101
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
6
Direct injuries
$5.6M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Ben Hill County, Georgia: 101 recorded events between 1959 and 2026. The strongest on record measured 85. That places the county #2,206 nationally and #118 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Ben Hill County, Georgia: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Ben Hill County is the 2010s, when 32 of the county's 101 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Ben Hill County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 67.3% of all recorded severe weather across 6 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #2,206 for this hazard and #118 within Georgia, putting it in the 30.0 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
May is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Ben Hill County with 19 recorded events, while Nov is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 30, 1993 | Fitzgerald to | 85 | 0 | 4 | $5.0M |
| Mar 12, 2026 | ASHTON | 55 | 0 | 2 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 12, 2026 | ASHTON | 55 | $0 |
| Jul 10, 2025 | FITZGERALD | 50 | $0 |
| Jun 26, 2025 | FITZGERALD | 50 | $0 |
| Mar 31, 2025 | FITZGERALD | 50 | $0 |
| May 27, 2024 | FITZGERALD | 55 | $4K |
| May 27, 2024 | FITZGERALD | 55 | $5K |
| May 9, 2024 | LULAVILLE | 55 | $5K |
| Aug 8, 2023 | FITZGERALD | 55 | $0 |
| Aug 8, 2023 | FITZGERALD | 50 | $2K |
| Aug 8, 2023 | WESTWOOD | 50 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Thunderstorm winds damaged several mobile homes and pre-fab homes. Several small sheds and outbuildings were destroyed or severely damaged. Four injuries occurred when an unanchored mobile home was overturned by thunderstorm winds. Several large trees were uprooted and power lines downed by thunderstorm winds. Over 8600 people in Fitzgerald were left without power for about eight hours. Nearly 25 percent of the pecan crop was destroyed in Ben Hill county at a cost of 100,000 dollars.
Several trees uprooted in a cemetery on Evergreen Road just east of Fitzgerald. Several sheds and trees were blown over with some houses damaged on Delta, Camp and Brooklyn roads northeast of Fitzgerald. Reported by the Fitzgerald Herald Leader.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Ben Hill County, Georgia?
101 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Ben Hill County between 1959 and 2026, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Ben Hill County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Ben Hill County measured 85.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Ben Hill County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Thunderstorm Wind in Ben Hill County, Georgia.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/georgia/ben-hill-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.