Hurricanes that hit Georgia: hurricane history

207 storms have passed within 50 km of Georgia from 1851 to 2024, drawn on the map and coloured by intensity.

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Years1842 to 2026
Ocean basin

Choosing a minimum category hides storms with no wind speed in the record. To see which storms have passed near you, search a town or ZIP code, or tap the map.

Key
  • Tropical depression Winds below 34 knots (39 mph)
  • Tropical storm 34 to 63 knots (39 to 73 mph)
  • Category 1 64 to 82 knots (74 to 95 mph)
  • Category 2 83 to 95 knots (96 to 110 mph)
  • Category 3 96 to 112 knots (111 to 129 mph), major
  • Category 4 113 to 136 knots (130 to 156 mph), major
  • Category 5 137 knots (157 mph) or more, major
  • Unknown intensity No wind speed in the record
  • Post-tropical Storm has become post-tropical (dashed line)

How to read the lines. Each line is the track of one storm, drawn through its six-hourly positions and coloured by its intensity at each point (the Saffir-Simpson scale), so a line changes colour as the storm strengthens or weakens. Tap a line for its details, or tap anywhere else to see which storms have passed nearby. Weaker storms appear as you zoom in. Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are the same kind of storm with different names in different oceans.

Storms near Georgia

The record holds 207 tropical cyclones whose tracks passed within 50 km of Georgia between 1851 and 2024. The busiest month is September, with 70 of them. The strongest, measured where each came closest to the place, reached category 4 strength. 7 of the storms have no wind speed in the record.

  • 207storms within 50 km
  • 10major (category 3 to 5) near here
  • 51at category 1 strength or more

A storm counts once, however many times it came close. The category is the storm's strongest point within 50 km, which can be weaker than its peak elsewhere.

How strong were the storms near Georgia?

Category near hereStormsShare
Tropical depression4019%
Tropical storm10953%
Category 12311%
Category 2189%
Category 373%
Category 431%
Category 500%
Unknown intensity73%

The agency behind most of the intensity figures here is the NOAA National Hurricane Center (HURDAT2, Atlantic).

Georgia storms over time

Storms by decade
Bar chart of storms by period. The most is 18 in 1880s.1850s1870s1890s1910s1930s1950s1970s1990s2010s

The 2020s only run to 2024, so that bar is for a shorter period. This place's record starts in 1851, and records before the satellite era (about the 1960s) are far less complete.

Show the numbers
PeriodCount
1850s10
1860s8
1870s13
1880s18
1890s10
1900s14
1910s16
1920s8
1930s6
1940s9
1950s13
1960s7
1970s13
1980s12
1990s12
2000s16
2010s9
2020s13

Earlier decades hold fewer storms partly because they were harder to see. Before weather satellites (about the 1960s) many storms that stayed at sea went unrecorded, so compare decades with care.

Storms by month
Bar chart of storms by period. The most is 70 in Sep.Jan0Feb0Mar0Apr0May5Jun30Jul19Aug39Sep70Oct37Nov7Dec0
Show the numbers
PeriodCount
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May5
Jun30
Jul19
Aug39
Sep70
Oct37
Nov7
Dec0

Strongest storms near Georgia

  • Michael (2018)6 October 2018 to 15 October 2018, peak Category 4 (135 kt), 920 hPa
  • Helene (2024)23 September 2024 to 28 September 2024, peak Category 4 (120 kt), 941 hPa
  • Unnamed storm of September 1898 (North Atlantic)25 September 1898 to 6 October 1898, peak Category 4 (115 kt), 938 hPa
  • Unnamed storm of September 1854 (North Atlantic)2 September 1854 to 12 September 1854, peak Category 3 (110 kt), 938 hPa
  • Eloise (1975)13 September 1975 to 24 September 1975, peak Category 3 (110 kt), 950 hPa
  • Unnamed storm of September 1894 (North Atlantic)26 September 1894 to 12 October 1894, peak Category 3 (105 kt)

Most recent storms near Georgia

  • Helene (2024)23 September 2024 to 28 September 2024, peak Category 4 (120 kt), 941 hPa
  • Debby (2024)2 August 2024 to 10 August 2024, peak Category 1 (70 kt), 980 hPa
  • Idalia (2023)26 August 2023 to 8 September 2023, peak Category 3 (105 kt), 945 hPa
  • Nicole (2022)6 November 2022 to 11 November 2022, Tropical storm (35 kt) near here, peak Category 1 (65 kt), 980 hPa
  • Colin (2022)1 July 2022 to 2 July 2022, peak Tropical storm (35 kt), 1,011 hPa

Many of these storms killed people and destroyed homes. The figures are the official record's, and this page says nothing about their human cost.

Georgia ranks number 4 among US states and territories for the number of storms.

Notable storms near Georgia with their own pages

  • Michael (2018)6 October 2018 to 15 October 2018, peak Category 4 (135 kt), 920 hPa
  • Helene (2024)23 September 2024 to 28 September 2024, peak Category 4 (120 kt), 941 hPa
  • Eloise (1975)13 September 1975 to 24 September 1975, peak Category 3 (110 kt), 950 hPa
  • Idalia (2023)26 August 2023 to 8 September 2023, peak Category 3 (105 kt), 945 hPa
  • Dora (1964)28 August 1964 to 16 September 1964, peak Category 4 (115 kt), 942 hPa
  • Matthew (2016)28 September 2016 to 10 October 2016, peak Category 5 (145 kt), 934 hPa
  • David (1979)25 August 1979 to 8 September 1979, peak Category 5 (150 kt), 924 hPa
  • Kate (1985)15 November 1985 to 23 November 1985, peak Category 3 (105 kt), 954 hPa
  • Alma (1966)5 June 1966 to 14 June 1966, peak Category 3 (100 kt), 970 hPa
  • King (1950)13 October 1950 to 20 October 1950, peak Category 4 (115 kt), 955 hPa
  • Agnes (1972)14 June 1972 to 23 June 1972, peak Category 1 (70 kt), 977 hPa
  • Cleo (1964)20 August 1964 to 11 September 1964, peak Category 4 (130 kt), 938 hPa

Georgia counties

Every county that a storm has come near is listed, most storms first. 159 of them have at least 3 storms and their own page.

CountyStormsStrongest near the county
Liberty County92Category 3
Bryan County91Category 3
Chatham County88Category 3
Ware County85Category 4
Long County82Category 3
Wayne County81Category 4
McIntosh County80Category 4
Clinch County77Category 4
Appling County76Category 3
Charlton County76Category 4
Effingham County76Category 3
Glynn County76Category 4
Camden County75Category 4
Tattnall County74Category 3
Coffee County72Category 4
Pierce County71Category 4
Bacon County69Category 3
Brantley County69Category 4
Brooks County69Category 4
Bulloch County68Category 3
Lowndes County68Category 4
Atkinson County67Category 4
Echols County66Category 4
Lanier County66Category 4
Berrien County65Category 4
Colquitt County65Category 4
Evans County64Category 3
Thomas County64Category 4
Cook County63Category 4
Jeff Davis County61Category 3
Grady County60Category 4
Irwin County59Category 4
Toombs County59Category 2
Decatur County57Category 4
Telfair County57Category 3
Ben Hill County56Category 4
Tift County56Category 4
Montgomery County55Category 2
Wheeler County55Category 3
Screven County54Category 3
Early County53Category 4
Seminole County53Category 4
Baker County52Category 4
Dougherty County52Category 4
Mitchell County52Category 4
Worth County52Category 4
Burke County50Category 2
Candler County49Category 2
Emanuel County49Category 2
Laurens County49Category 2
Dodge County48Category 2
Lee County48Category 4
Turner County48Category 4
Randolph County47Category 4
Terrell County47Category 4
Wilcox County47Category 2
Miller County46Category 4
Calhoun County45Category 4
Clay County45Category 4
Sumter County45Category 4
Crisp County43Category 2
Jenkins County43Category 2
Treutlen County43Category 1
Dooly County41Category 1
Jefferson County41Category 1
Johnson County39Category 1
Stewart County39Category 4
Bleckley County36Category 2
Chattahoochee County36Category 1
Pulaski County36Category 2
Richmond County36Category 2
Washington County36Category 1
Webster County36Category 4
Harris County35Category 1
Talbot County35Category 1
Twiggs County35Category 1
Macon County34Category 1
Marion County34Category 1
Muscogee County34Category 1
Quitman County34Category 4
Schley County34Category 1
Houston County33Category 1
Meriwether County33Category 1
Troup County33Category 3
Wilkinson County33Category 1
Taylor County31Category 1
Columbia County30Category 1
Crawford County30Category 1
Heard County30Category 3
Baldwin County29Category 1
Bibb County29Category 1
Fulton County29Category 1
Jones County29Category 1
Monroe County29Category 1
Warren County29Category 1
Lamar County28Category 1
Lincoln County28Tropical storm
Putnam County28Category 1
Upson County28Category 1
Coweta County27Category 1
Glascock County27Category 1
Greene County27Category 1
McDuffie County27Category 1
Peach County27Category 1
Pike County27Category 1
Carroll County26Category 1
Henry County26Category 1
Spalding County26Category 1
Taliaferro County26Category 1
Wilkes County26Category 1
Butts County25Category 1
Elbert County25Category 1
Hancock County25Category 1
Clayton County24Category 1
Fayette County24Category 1
Jasper County24Category 1
Paulding County22Category 1
Douglas County21Category 1
Floyd County21Category 1
Haralson County21Category 1
Morgan County21Category 1
Newton County21Category 1
Polk County21Category 1
Cobb County20Category 1
DeKalb County20Category 1
Oglethorpe County20Category 1
Chattooga County19Category 1
Gwinnett County19Category 1
Rockdale County19Category 1
Bartow County18Category 1
Fannin County18Tropical storm
Hart County18Category 1
Madison County18Category 1
Oconee County18Category 1
Walton County18Category 1
Banks County17Category 1
Dawson County17Tropical storm
Forsyth County17Tropical storm
Gordon County17Tropical storm
Hall County17Category 1
Jackson County17Category 1
Union County17Tropical storm
Walker County17Tropical storm
Cherokee County16Tropical storm
Clarke County16Category 1
Murray County16Tropical storm
Towns County16Tropical storm
Franklin County15Category 1
Gilmer County15Tropical storm
Lumpkin County15Tropical storm
Pickens County15Tropical storm
Whitfield County15Tropical storm
Barrow County14Category 1
Catoosa County14Tropical storm
Habersham County14Category 1
Rabun County14Category 1
White County14Category 1
Dade County13Tropical storm
Stephens County8Category 1

Other states

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