Escambia County, Alabama severe weather history spans 343 recorded events between 1958 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 56.0% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,538 nationally and #39 in Alabama.
343
Recorded events
2
Direct deaths
38
Direct injuries
$15.3M
Property damage
The record
What the Escambia County, Alabama severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Escambia County, Alabama severe weather history averages 5.0 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 88 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 48 events fall before 1990 and 295 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Escambia County, Alabama record is lightning, responsible for 2 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $8.4M 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 Escambia County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 192 | 0 | $3.0M | 90 | 1961–2025 |
| Hail | 69 | 0 | $57K | 2.75 | 1961–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 43 | 0 | $3.1M | 0 | 1998–2025 |
| Tornado | 30 | 0 | $8.4M | F3 | 1958–2026 |
| Lightning | 5 | 2 | $23K | 0 | 1999–2022 |
| Flood | 3 | 0 | $767K | 0 | 2009–2013 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–1998 |
Decade by decade
Escambia County, Alabama severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
32 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 29 touched down inside it and 3 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-02-15 | EF3 | 0 | 3 | 16.5 mi | Crossed in |
| 1968-11-03 | EF3 | 0 | 18 | 70.4 mi | Crossed in |
| 1961-12-10 | EF3 | 0 | 1 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2021-06-19 | EF2 | 0 | 20 | 22.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-04-15 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 23.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2008-02-17 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 14.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 1974-11-05 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1972-12-15 | EF2 | 0 | 3 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1972-03-02 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 4.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1972-06-08 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Escambia County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 2022 | Lightning | BREWTON | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 6, 2009 | Lightning | WAWBEEK | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 19, 2021 | Tornado | BREWTON MUNI ARPT | 0 | 20 | $3.2M |
| Mar 18, 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | PORCH | 0 | 10 | $0 |
| Dec 15, 1972 | Tornado | 0 | 3 | $3K | |
| Jul 2, 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | BREWTON | 0 | 1 | $100K |
| Jul 2, 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | KEEGO | 0 | 1 | $20K |
| Mar 12, 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | HUXFORD | 0 | 1 | $1.0M |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Tornado touched down approximately one half mile west of Damascus Road and quickly widened to near 300 yards and strengthened to EF-2 intensity. Near and along Damascus Road the tornado destroyed one wood frame home, and severely damaged or affected several other brick homes and adjacent manufactured homes. The tornado rolled one single-wide manufactured home onto its roof trapping the occupants inside for several minutes. Several minor injuries were reported. The tornado continued east crossing Eddie Jackson Road, Hoomesville Road, and Brooklyn Road where trees were snapped or uprooted along a 200 yard wide path. The tornado continued moving east into Conecuh County. Alabama Forestry Commission estimated the timber losses along this tornado track to be near 2.1 million dollars. Property damage to homes was estimated to be near 500,000 dollars.
A line of severe thunderstorms produced an intense and well defined bow echo, or downburst, over the northwestern part of the county. The extremely high downburst winds, estimated to be around 100 mph, produced extensive damage in the Little River State Forest Park. Media reports indicated several hundred acres of pine forest was destroyed. It was noted that the downed pine timber in the Little River State Park possessed some of the largest known diameters of any of the downed trees in the 3/12/01 severe weather outbreak that occurred over Southwest Alabama. A Park Ranger was severely injured when the vehicle he was in was crushed by one of the falling trees. The same line of storms produced wind damage to structures, and 1 inch hail in Huxford, which is just north of the State Park.
This tornado was produced from an isolated supercell thunderstorm. The tornado moved northeast out of Escambia County Florida and into Escambia County AL just east of Flomaton. EF-2 intensity damage was surveyed on Old Fannie Road. The tornado continued northeast toward Pollard where it weakened and lifted. Extensive tree damage was noted with numerous softwood and hardwood trees either uprooted or snapped. Several power poles were also snapped.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Moderate
FEMA NRI risk rating
36,629
Population (ACS)
$137K
Median home value
27
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 26, 2024 | Hurricane | HURRICANE HELENE | EM |
| Sep 20, 2020 | Hurricane | HURRICANE SALLY | DR |
| Sep 14, 2020 | Hurricane | HURRICANE SALLY | EM |
| Mar 29, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Oct 12, 2018 | Hurricane | HURRICANE MICHAEL | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Escambia County, Alabama?
343 events are on record between 1958 and 2026, causing 2 direct deaths and $15.3M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Escambia County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 192 recorded events — 56.0% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Escambia County?
32 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 29 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Escambia County?
27 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Escambia County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Escambia County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Escambia County as relatively moderate risk, placing it in the 85 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Escambia 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
- Elmore County 550
- Etowah County 547
- DeKalb County 965
- Fayette County 317
- Dallas County 373
- Franklin County 489
Cite this page
“Escambia County, Alabama.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/alabama/escambia-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.