Live
Active alerts for this county
Heat Advisory
Marion; Lamar; Fayette; Winston; Walker; Blount; Etowah; Calhoun; Cherokee; Cleburne; Pickens; Tuscaloosa; Jefferson; Shelby; St. Clair; Talladega; Clay; Randolph; Sumter; Greene; Hale; Perry; Bibb; Chilton; Coosa; Tallapoosa; Chambers; Marengo; Dallas; Autauga; Lowndes; Elmore; Montgomery; Macon; Bullock; Lee; Russell; Pike; Barbour
Sumter County, Alabama severe weather history spans 333 recorded events between 1956 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 49.8% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,587 nationally and #40 in Alabama.
333
Recorded events
2
Direct deaths
9
Direct injuries
$18.7M
Property damage
The record
What the Sumter County, Alabama severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Sumter County, Alabama severe weather history averages 4.8 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 100 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 34 events fall before 1990 and 299 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Sumter County, Alabama record is flash flood, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $17.9M in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Sumter County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 166 | 0 | $466K | 70 | 1960–2026 |
| Hail | 115 | 0 | $67K | 2 | 1956–2025 |
| Tornado | 30 | 0 | $17.9M | F3 | 1961–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 18 | 1 | $266K | 0 | 1998–2023 |
| Lightning | 2 | 0 | $17K | 0 | 2005–2006 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2003–2003 |
| Heavy Rain | 1 | 1 | $0 | 0 | 2004–2004 |
Decade by decade
Sumter County, Alabama severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
33 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 28 touched down inside it and 5 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-04-27 | EF4 | 7 | 17 | 122.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2011-04-15 | EF3 | 0 | 5 | 48.5 mi | Crossed in |
| 2011-04-27 | EF3 | 0 | 2 | 23.7 mi | Crossed in |
| 1967-12-18 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 7.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-03-15 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2023-01-12 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 12.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-02-03 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 15.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-04-27 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 35.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 2011-04-15 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 4.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-04-15 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 8.9 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Sumter County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 6, 2004 | Heavy Rain | BELLAMY | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Apr 7, 2003 | Flash Flood | COUNTYWIDE | 1 | 0 | $100K |
| Apr 27, 2011 | Tornado | GEIGER | 0 | 2 | $1.0M |
| Nov 25, 1986 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 2 | $0 | |
| Mar 12, 1976 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $25K | |
| Jan 12, 2023 | Tornado | EMELLE | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Apr 3, 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | SILOAM | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Nov 16, 2011 | Tornado | PERSIMMON GROVE | 0 | 1 | $200K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Numerous roads were flooded across the county and closed for several hours. Water topped several bridges along Yellow Creek near Cuba. A 68 year old woman was killed as her car was swept off US 11 near Livingston. A few homes received minor flooding.
Heavy rain and winds of 25 to 30 miles an hour moved across the Bellamy area. One tree fell down due to the saturated ground and high wind around 8:53 PM CST. The tree landed on a 50 year old man. Rescue workers attempted to free the man, but after a few hours, the man died from his injuries.
A tornado touched down in Neshoba County Mississippi. It tracked northeastward through Kemper County Mississippi before it crossed the Mississippi, Alabama state line approximately 1.5 miles north of Sumter County Road 30. As it entered Alabama, the tornado was an EF-3 with winds estimated between 140-150 mph. In Sumter County, numerous homes and businesses in the town of Geiger sustained extensive damage. As the tornado continued to move east, thousands of trees were either snapped or uprooted. The tornado lifted near the Tombigbee River at the Sumter, Greene County line.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
11,878
Population (ACS)
$83K
Median home value
20
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 26, 2024 | Hurricane | HURRICANE HELENE | EM |
| Jan 15, 2023 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR |
| Sep 14, 2020 | Hurricane | HURRICANE SALLY | EM |
| Mar 29, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Oct 8, 2017 | Hurricane | HURRICANE NATE | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Sumter County, Alabama?
333 events are on record between 1956 and 2026, causing 2 direct deaths and $18.7M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Sumter County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 166 recorded events — 49.8% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Sumter County?
33 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 28 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Sumter County?
20 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Sumter County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Sumter County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Sumter County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 53 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Sumter County, Alabama severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Shelby County 739
- Talladega County 514
- St. Clair County 469
- Tallapoosa County 421
- Russell County 275
- Tuscaloosa County 852
Cite this page
“Sumter County, Alabama.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/alabama/sumter-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.