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Clay County, Alabama severe weather history spans 246 recorded events between 1953 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 55.3% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,132 nationally and #55 in Alabama.
246
Recorded events
8
Direct deaths
26
Direct injuries
$28.2M
Property damage
The record
What the Clay County, Alabama severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Clay County, Alabama severe weather history averages 3.4 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 85 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 45 events fall before 1990 and 201 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Clay County, Alabama record is tornado, responsible for 7 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $26.6M 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 Clay County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 136 | 0 | $460K | 65 | 1960–2025 |
| Hail | 57 | 0 | $89K | 2.5 | 1980–2023 |
| Tornado | 25 | 7 | $26.6M | F4 | 1953–2023 |
| Flash Flood | 19 | 1 | $852K | 0 | 1998–2023 |
| Lightning | 5 | 0 | $146K | 0 | 1997–2003 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2004–2007 |
| Flood | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2013–2020 |
Decade by decade
Clay County, Alabama severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
28 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 22 touched down inside it and 6 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973-05-27 | EF4 | 7 | 199 | 139.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 1953-05-01 | EF4 | 7 | 12 | 12.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2021-03-25 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 31.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 2001-11-24 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 9.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 1984-05-03 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 13.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1980-06-17 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 5.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1957-11-18 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2005-04-30 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 17.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 2005-04-30 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 10.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 2004-11-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 13.7 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Clay County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 1953 | Tornado | 7 | 12 | $250K | |
| Jul 4, 1998 | Flash Flood | ASHLAND | 1 | 0 | $15K |
| Feb 10, 1990 | Tornado | 0 | 5 | $250K | |
| Nov 15, 1989 | Tornado | 0 | 3 | $25K | |
| May 3, 1984 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $250K | |
| Jun 28, 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | LINEVILLE | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Nov 24, 2004 | Tornado | MILLERVILLE | 0 | 1 | $250K |
| Jun 4, 2002 | Lightning | ASHLAND | 0 | 1 | $3K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A flash flood, about 3 inches in an hour, washed out sections of Fuller Road in Mellow Valley. A 51 year-old man drove into the washed out area and was severely injured. He died the next day in the hospital from his injuries.
Thunderstorm wind destroyed a maintenance building and a tire company building in the Lineville Industrial Park South. A house on Highway 9 east of Ashland was heavily damaged when a large tree fell on it. Several mobile homes in the area sustained light to moderate damage.
Numerous trees and power lines were blown down countywide. One mobile home lost part of its roof near Millerville. In the southwest part of the county, one home had its front porch removed. One residence in Ashland caught on fire from a lightning strike and sustained major damage. A grass fire was ignited in the Highland Pine area due to a lightning strike. Several vehicles were damaged by falling trees.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
14,192
Population (ACS)
$157K
Median home value
24
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 26, 2024 | Hurricane | HURRICANE HELENE | EM |
| Apr 26, 2021 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR |
| Dec 10, 2020 | Hurricane | HURRICANE ZETA | DR |
| Sep 14, 2020 | Hurricane | HURRICANE SALLY | EM |
| 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 Clay County, Alabama?
246 events are on record between 1953 and 2025, causing 8 direct deaths and $28.2M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Clay County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 136 recorded events — 55.3% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Clay County?
28 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 22 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Clay County?
24 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Clay County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Clay County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Clay County as very low risk, placing it in the 27 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Clay 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
- Clarke County 555
- Cleburne County 180
- Choctaw County 327
- Coffee County 594
- Chilton County 332
- Colbert County 1,364
Cite this page
“Clay County, Alabama.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/alabama/clay-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.