Lightning Risk in Georgia

All Georgia counties ranked by FEMA National Risk Index lightning score

Lightning risk — electrical discharges from storms that ignite fires and cause casualties — is rated for 159 of 159 Georgia counties in FEMA's National Risk Index. Gwinnett County carries the state's highest lightning score at 98.7, with $4M in expected annual lightning losses.

22 Georgia counties are rated High or Very High for lightning, and expected annual losses from lightning total roughly $72M statewide. The full ranking below links to each county's complete 18-hazard risk profile.

County Rankings — Lightning

#CountyLightning ScoreRatingAnn. Freq.Ann. Loss
1 Gwinnett County
98.7
Very High 59.65 / yr $4M
2 DeKalb County
98.6
Very High 61.14 / yr $4M
3 Fulton County
98.3
Very High 63.78 / yr $4M
4 Lumpkin County
97.6
Very High 61.03 / yr $3M
5 Cobb County
97.2
Very High 62.25 / yr $3M
6 Chatham County
95.4
High 64.88 / yr $2M
7 Richmond County
94.1
High 62.40 / yr $1M
8 Muscogee County
94.1
High 65.90 / yr $1M
9 Brooks County
93.5
High 75.07 / yr $987K
10 Hall County
92.4
High 58.76 / yr $2M
11 Dougherty County
91.5
High 70.02 / yr $951K
12 Lowndes County
90.5
High 75.93 / yr $1M
13 Clayton County
90.0
High 64.01 / yr $1M
14 Bibb County
87.8
High 63.06 / yr $893K
15 Decatur County
87.0
High 74.46 / yr $654K
16 Whitfield County
86.8
High 62.46 / yr $847K
17 Fayette County
86.7
High 64.92 / yr $1M
18 Forsyth County
86.6
High 59.78 / yr $1M
19 Houston County
85.9
High 64.37 / yr $1M
20 Paulding County
84.9
High 62.26 / yr $1M
21 Henry County
84.6
High 62.51 / yr $1M
22 Cherokee County
84.5
High 60.58 / yr $1M
23 Colquitt County
81.6
Medium 71.53 / yr $534K
24 Liberty County
81.5
Medium 69.72 / yr $1M
25 Tift County
81.1
Medium 69.84 / yr $661K
26 Rabun County
80.6
Medium 60.77 / yr $516K
27 Tattnall County
80.3
Medium 69.24 / yr $535K
28 Gilmer County
80.3
Medium 61.32 / yr $521K
29 Clarke County
80.0
Medium 55.76 / yr $798K
30 Chattahoochee County
79.9
Medium 66.87 / yr $936K
31 Barrow County
79.6
Medium 56.42 / yr $891K
32 Thomas County
77.8
Medium 74.33 / yr $522K
33 Bartow County
77.4
Medium 61.49 / yr $852K
34 Toombs County
76.7
Medium 68.43 / yr $512K
35 Habersham County
76.7
Medium 61.68 / yr $623K
36 Douglas County
76.1
Medium 64.74 / yr $852K
37 Floyd County
73.2
Medium 61.75 / yr $470K
38 Rockdale County
72.8
Medium 62.23 / yr $636K
39 Glynn County
72.7
Medium 65.88 / yr $424K
40 Troup County
72.0
Medium 62.66 / yr $437K
41 Walton County
71.4
Medium 56.95 / yr $619K
42 Coweta County
70.7
Medium 63.21 / yr $650K
43 Harris County
69.8
Medium 64.33 / yr $562K
44 Irwin County
69.7
Medium 67.92 / yr $495K
45 Union County
69.6
Medium 60.83 / yr $333K
46 Pickens County
69.6
Medium 60.72 / yr $495K
47 Columbia County
69.2
Medium 60.06 / yr $680K
48 Carroll County
68.8
Medium 63.25 / yr $521K
49 Bulloch County
68.5
Medium 66.95 / yr $448K
50 Coffee County
68.2
Medium 69.29 / yr $333K
51 Dawson County
67.9
Medium 60.22 / yr $553K
52 Jackson County
67.2
Medium 56.84 / yr $644K
53 Grady County
67.1
Medium 74.11 / yr $340K
54 Catoosa County
65.7
Medium 61.55 / yr $473K
55 Murray County
65.7
Medium 62.25 / yr $405K
56 Gordon County
65.5
Medium 62.03 / yr $440K
57 White County
65.2
Medium 61.77 / yr $404K
58 Sumter County
64.7
Medium 66.71 / yr $273K
59 Ware County
64.7
Medium 74.78 / yr $309K
60 Polk County
62.8
Medium 62.64 / yr $240K
61 Spalding County
62.7
Medium 62.01 / yr $396K
62 Marion County
62.6
Medium 66.55 / yr $231K
63 Mitchell County
62.5
Medium 71.35 / yr $245K
64 Fannin County
61.7
Medium 61.26 / yr $270K
65 Laurens County
61.6
Medium 65.89 / yr $298K
66 Walker County
61.5
Medium 61.37 / yr $344K
67 Newton County
60.3
Medium 59.45 / yr $467K
68 Berrien County
59.1
Medium 71.08 / yr $228K
69 Stephens County
58.1
Medium 59.48 / yr $242K
70 Cook County
56.9
Medium 72.01 / yr $234K
71 Worth County
56.3
Low 69.36 / yr $217K
72 Stewart County
55.5
Low 68.46 / yr $154K
73 Lee County
55.3
Low 69.33 / yr $362K
74 Upson County
52.6
Low 63.16 / yr $238K
75 Crisp County
52.2
Low 66.96 / yr $164K
76 Camden County
52.1
Low 68.69 / yr $285K
77 Wayne County
51.3
Low 71.84 / yr $190K
78 Franklin County
51.0
Low 56.40 / yr $186K
79 Effingham County
50.9
Low 67.95 / yr $291K
80 Towns County
50.5
Low 59.27 / yr $150K
81 Peach County
50.5
Low 64.34 / yr $226K
82 Madison County
49.7
Low 54.75 / yr $191K
83 Ben Hill County
49.0
Low 67.77 / yr $138K
84 Emanuel County
47.8
Low 65.27 / yr $154K
85 Hart County
47.6
Low 55.57 / yr $176K
86 Dodge County
47.0
Low 66.86 / yr $147K
87 Chattooga County
46.1
Low 61.29 / yr $141K
88 Appling County
44.6
Low 70.52 / yr $148K
89 Early County
44.0
Low 72.81 / yr $116K
90 Seminole County
43.8
Low 73.98 / yr $173K
91 Jeff Davis County
42.9
Low 69.19 / yr $124K
92 Monroe County
42.5
Low 61.82 / yr $174K
93 Charlton County
42.1
Low 76.93 / yr $106K
94 Lanier County
41.7
Low 74.33 / yr $150K
95 Meriwether County
41.6
Low 63.40 / yr $116K
96 Telfair County
41.5
Low 67.95 / yr $108K
97 Talbot County
41.5
Low 64.46 / yr $96K
98 Terrell County
41.4
Low 69.72 / yr $125K
99 Haralson County
40.6
Low 62.67 / yr $138K
100 Macon County
39.7
Low 65.56 / yr $91K
101 Banks County
38.9
Low 57.80 / yr $170K
102 Turner County
37.5
Low 67.94 / yr $99K
103 Pierce County
36.3
Low 73.28 / yr $154K
104 Brantley County
36.0
Low 73.56 / yr $142K
105 Bryan County
35.8
Low 69.40 / yr $175K
106 Clinch County
35.4
Low 75.54 / yr $82K
107 Oconee County
35.3
Low 55.91 / yr $229K
108 Pike County
35.2
Low 62.47 / yr $119K
109 Elbert County
32.6
Low 54.63 / yr $83K
110 McDuffie County
32.6
Low 59.94 / yr $89K
111 McIntosh County
32.3
Low 64.43 / yr $78K
112 Bacon County
32.2
Low 70.27 / yr $88K
113 Burke County
31.9
Low 63.34 / yr $92K
114 Wilcox County
31.8
Low 66.95 / yr $88K
115 Taylor County
31.8
Low 65.82 / yr $68K
116 Evans County
31.6
Low 68.91 / yr $83K
117 Lamar County
31.1
Low 62.08 / yr $106K
118 Heard County
30.7
Low 61.69 / yr $70K
119 Butts County
30.0
Low 61.04 / yr $89K
120 Randolph County
29.6
Low 69.54 / yr $70K
121 Baldwin County
29.5
Low 61.16 / yr $90K
122 Johnson County
29.2
Low 64.12 / yr $65K
123 Miller County
28.5
Low 72.89 / yr $75K
124 Montgomery County
28.2
Low 67.96 / yr $75K
125 Calhoun County
27.6
Low 71.65 / yr $60K
126 Putnam County
27.4
Low 59.59 / yr $68K
127 Long County
27.3
Low 71.75 / yr $130K
128 Morgan County
26.4
Low 58.08 / yr $108K
129 Screven County
26.1
Low 64.10 / yr $64K
130 Wheeler County
25.9
Low 68.23 / yr $57K
131 Bleckley County
25.8
Low 65.05 / yr $71K
132 Candler County
25.6
Low 66.69 / yr $76K
133 Washington County
25.5
Low 61.77 / yr $69K
134 Dade County
25.3
Low 61.33 / yr $71K
135 Pulaski County
24.8
Low 66.02 / yr $59K
136 Crawford County
24.4
Low 63.41 / yr $101K
137 Dooly County
24.3
Low 65.94 / yr $87K
138 Jones County
23.5
Very Low 61.47 / yr $74K
139 Jefferson County
23.3
Very Low 62.59 / yr $61K
140 Atkinson County
23.0
Very Low 71.40 / yr $73K
141 Quitman County
19.4
Very Low 70.24 / yr $36K
142 Greene County
18.5
Very Low 57.47 / yr $48K
143 Clay County
16.6
Very Low 71.50 / yr $32K
144 Jenkins County
16.1
Very Low 64.54 / yr $42K
145 Baker County
15.0
Very Low 71.28 / yr $31K
146 Wilkes County
14.5
Very Low 56.20 / yr $34K
147 Jasper County
14.3
Very Low 59.79 / yr $43K
148 Treutlen County
13.2
Very Low 67.04 / yr $45K
149 Webster County
12.8
Very Low 68.10 / yr $30K
150 Oglethorpe County
12.7
Very Low 55.77 / yr $44K
151 Echols County
12.0
Very Low 78.18 / yr $54K
152 Schley County
11.1
Very Low 66.55 / yr $50K
153 Twiggs County
10.4
Very Low 63.66 / yr $22K
154 Lincoln County
9.4
Very Low 56.81 / yr $27K
155 Hancock County
8.5
Very Low 59.25 / yr $15K
156 Wilkinson County
8.3
Very Low 63.30 / yr $25K
157 Warren County
6.7
Very Low 58.43 / yr $13K
158 Glascock County
2.9
Very Low 61.20 / yr $8K
159 Taliaferro County
1.8
Very Low 57.37 / yr $4K

159 Georgia counties with measurable lightning risk. See the national lightning ranking or all Georgia counties by overall risk.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Georgia county has the highest lightning risk?

Gwinnett County has the highest FEMA lightning risk score in Georgia at 98.7 (Very High), with $4M in expected annual losses and about 59.65 events per year.

How many Georgia counties face significant lightning risk?

159 Georgia counties record measurable lightning risk in FEMA's National Risk Index; 22 of them are rated High or Very High.

Other Hazards in Georgia

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