NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Talladega, 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
19 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Talladega, Alabama since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Zeta in 2020. Since 1950, 91 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 9 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 19
- Tornadoes
- 91
- EF3 or stronger
- 9
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
64 deaths in all
What the records show for Talladega
None of the 19 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Talladega; the strongest was Eloise in 1975, a tropical storm with 67 mph winds when its centre passed 33 miles away. The record near Talladega begins with an unnamed storm in 1852; the most recent system was Zeta in 2020, a tropical storm 15 miles away. The 1890s and the 1900s were the busiest decades, with 4 systems each. Of the 19 systems, one has come since 2000. Talladega has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 50% of the 323 Alabama cities on this site. The highest rating among the 91 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 4 times; the most recent, on March 27, 1994, came within 21 miles. Of the 91, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 47 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 19. The most recent tornado was on May 20, 2025. Of the 323 Alabama cities, 84% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Talladega. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 52 times since 1971, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 323 Alabama cities, 55% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Talladega.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Talladega
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1995 | OpalOct 5 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1985 | JuanNov 1 | 35 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1975 | EloiseSep 23 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (67 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormOct 17 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 8 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormSep 4 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 14 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormSep 22 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1906 | Unnamed 1906 stormJun 13 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 15 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 11 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormOct 3 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormSep 1 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 3 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 13 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1881 | Unnamed 1881 stormAug 29 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1859 | Unnamed 1859 stormSep 16 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1852 | Unnamed 1852 stormAug 27 | 67 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 Talladega: 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 Talladega
By decade
- 2020s10(2 EF3+)
- 2010s12
- 2000s25
- 1990s8(1 EF3+)
- 1980s14(1 EF3+)
- 1970s9(2 EF3+)
- 1960s10(2 EF3+)
- 1950s3(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 27, 1994 | F4 | 21 mi | 50 mi | 22 / 150 |
| Jan 24, 1964 | F4 | 17 mi | 3.3 mi | 10 / 6 |
| May 27, 1973 | F4 | 4 mi | 139.1 mi | 7 / 199 |
| May 1, 1953 | F4 | 17 mi | 12.1 mi | 7 / 12 |
| Mar 25, 2021 | EF3 | 20 mi | 38.17 mi | 6 / 10 |
| Dec 3, 1983 | F3 | 20 mi | 4 mi | 2 / 51 |
| Jan 10, 1975 | F3 | 15 mi | 18.8 mi | 1 / 60 |
| Mar 25, 2021 | EF3 | 20 mi | 50.13 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Apr 28, 1964 | F3 | 13 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 8, 1998 | F2 | 17 mi | 14.4 mi | 2 / 12 |
| Mar 15, 2025 | EF2 | 5 mi | 3.63 mi | 1 / 1 |
| Nov 24, 2004 | F2 | 12 mi | 15.2 mi | 1 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 91, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Talladega
The Storm Prediction Center has 52 hail reports within 10 miles of Talladega since 1971, made on 37 separate days. Of these, 35 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently April 19, 2006. The most recent report is from August 9, 2023. April has the most reports, 14.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Talladega
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Talladega, AL, 2 miles west of Talladega at 448 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 91°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 54°F and 31°F. February is the wettest at 6.0 inches of precipitation on average and October the driest at 3.4 inches; the year adds up to 56.7 inches over 80 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 44% of the year's precipitation (24.9 of 56.7 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 19 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (7); a normal September there has highs of 86°F and 3.5 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 71 nights a year. Snowfall averages 0.9 inches a year, most of it in March. That 56.7 inches is more than at 43 of the 107 Alabama stations used on this site (40%). Alpine, 11 miles southwest, has its own station (Childersburg Wtp, AL): 56.0 inches a year, 0.7 less than here, and a July average high of 93°F against 91°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 54 | 31 | 5.3 | 7 | 0.3 |
| Feb | 59 | 34 | 6.0 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Mar | 67 | 40 | 5.8 | 7 | 0.6 |
| Apr | 75 | 46 | 4.8 | 7 | 0.0 |
| May | 82 | 56 | 4.7 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 88 | 65 | 4.7 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 91 | 68 | 4.7 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 90 | 67 | 3.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 86 | 61 | 3.5 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 76 | 49 | 3.4 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 65 | 38 | 4.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 57 | 33 | 5.2 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Year | 74 | 49 | 56.7 | 80 | 0.9 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Talladega, AL (448 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 Talladega
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 89 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Talladega: 80 thunderstorm wind reports, 6 flash floods, 2 lightning strikes and 1 flood. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $816,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on October 23, 2007. Of the 321 Alabama cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 64 have had fewer than Talladega.
June 21, 2010: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Talladega — $250,000 damage.
NWS: “An apparent downburst caused an swath of intense damage across the southern portion of the city of Talladega. Around 100 trees were blown down, with some of them falling onto homes causing varying degrees of damage.”
August 10, 2000: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Talladega — $100,000 damage.
NWS: “Numerous trees and power lines were blown across the entire county. Several trees landed on homes and automobiles while many others blocked roadways.”
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 Talladega's ZIP code 35160 have filed 40 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $611,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2003, with 10. 10% 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, 59 have fewer than Talladega.
Talladega County, which includes Talladega, 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.
Cities near Talladega
- Alpine, AL11 mi
- Munford, AL11 mi
- Lincoln, AL13 mi
- Cropwell, AL13 mi
- Eastaboga, AL14 mi
- Pell City, AL16 mi
- Vincent, AL16 mi
- Childersburg, AL17 mi
- Ashland, AL19 mi
- Sylacauga, AL19 mi
- Oxford, AL20 mi
- Harpersville, AL20 mi
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