NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Tuskegee Institute, 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
28 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Tuskegee Institute, Alabama since 1851, 1 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Fred in 2021. Since 1950, 109 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 1
- Tropical storms
- 27
- Tornadoes
- 109
- EF3 or stronger
- 7
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
37 deaths in all
What the records show for Tuskegee Institute
The strongest storm to pass near Tuskegee Institute was Eloise in 1975, a Category 1 hurricane with 82 mph winds when its centre passed 7 miles away. The record near Tuskegee Institute begins with an unnamed storm in 1852; the most recent system was Fred in 2021, a tropical storm 53 miles away. Of the 28 systems, one has come since 2000. Tuskegee Institute has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 63% of the 323 Alabama cities on this site. The highest rating among the 109 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on March 3, 2019, came within 14 miles. Of the 109, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 79 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 25. The most recent tornado was on May 21, 2025. Of the 323 Alabama cities, 70% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Tuskegee Institute. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 22 times since 1962, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Of the 323 Alabama cities, 90% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Tuskegee Institute.
Compare Tuskegee Institute's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Tuskegee Institute
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | FredAug 17 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1995 | OpalOct 5 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1985 | JuanNov 1 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1975 | EloiseSep 23 | 7 mi | Category 1 (82 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1965 | Unnamed 1965 stormJun 15 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormAug 15 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1917 | Unnamed 1917 stormSep 29 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 8 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormSep 4 | 30 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 14 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormSep 22 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1906 | Unnamed 1906 stormJun 13 | 1 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 15 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 11 | 12 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1901 | Unnamed 1901 stormSep 18 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormAug 2 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormOct 3 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormSep 1 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormJul 8 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (64 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 3 | 9 mi | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1889 | Unnamed 1889 stormSep 23 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1887 | Unnamed 1887 stormOct 20 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1887 | Unnamed 1887 stormJul 28 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 10 | 50 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1881 | Unnamed 1881 stormAug 28 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1860 | Unnamed 1860 stormAug 13 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1859 | Unnamed 1859 stormSep 16 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1852 | Unnamed 1852 stormAug 27 | 5 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 Tuskegee Institute: 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 Tuskegee Institute
By decade
- 2020s21
- 2010s28(1 EF3+)
- 2000s30
- 1990s7(1 EF3+)
- 1980s11(1 EF3+)
- 1970s5(1 EF3+)
- 1960s2(1 EF3+)
- 1950s5(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 3, 2019 | EF4 | 14 mi | 68.04 mi | 23 / 90 |
| Apr 18, 1969 | F4 | 17 mi | 52.4 mi | 2 / 14 |
| Apr 18, 1953 | F3 | 15 mi | 39.8 mi | 8 / 495 |
| Apr 1, 1981 | F3 | 22 mi | 0.1 mi | 2 / 23 |
| Mar 18, 1996 | F3 | 24 mi | 24 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 12, 1976 | F3 | 23 mi | 4.9 mi | 0 / 15 |
| Dec 5, 1954 | F3 | 25 mi | 51 mi | 0 / 7 |
| Mar 6, 1996 | F2 | 21 mi | 4 mi | 2 / 17 |
| Mar 27, 2023 | EF2 | 4 mi | 15.41 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 30, 2022 | EF2 | 12 mi | 6.26 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 3, 2019 | EF2 | 4 mi | 29.07 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jan 19, 2019 | EF2 | 24 mi | 18.11 mi | 0 / 4 |
The strongest 12 of 109, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Tuskegee Institute
The Storm Prediction Center has 22 hail reports within 10 miles of Tuskegee Institute since 1962, made on 17 separate days. Of these, 12 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on April 11, 1962. The most recent report is from January 21, 2012. May has the most reports, 6.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Tuskegee Institute
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Milstead, AL, 10 miles west of Tuskegee Institute at 215 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 70°F; January is the coolest, at 57°F and 34°F. March is the wettest at 5.3 inches of precipitation on average and October the driest at 3.1 inches; the year adds up to 54.1 inches over 71 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 45% of the year's precipitation (24.6 of 54.1 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 28 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (10); a normal September there has highs of 86°F and 3.6 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 66 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 54 nights a year. That 54.1 inches is more than at 14 of the 107 Alabama stations used on this site (13%). Auburn, 17 miles northeast, has its own station (Auburn No.2, AL): 56.4 inches a year, 2.3 more than here, and a July average high of 89°F against 90°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 57 | 34 | 5.1 | 7 |
| Feb | 61 | 36 | 4.7 | 7 |
| Mar | 68 | 42 | 5.3 | 6 |
| Apr | 75 | 49 | 4.6 | 5 |
| May | 83 | 59 | 4.7 | 6 |
| Jun | 88 | 66 | 4.2 | 7 |
| Jul | 90 | 70 | 5.0 | 7 |
| Aug | 90 | 69 | 4.4 | 6 |
| Sep | 86 | 64 | 3.6 | 5 |
| Oct | 77 | 52 | 3.1 | 3 |
| Nov | 67 | 41 | 4.3 | 5 |
| Dec | 59 | 36 | 5.1 | 6 |
| Year | 75 | 51 | 54.1 | 71 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Milstead, AL (215 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 Tuskegee Institute
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 44 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Tuskegee Institute: 39 thunderstorm wind reports, 4 flash floods and 1 flood. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $426,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on March 6, 1996.
March 6, 1996: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Tuskegee Institute — $162,000 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
Macon County, which includes Tuskegee Institute, has been named in 26 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1975, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 hurricanes, 10 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes, on May 5, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Macon County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for lightning; Relatively Low for hurricanes, tornadoes, strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for hail and inland flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $5.4 million a year, the 64th highest of 67 Alabama counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $2.7 million (50%), 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 Tuskegee Institute
- Tuskegee, AL1 mi
- Notasulga, AL9 mi
- Tallassee, AL15 mi
- Auburn, AL17 mi
- Auburn University, AL18 mi
- Union Springs, AL19 mi
- Pike Road, AL23 mi
- Opelika, AL24 mi
- Dadeville, AL26 mi
- Eclectic, AL26 mi
- Camp Hill, AL27 mi
- Wetumpka, AL30 mi
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