Effingham County, Georgia severe weather history spans 508 recorded events between 1972 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 67.9% of all recorded events. It ranks #846 nationally and #11 in Georgia.
508
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
16
Direct injuries
$8.3M
Property damage
The record
What the Effingham County, Georgia severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Effingham County, Georgia severe weather history averages 9.6 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 206 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 20 events fall before 1990 and 488 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Effingham County, Georgia record is tornado, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $6.3M in reported property damage. In total, 9 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Effingham County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 345 | 0 | $746K | 70 | 1977–2025 |
| Hail | 117 | 0 | $1.0M | 2.75 | 1982–2025 |
| Lightning | 19 | 0 | $149K | 0 | 2001–2025 |
| Tornado | 15 | 1 | $6.3M | F2 | 1972–2023 |
| Flash Flood | 6 | 0 | $101K | 0 | 1999–2025 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2008–2008 |
| Flood | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2024–2024 |
| Heavy Rain | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2021–2021 |
| Winter Storm | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2025–2025 |
Decade by decade
Effingham County, Georgia severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
14 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998-04-09 | EF3 | 2 | 17 | 8.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2017-02-09 | EF2 | 0 | 7 | 9.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 2008-03-15 | EF2 | 0 | 5 | 7.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2008-03-15 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1975-05-03 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 5.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 1972-10-27 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1974-05-12 | EF1 | 1 | 3 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2023-06-14 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2021-07-07 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2020-09-17 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.7 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Effingham County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 12, 1974 | Tornado | 1 | 3 | $250K | |
| Mar 16, 2008 | Tornado | SPRINGFIELD | 0 | 5 | $1.5M |
| May 3, 1975 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $250K | |
| May 7, 2024 | Lightning | PINEORA | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Aug 16, 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | MARLOW | 0 | 1 | $9K |
| Aug 17, 2019 | Lightning | GUYTON | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Sep 5, 2001 | Lightning | GUYTON | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Apr 9, 1998 | Tornado | EDEN | 0 | 1 | $500K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
An EF2 Tornado was confirmed by a Storm Survey conducted by the Charleston, South Carolina National Weather Service Forecast Office. The Tornado touched down in Effingham county 3.5 miles northeast of Rincon, Georgia and just northwest of the Georgia Power McIntosh Plant around 944 PM EDT and traveled southeast approximately a half a mile before lifting at 945 PM EDT. This Tornado destroyed a water cooling tower, damaged another water cooling tower and several buildings, toppled two high voltage transmission towers, knocked down or uprooted several dozen trees, tossed tractor trailer cargo containers with equipment inside up to 100 yards. In addition, at the time of the survey one of the tractor trailer containers could not be found. A steel hoist roof assembly weighing a couple thousand pounds used to load and unload heavy items was tossed 100 feet. This tornado was up to 100 yards wide and had maximum sustained winds estimated between 120 and 130 mph.
An EF2 Tornado was confirmed by a Storm Survey conducted by the Charleston, South Carolina National Weather Service Forecast Office. The Tornado touched down in Effingham county 1 mile northeast of Springfield, Georgia at 934 PM EDT and traveled southeast approximately 7 miles before lifting at 943 PM EDT about 6 miles east-southeast of Springfield, Georgia. This Tornado destroyed three mobile homes, damaged three to four dozen homes, knocked down 15 high voltage transmission towers, destroyed or damaged 20 vehicles, destroyed numerous outbuildings, sheds, and barns. Five people were injured when the mobile home they were in was blown over and rolled a time or two. Another person was injured when they drove a car into a tree that had fallen across the road. This tornado was a quarter mile wide at its widest point when it crossed Ebenezer Road and had maximum sustained winds estimated between 110 and 120 mph.
The Bryan County tornado crossed the county line and weakened as it moved into a less populated area. Once the tornado moved east of GA State Road 17, it lifted. There were no further reports of damage or touchdowns from the parent supercell until the F1 touchdown reported just west of Hardeeville, S.C., which is approximately 12 miles from the last report of damage in Effingham County, Georgia. There were 40 homes damaged along GA 17, about 5 miles south of Guyton. Six of these were mobile homes that were destroyed. Numerous trees were uprooted or snapped off 10 to 15 feet above the ground.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
69,143
Population (ACS)
$276K
Median home value
17
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 30, 2024 | Hurricane | HURRICANE HELENE | DR |
| Sep 26, 2024 | Tropical Storm | HURRICANE HELENE | EM |
| Sep 24, 2024 | Tropical Storm | TROPICAL STORM DEBBY | DR |
| Aug 5, 2024 | Tropical Storm | HURRICANE DEBBY | 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 Effingham County, Georgia?
508 events are on record between 1972 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths and $8.3M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Effingham County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 345 recorded events — 67.9% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Effingham County?
14 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 11 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Effingham County?
17 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Effingham County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Effingham County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Effingham County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 59 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Effingham 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
- Echols County 101
- Elbert County 228
- Early County 206
- Emanuel County 192
- Douglas County 437
- Evans County 163
Cite this page
“Effingham County, Georgia.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/georgia/effingham-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.