NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Sylacauga, 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 Sylacauga, Alabama since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Zeta in 2020. Since 1950, 83 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 6 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 21
- Tornadoes
- 83
- EF3 or stronger
- 6
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
26 deaths in all
What the records show for Sylacauga
None of the 21 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Sylacauga; the strongest was Eloise in 1975, a tropical storm with 69 mph winds when its centre passed 35 miles away. The record near Sylacauga begins with an unnamed storm in 1852; the most recent system was Zeta in 2020, a tropical storm 23 miles away. Of the 21 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Sylacauga has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 57% of the 323 Alabama cities on this site. The highest rating among the 83 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 3 times; the most recent, on May 27, 1973, came within 6 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on January 24, 1964, killed 10 people. Of the 83, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 50 have come since 2000. March has had the most tornadoes, 19. The most recent tornado was on March 15, 2025. Of the 323 Alabama cities, 89% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Sylacauga. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 57 times since 1975, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Sylacauga has more hail reports within 10 miles than 49% of the 323 Alabama cities.
Compare Sylacauga's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Sylacauga
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (64 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2004 | IvanSep 16 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1995 | OpalOct 5 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1985 | JuanNov 1 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1975 | EloiseSep 23 | 35 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormOct 17 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormOct 18 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 8 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormSep 4 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 14 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormSep 22 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1906 | Unnamed 1906 stormJun 13 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 15 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 11 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormOct 3 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormSep 1 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 3 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 13 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1881 | Unnamed 1881 stormAug 29 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1859 | Unnamed 1859 stormSep 16 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1852 | Unnamed 1852 stormAug 27 | 55 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 Sylacauga: 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 Sylacauga
By decade
- 2020s17(2 EF3+)
- 2010s18
- 2000s15
- 1990s5
- 1980s9
- 1970s5(1 EF3+)
- 1960s7(2 EF3+)
- 1950s7(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 24, 1964 | F4 | 13 mi | 3.3 mi | 10 / 6 |
| May 27, 1973 | F4 | 6 mi | 139.1 mi | 7 / 199 |
| May 1, 1953 | F4 | 20 mi | 12.1 mi | 7 / 12 |
| Nov 17, 1968 | F3 | 21 mi | 32.3 mi | 1 / 24 |
| Mar 25, 2021 | EF3 | 15 mi | 79.66 mi | 0 / 13 |
| Mar 25, 2021 | EF3 | 24 mi | 50.13 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Mar 15, 2025 | EF2 | 11 mi | 3.63 mi | 1 / 1 |
| Mar 25, 2021 | EF2 | 20 mi | 14.67 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 2, 2012 | EF2 | 25 mi | 28.25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 6, 2008 | EF2 | 3 mi | 15.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 24, 2004 | F2 | 13 mi | 49 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 24, 2001 | F2 | 10 mi | 9.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 83, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Sylacauga
The Storm Prediction Center has 57 hail reports within 10 miles of Sylacauga since 1975, made on 42 separate days. Of these, 36 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on April 19, 2006. The most recent report is from May 18, 2025. April has the most reports, 15.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Sylacauga
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Sylacauga 4 NE, AL, 5 miles northeast of Sylacauga at 490 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 55°F and 31°F. February is the wettest at 5.9 inches of precipitation on average and October the driest at 3.5 inches; the year adds up to 57.3 inches over 81 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 45% of the year's precipitation (25.8 of 57.3 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 3.7 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 61 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 73 nights a year. Snowfall averages 1.7 inches a year, most of it in March. That 57.3 inches is more than at 55 of the 107 Alabama stations used on this site (51%). Childersburg, 8 miles northwest, has its own station (Childersburg Wtp, AL): 56.0 inches a year, 1.3 less than here, and a July average high of 93°F against 90°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 55 | 31 | 5.6 | 8 | 0.4 |
| Feb | 59 | 34 | 5.9 | 7 | 0.1 |
| Mar | 67 | 41 | 5.5 | 7 | 1.2 |
| Apr | 75 | 48 | 4.8 | 7 | 0.0 |
| May | 81 | 57 | 4.4 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 87 | 65 | 5.0 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 90 | 69 | 4.6 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 89 | 67 | 4.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 85 | 61 | 3.7 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 76 | 49 | 3.5 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 65 | 39 | 4.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 57 | 34 | 5.3 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Year | 74 | 50 | 57.3 | 81 | 1.7 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Sylacauga 4 NE, AL (490 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 Sylacauga
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 125 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Sylacauga: 107 thunderstorm wind reports, 9 flash floods, 4 floods, 4 heavy rain events and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $868,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on April 27, 2011. March has had the most flash floods, 4 of 9. Of the 321 Alabama cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 105 have had fewer than Sylacauga.
July 22, 2015: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Sylacauga — 1 injured.
NWS: “Several trees uprooted and power lines downed near the intersection of Old Birmingham Highway and Gantts Junction Road. One tree fell on mobile home with one minor injury.”
March 10, 2010: flood 10 miles from the centre of Sylacauga — $500,000 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 Sylacauga's 2 ZIP codes have filed 36 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1990, and were paid $1.3 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 14% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 118 Alabama cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 56 have fewer than Sylacauga.
Talladega County, which includes Sylacauga, has been named in 25 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 hurricanes, 6 severe storms, 4 floods, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Hurricane Zeta, on December 10, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Talladega County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for hurricanes and hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $37.0 million a year, the 17th highest of 67 Alabama counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $20.4 million (55%), 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.