.1 | 5 |
| Dec | 57 | 35 | 5.1 | 7 |
| Year | 74 | 50 | 53.1 | 76 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Rock Mills, AL (750 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 Roanoke
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 73 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Roanoke: 64 thunderstorm wind reports, 8 flash floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $778,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 86 mph, on April 29, 2002. January has had the most flash floods, 2 of 8. Of the 321 Alabama cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 93 have had fewer than Roanoke.
July 22, 2008: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Roanoke — 1 injured, $5,000 damage.
NWS: “The top of a pine tree fell on a mobile home, and injured one person who was taken to the hospital.”
June 4, 2010: flash flood in Roanoke — $115,000 damage.
NWS: “Significant flooding was reported around the city of Roanoke. Several streets became impassable with a foot or more of water flowing over them, and several homes in the area got up to 3 feet of water in them.”
May 3, 2009: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Roanoke — $100,000 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
Randolph County, which includes Roanoke, has been named in 25 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 severe storms, 9 hurricanes, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes, on May 5, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Randolph County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $7.9 million a year, the 54th highest of 67 Alabama counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $4.1 million (52%), 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 Roanoke
- Wadley, AL12 mi
- Woodland, AL14 mi
- Wedowee, AL15 mi
- Franklin, GA17 mi
- Lafayette, AL18 mi
- Lagrange, GA21 mi
- Lanett, AL22 mi
- Roopville, GA22 mi
- Lineville, AL23 mi
- West Point, GA24 mi
- Ranburne, AL26 mi
- Hogansville, GA26 mi
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