NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Villa Rica, 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
17 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Villa Rica, Georgia since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Zeta in 2020. Since 1950, 110 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 12 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 17
- Tornadoes
- 110
- EF3 or stronger
- 12
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
6 deaths in all
What the records show for Villa Rica
None of the 17 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Villa Rica; the strongest was Eloise in 1975, a tropical storm with 60 mph winds when its centre passed 20 miles away. The record near Villa Rica begins with an unnamed storm in 1852; the most recent system was Zeta in 2020, a tropical storm 40 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1900s, with 4 systems. Of the 17 systems, one has come since 2000. Of the 405 Georgia cities on this site, 63% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Villa Rica. The highest rating among the 110 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on March 25, 2021, came within 25 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on March 24, 1975, killed 3 people. Of the 110, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 48 have come since 2000. March has had the most tornadoes, 21. The most recent tornado was on May 27, 2025. Villa Rica has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 83% of the 405 Georgia cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 77 times since 1980, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Villa Rica has more hail reports within 10 miles than 66% of the 405 Georgia cities.
Compare Villa Rica's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Villa Rica
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1995 | OpalOct 5 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1975 | EloiseSep 23 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormOct 17 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormSep 5 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 14 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormSep 22 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1906 | Unnamed 1906 stormJun 13 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 15 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 11 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormOct 3 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1898 | Unnamed 1898 stormSep 1 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 3 | 47 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1887 | Unnamed 1887 stormJul 28 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 10 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1859 | Unnamed 1859 stormSep 16 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1852 | Unnamed 1852 stormAug 27 | 63 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 Villa Rica: 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 Villa Rica
By decade
- 2020s18(1 EF3+)
- 2010s14(2 EF3+)
- 2000s16(1 EF3+)
- 1990s13(3 EF3+)
- 1980s15(1 EF3+)
- 1970s15(2 EF3+)
- 1960s13(2 EF3+)
- 1950s6
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 25, 2021 | EF4 | 25 mi | 38.56 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 22, 1992 | F4 | 20 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 46 |
| Mar 24, 1975 | F3 | 23 mi | 14.8 mi | 3 / 152 |
| Mar 19, 2018 | EF3 | 25 mi | 35.22 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Mar 2, 2012 | EF3 | 13 mi | 29.02 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Feb 26, 2008 | EF3 | 17 mi | 7.21 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Feb 21, 1993 | F3 | 20 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Mar 29, 1991 | F3 | 18 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 25 |
| Mar 5, 1989 | F3 | 25 mi | 14 mi | 0 / 23 |
| May 27, 1973 | F3 | 24 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 24, 1964 | F3 | 15 mi | 75.4 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 28, 1964 | F3 | 13 mi | 15.7 mi | 0 / 10 |
The strongest 12 of 110, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Villa Rica
The Storm Prediction Center has 77 hail reports within 10 miles of Villa Rica since 1980, made on 62 separate days. Of these, 45 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 March 15, 2008. The most recent report is from April 24, 2025. April has the most reports, 18.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Villa Rica
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Carrollton, GA, 12 miles southwest of Villa Rica at 995 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 54°F and 32°F. March is the wettest at 5.6 inches of precipitation on average and August and October the driest at 3.7 inches; the year adds up to 53.6 inches over 80 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 45% of the year's precipitation (24.2 of 53.6 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 17 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (7); a normal September there has highs of 83°F and 3.8 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 36 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 65 nights a year. Snowfall averages 0.6 inches a year, most of it in December. That 53.6 inches is more than at 80 of the 108 Georgia stations used on this site (74%). Douglasville, 10 miles east, has its own station (Mableton 1 N, GA): 56.1 inches a year, 2.5 more than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 90°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 54 | 32 | 5.0 | 8 | 0.2 |
| Feb | 58 | 35 | 5.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Mar | 66 | 41 | 5.6 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Apr | 74 | 48 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| May | 81 | 57 | 3.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 87 | 65 | 4.1 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 90 | 69 | 4.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 88 | 68 | 3.7 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 83 | 62 | 3.8 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 74 | 50 | 3.7 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 64 | 39 | 4.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 56 | 34 | 5.1 | 8 | 0.4 |
| Year | 73 | 50 | 53.6 | 80 | 0.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Carrollton, GA (995 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 Villa Rica
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 247 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Villa Rica: 220 thunderstorm wind reports, 18 flash floods, 5 lightning strikes and 4 floods. They killed 8 people and injured 4, and the NWS estimated $32.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on March 10, 2017. Of the 392 Georgia cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 294 have had fewer than Villa Rica.
September 20, 2009: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Villa Rica — 6 killed, $870,000 damage.
NWS: “Numerous emergency management sources, as well as local law enforcement, newspapers, broadcast media, and National Weather Service surveys confirmed that record and catastrophic flash flooding began across Douglas county during this time frame.”
September 21, 2009: flood 5 miles from the centre of Villa Rica — 1 killed, $8.7 million damage.
NWS: “Earlier flash flooding evolved into record and catastrophic flooding as confirmed by emergency management personnel and USGS stream gages. More than 40 roads across the county were completely washed out, including Post Road just south of Interstate-20.”
September 21, 2009: flash flood 4 miles from the centre of Villa Rica — 1 killed, $1.3 million 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
Carroll County, which includes Villa Rica, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 hurricanes, 6 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 ice storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Tropical Storm Zeta, on January 12, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Carroll County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes; Relatively Moderate for hail, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for hurricanes, inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $31.8 million a year, the 28th highest of 159 Georgia counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $14.8 million (46%), 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.