Butts County, Georgia severe weather history spans 172 recorded events between 1963 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 62.8% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,597 nationally and #108 in Georgia.
172
Recorded events
3
Direct deaths
11
Direct injuries
$3.1M
Property damage
The record
What the Butts County, Georgia severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Butts County, Georgia severe weather history averages 2.8 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 45 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 14 events fall before 1990 and 158 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Butts County, Georgia record is thunderstorm wind, responsible for 2 direct deaths. The costliest is thunderstorm wind, with $1.9M 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 Butts County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 108 | 2 | $1.9M | 65 | 1970–2025 |
| Hail | 41 | 0 | $442K | 1.75 | 1963–2023 |
| Tornado | 12 | 1 | $458K | F2 | 1969–2025 |
| Lightning | 5 | 0 | $330K | 0 | 2002–2010 |
| Flash Flood | 3 | 0 | $25K | 0 | 1996–2021 |
| Winter Storm | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2025–2025 |
| Flood | 1 | 0 | $1K | 0 | 2009–2009 |
Decade by decade
Butts County, Georgia severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
11 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 6 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 | EF3 | 2 | 22 | 30.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 2023-01-12 | EF3 | 0 | 18 | 31.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 2023-01-12 | EF2 | 4 | 40 | 125.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 1969-05-18 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 15.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-05-21 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 10.4 mi | Crossed in |
| 2025-02-16 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 6.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 2023-01-12 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 5.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 2023-01-12 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 20.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2014-11-23 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 21.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 2010-11-30 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 2.7 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Butts County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 5, 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | JENKINSBURG | 2 | 0 | $200K |
| Jan 12, 2023 | Tornado | JENKINSBURG | 1 | 10 | $0 |
| Nov 11, 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | JENKINSBURG | 0 | 1 | $450K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The Butts County Emergency Management Director reported that over 100 trees were down across the entire county. One large tree fell on a home on Seventh Street in Jackson killing a 34-year old man along with his 4-year old son. In addition to the widespread tree damage, the side of an outbuilding near Stark suffered significant damage when one side was blown away.
The Butts County Emergency Management Director reported that an apparent thunderstorm downburst or microburst caused extensive damage to trees, power lines, and property in the northeastern part of the county from the Henry county line, just northwest of Fincherville to the south side of Lake Jackson along the Butts/Jasper county line. At least 40 trees were down along this path. Some of the most significant damage occurred near the intersection of Georgia Highway 36 and Barnetts Bridge Road, where a number of trees and power lines were down and one home in the area suffered major damage. A total of six homes sustained damage, two of which were severely damaged and four others sustained moderate damage.
A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that a second, weaker EF0 tornado touched down within the same quasi-linear convective system that spawned the EF2 tornado in Gwinnett county. This tornado originated in extreme western Butts county approximately four miles southwest of Jenkinsburg, crossed very briefly into extreme eastern Henry county, before crossing back into extreme western Butts county and then lifting immediately thereafter. The tornado had a total path length of 2.5 miles, mostly in Butts county. The maximum path width was determined to be 50 yards with maximum wind gusts estimated at 80 mph. Within Butts county four homes were damaged and at least 200 trees were blown down or uprooted along the path of the tornado. Several outbuildings were damaged or destroyed, including six storage buildings blown across U.S. Highway 23.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
26,496
Population (ACS)
$241K
Median home value
19
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 24, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
| Sep 30, 2024 | Hurricane | HURRICANE HELENE | DR |
| Sep 26, 2024 | Tropical Storm | HURRICANE HELENE | EM |
| Jan 16, 2023 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR |
| Mar 29, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Butts County, Georgia?
172 events are on record between 1963 and 2025, causing 3 direct deaths and $3.1M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Butts County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 108 recorded events — 62.8% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Butts County?
11 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 6 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Butts County?
19 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Butts County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Butts County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Butts County as very low risk, placing it in the 21 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Butts County, Georgia 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
- Burke County 349
- Calhoun County 86
- Bulloch County 516
- Camden County 458
- Bryan County 219
- Brooks County 208
Cite this page
“Butts County, Georgia.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/georgia/butts-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.