NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Winder, 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
14 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Winder, Georgia since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Helene in 2024. Since 1950, 77 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 14
- Tornadoes
- 77
- EF3 or stronger
- 2
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
5 deaths in all
What the records show for Winder
None of the 14 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Winder; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1949, a tropical storm with 61 mph winds when its centre passed 70 miles away. The record near Winder begins with an unnamed storm in 1852; the most recent system was Helene in 2024, a tropical storm 31 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1900s, with 3 systems. Of the 14 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Of the 405 Georgia cities on this site, 76% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Winder. The highest rating among the 77 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on December 13, 1973, came within 21 miles. The deadliest, an F2 on March 31, 1973, killed 2 people. Of the 77, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 28 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 16. The most recent tornado was on May 2, 2025. Of the 405 Georgia cities, 58% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Winder. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 88 times since 1984, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Winder has more hail reports within 10 miles than 73% of the 405 Georgia cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Winder
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | HeleneSep 27 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1965 | Unnamed 1965 stormJun 15 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 28 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 14 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormSep 23 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 11 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1901 | Unnamed 1901 stormSep 28 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormJul 8 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 3 | 35 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1889 | Unnamed 1889 stormSep 24 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 10 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1859 | Unnamed 1859 stormSep 16 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1852 | Unnamed 1852 stormAug 27 | 65 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 Winder: 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 Winder
By decade
- 2020s8
- 2010s8
- 2000s12
- 1990s13
- 1980s11
- 1970s15(2 EF3+)
- 1960s7
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 28, 1973 | F3 | 10 mi | 18.7 mi | 1 / 65 |
| Dec 13, 1973 | F3 | 21 mi | 9.5 mi | 0 / 21 |
| Mar 31, 1973 | F2 | 11 mi | 72.4 mi | 2 / 100 |
| Apr 8, 1998 | F2 | 16 mi | 19 mi | 1 / 10 |
| Jun 27, 1994 | F2 | 10 mi | 8 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Apr 2, 2024 | EF2 | 24 mi | 9.47 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 30, 2010 | EF2 | 14 mi | 2.11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 27, 1994 | F2 | 20 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 1, 1989 | F2 | 24 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 4, 1989 | F2 | 18 mi | 3.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 28, 1976 | F2 | 19 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 28, 1976 | F2 | 16 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 77, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Winder
The Storm Prediction Center has 88 hail reports within 10 miles of Winder since 1984, made on 67 separate days. Of these, 52 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on March 15, 2008. The most recent report is from April 10, 2025. May has the most reports, 25.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Winder
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Winder 4S, GA, 5 miles south of Winder at 889 feet. July 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. March is the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and December the driest at 2.5 inches; the year adds up to 50.9 inches over 69 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 50% of the year's precipitation (25.3 of 50.9 inches). September has brought the most of the 14 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (6); a normal September there has highs of 83°F and 4.3 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 37 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 60 nights a year. Snowfall averages 0.5 inches a year, most of it in January. That 50.9 inches is more than at 52 of the 108 Georgia stations used on this site (48%). Statham, 8 miles east, has its own station (U Of Ga Plt Sci, GA): 51.3 inches a year, 0.4 more than here, and a July average high of 91°F against 89°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 54 | 32 | 5.0 | 7 | 0.3 |
| Feb | 58 | 35 | 4.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Mar | 66 | 40 | 5.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Apr | 74 | 47 | 4.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| May | 81 | 56 | 4.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 87 | 64 | 4.6 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 89 | 68 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 89 | 67 | 4.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 83 | 62 | 4.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 74 | 51 | 3.4 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 64 | 41 | 4.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 55 | 35 | 2.5 | 5 | 0.2 |
| Year | 73 | 50 | 50.9 | 69 | 0.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Winder 4S, GA (889 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 Winder
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 155 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Winder: 120 thunderstorm wind reports, 17 flash floods, 16 lightning strikes and 2 floods. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $5.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 69 mph, on July 1, 2012. September has had the most flash floods, 5 of 17. Of the 392 Georgia cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 284 have had fewer than Winder.
August 23, 2013: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Winder — 1 injured, $200,000 damage.
July 26, 2012: lightning strike in Winder — $3.0 million damage.
NWS: “A historic church, built in 1904, was completely destroyed by a lightning strike and resulting fire at 71 West Candler Street. The church was the oldest in Winder and had recently undergone over $700,000 worth of restoration and renovation, with only $10,000 left of repairs to go before it was fully restored.”
May 20, 2008: lightning strike 9 miles from the centre of Winder — $250,000 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
Barrow County, which includes Winder, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 6 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 hurricanes, 2 biological emergencies, 2 ice storms, 2 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 29, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Barrow County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for hail, inland flooding and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $18.2 million a year, the 45th highest of 159 Georgia counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $10.6 million (59%), 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 Winder
- Bethlehem, GA5 mi
- Auburn, GA7 mi
- Statham, GA8 mi
- Hoschton, GA8 mi
- Dacula, GA10 mi
- Braselton, GA10 mi
- Jefferson, GA11 mi
- Bogart, GA12 mi
- Pendergrass, GA12 mi
- Monroe, GA12 mi
- Loganville, GA16 mi
- Grayson, GA16 mi
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