States › Alabama › Jefferson County

Jefferson County, Alabama

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 01073 · 667,820 residents (2021) · 1,112 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 490Tornado · 111Flood · 163Wind · 839Winter · 26

Jefferson County within Alabama. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 29 Sep 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

The NCEI record lists 1,814 events for Jefferson County, Alabama, between 1950 and 2026; damaging wind account for the largest share.

That is 163.2 events per 100 square miles, above the Alabama figure of 87.3, and 27.2 per 10,000 residents against 87.8 statewide.

53 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 127 deaths and 1,746 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $2.0B and crop damage at $3.4M.

FEMA has designated the county in 39 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Hurricane Helene (emergency, 26 Sep 2024).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 2,884 claims since 1978, of which 2,279 were paid, totalling $47M (about $21K per paid claim). FEMA counts 1,129 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively High" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively High" ($262M a year across 18 hazards).

23 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 0 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

53events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

1,814events since 1950127 deaths, 1,746 injuries recorded

39disaster declarationslast 26 Sep 2024

2,884NFIP flood claims$47M paid

Compared with Alabama and the United States

Measure	Jefferson County	Alabama	US
Recorded events since 1950	1,814	44,232	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	163.2	87.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	27.2	87.8	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	53	1,348	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	127	941	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$2.0B	$12B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	4.3	8.9	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$21K	$34K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	32.1	21.5	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Hail: 4Tornado: 9Wind: 9

Hail: 14Tornado: 9Wind: 39

Hail: 62Tornado: 19Wind: 66

Hail: 30Tornado: 12Wind: 114

Hail: 105Tornado: 6Flood: 10Wind: 95Winter: 4Heat: 20Cold: 7Drought: 1Lightning: 3Other: 6

Hail: 165Tornado: 20Flood: 56Wind: 146Winter: 4Tropical: 4Heat: 22Cold: 18Drought: 22Lightning: 11Other: 18

Hail: 77Tornado: 21Flood: 55Wind: 206Winter: 14Tropical: 2Heat: 5Cold: 1Drought: 12Lightning: 8Other: 17

Hail: 33Tornado: 15Flood: 42Wind: 164Winter: 4Tropical: 1Heat: 3Drought: 4

221950s621960s1471970s1561980s2571990s4862000s4182010s2662020s

Recorded events in Jefferson County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterTropicalHeatColdDroughtLightningOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 871 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 590 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Wind839

Hail490

Flood163

Tornado111

Heat50

Other41

Drought39

Winter26

Cold26

Lightning22

Tropical7

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	839	7	4.0%	detail
■ Hail	490	—	6.1%	detail
■ Flood	163	2	4.8%	detail
■ Tornado	111	111	3.5%	detail
■ Heat	50	4	3.8%
■ Other	41	1	8.1%
■ Drought	39	—	1.5%
■ Winter	26	1	1.8%	detail
■ Cold	26	1	2.3%
■ Lightning	22	—	3.1%
■ Tropical	7	—	1.4%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
8 Apr 1998	Tornado	Tornado	F5	$200M	$2.2M	32	258	County
27 Apr 2011	Tornado	Tornado	EF4	$700M	—	20	700	County
15 Apr 1956	Tornado	Tornado	F4	$2.5M	—	25	200	County
4 Apr 1977	Tornado	Tornado	F5	$25M	—	22	130	County
26 Feb 1971	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$25K	—	3	—	County
21 Jul 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	—	—	2	3	County
28 Jun 2012	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	2	—	Forecast zone
23 Jan 2012	Tornado	Tornado	EF3	—	—	1	75	County
27 May 1973	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$25M	—	1	44	County
18 Nov 1957	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$2.5M	—	1	35	County
8 Aug 2007	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	1	31	Forecast zone
25 Jan 2021	Tornado	Tornado	EF3	—	—	1	30	County
13 Feb 1952	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$250K	—	1	26	County
6 May 1967	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$2.5M	—	1	25	County
27 Apr 2011	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$18M	—	1	20	County
16 Feb 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	86 mph	$400K	—	1	4	County
3 Sep 2001	Heavy Rain	Other	—	$18K	—	1	1	County
23 Jan 2012	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	—	—	1	1	County
16 Mar 2022	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	1	County
2 May 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	—	—	1	1	County

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
26 Sep 2024	EM-3618	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Helene	Public assistance
21 Dec 2021	DR-4632	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance
26 Apr 2021	DR-4596	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes	Individual assistance
14 Sep 2020	EM-3545	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Sally	Public assistance
29 Mar 2020	DR-4503	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3472	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
8 Oct 2017	EM-3394	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Nate	Public assistance
11 Sep 2017	EM-3389	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Irma	Public assistance
2 May 2014	DR-4176	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
1 Feb 2012	DR-4052	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Individual assistance
28 Apr 2011	DR-1971	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
27 Apr 2011	EM-3319	Emergency	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Straight-Line Winds	Public assistance
8 May 2009	DR-1836	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes, And Straight-Line Winds	Public assistance
30 Aug 2008	EM-3292	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Gustav	Public assistance
3 Mar 2007	DR-1687	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Tornadoes	Individual assistance
10 Sep 2005	EM-3237	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
29 Aug 2005	DR-1605	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina	Public assistance
10 Jul 2005	DR-1593	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Dennis	Public assistance
15 Sep 2004	DR-1549	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Ivan	Individual assistance, Public assistance
12 May 2003	DR-1466	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
14 Nov 2002	DR-1442	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Tornadoes	Individual assistance
7 Dec 2001	DR-1399	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Tornadoes	Individual assistance
5 Mar 2001	DR-1362	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
18 Dec 2000	DR-1352	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Tornadoes	Individual assistance
17 Sep 2000	FM-2339	Fire management assistance	Fire	Al - County Line Fire - 09/17/2000	Public assistance
17 Mar 2000	DR-1322	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance
9 Apr 1998	DR-1214	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
4 Oct 1995	DR-1070	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Opal	Individual assistance, Public assistance
15 Mar 1993	EM-3096	Emergency	Snowstorm	Severe Snowfall, Winter Storm	Public assistance
17 Feb 1990	DR-856	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Dec 1983	DR-695	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms,Flooding And Tornadoes	Individual assistance
18 Apr 1979	DR-578	Major disaster	Flood	Storms, Wind, Flooding	Individual assistance
20 Jul 1977	EM-3045	Emergency	Drought	Drought	Public assistance
9 Apr 1977	DR-532	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
14 Mar 1975	DR-458	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
18 Jan 1975	EM-3007	Emergency	Tornado	Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
4 Apr 1974	DR-422	Major disaster	Tornado	Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
29 May 1973	DR-388	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
9 Apr 1970	DR-285	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Heavy Rains, Tornadoes & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Jefferson County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19782,884

Paid claims2,279

Total paid$47M

Average paid claim$21K

Repetitive-loss properties27333 severe

Residential policies in force1,1290.5% of 241,933 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	5	4	$28,352	$7,088
2025	8	3	$8,971	$2,990
2024	8	5	$89,637	$17,927
2023	13	5	$467,250	$93,450
2022	53	46	$1,979,660	$43,036
2021	162	146	$6,609,779	$45,272
2020	53	44	$1,359,390	$30,895
2019	7	7	$175,103	$25,015
2018	18	11	$232,456	$21,132
2017	35	23	$430,772	$18,729
2016	4	3	$22,306	$7,435
2015	79	53	$964,160	$18,192
2014	180	147	$5,319,008	$36,184
2013	41	27	$509,856	$18,884
2012	11	9	$170,259	$18,918
2011	217	189	$6,094,498	$32,246
2010	12	5	$23,215	$4,643
2009	36	25	$230,847	$9,234
2008	10	6	$289,122	$48,187
2007	3	2	$16,002	$8,001
2006	20	15	$311,185	$20,746
2005	37	21	$509,147	$24,245
2004	220	187	$2,897,868	$15,497
2003	311	261	$7,813,300	$29,936
2002	101	82	$1,282,421	$15,639

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskRelatively Highscore 97.6 of 100

Expected annual loss$262MRelatively High

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Moderate

Community resilienceRelatively High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively High	$143,121,608
Tornado	Very High	$56,071,205
Cold wave	Relatively High	$23,234,013
Earthquake	Relatively Moderate	$16,876,937
Heat wave	Relatively High	$11,081,396
Lightning	Very High	$5,381,120
Strong wind	Relatively High	$4,066,020
Hurricane	Relatively Low	$1,113,620
Ice storm	Relatively High	$665,121
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$330,329
Winter weather	Relatively Moderate	$181,714
Hail	Very Low	$116,296
Landslide	Relatively Moderate	$112,860
Drought	Very Low	$14,659

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

Tracks within 100 miles23

Tracks within 50 miles6

Hurricane strength within 50 miles0

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Zeta	2020	63 mi	69 mph
Ivan	2004	78 mi	58 mph
Opal	1995	47 mi	58 mph
Juan	1985	12 mi	40 mph
Frederic	1979	70 mi	52 mph
Eloise	1975	79 mi	63 mph
Baker	1950	76 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1932	25 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1916	24 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1916	47 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1915	87 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1912	81 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1907	57 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1906	79 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1903	95 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1902	93 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1898	98 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1892	75 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1881	47 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1879	92 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1860	74 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1855	90 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1852	93 mi	46 mph

HURDAT2 best-track positions at tropical-storm strength (34 kt) or more, measured from the county's Census centre point; through the 2025 season. Distance from a track is not the same as the extent of the storm's wind, rain or surge.

ZIP codes with flood claims

35020 368
35215 249
35213 239
35234 182
35023 144
35206 138
35209 124
35216 124
35226 124
35228 111
35243 103
35126 93
35223 81
35094 73
35217 69
35221 63
35204 59
35214 57
35218 53
35207 47
35222 45
35211 42
35210 39
35235 30
35173 28
35022 27
35208 27
35205 25
35036 16
35203 13
35212 13
35064 10
35233 10
35201 9
35073 7
35111 6
35127 6
35071 5

ZIP codes whose NFIP claims carry this county's code, with the number of claims. Five or more claims are needed for a ZIP page to be indexed.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Jefferson County, AL?

NCEI records 490 hail events in Jefferson County since 1950, in 67 different years; that is about 6.4 recorded events a year. 127 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Jefferson County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 111 tornadoes in Jefferson County since 1950, 37 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 111.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Jefferson County?

26 Sep 2024: Hurricane Helene, a emergency declaration for hurricane. The county appears in 39 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Jefferson County, and how much was paid?

2,884 NFIP claims since 1978, 2,279 of them paid, for $47M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Jefferson County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Relatively High" for overall risk, "Relatively High" for expected annual loss, "Relatively Moderate" for social vulnerability and "Relatively High" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Jefferson County compare with the rest of Alabama?

163.2 recorded events per 100 square miles against 87.3 statewide, and 4.3 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 8.9. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 29 Sep 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 30 Sep 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.