Hurricane Sally
One of the tropical cyclone disasters on NOAA’s billion-dollar list: $8.8 billion in losses at 2024 prices ($7.3 billion at the time) and 5 deaths.
What the offices filed during it
The 33 most significant tropical cyclone episodes filed in these dates, colored by kind.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Losses, 2024 dollars
- $8.8 billion
- Losses at the time
- $7.3 billion
- Deaths
- 5
The losses and deaths are NCEI’s, counting everything the disaster did. The episodes below are only what the Weather Service filed in its Storm Events record, which counts damage differently and often not at all, so the two never add up and are shown apart.
By state, as filed
| State | Events | Deaths | Injuries | Damage filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 56 | 3 | 0 | $314 million |
| Florida | 92 | 2 | 0 | $270 million |
| Washington | 1 | 0 | 0 | $250 million |
| Georgia | 51 | 2 | 2 | $625,000 |
| South Carolina | 52 | 0 | 0 | $111,000 |
| Oregon | 22 | 0 | 0 | $41,000 |
| North Carolina | 17 | 0 | 0 | $36,000 |
| Virginia | 62 | 0 | 0 | |
| Louisiana | 13 | 0 | 0 | |
| Maryland | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mississippi | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Maine | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Episode by episode
- Flood and Heavy Rain in Georgia, September 14 to 15, 2020A cold front shifted southward down the SE GA coast with convergence between this boundary and a weak trough and high moisture extending across the area on the east side of Hurricane Sally across the north central Gulf of Mexico.
- Hurricane and Tropical Storm in Alabama, September 15 to 16, 2020Hurricane Sally made landfall in Gulf Shores, AL at 5am on Wednesday, September 16th as a strong Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.
- Tropical Storm and Storm Surge in Mississippi, September 15 to 16, 2020Hurricane Sally initially formed as an area of disturbed weather over the Bahamas late on September 10th, 2020. Over the next few days, the system became better organized and became Tropical Depression Nineteen in the afternoon hours on September 11th.
- Hurricane and Tropical Storm in Florida, September 15 to 16, 2020Hurricane Sally made landfall in Gulf Shores, AL at 5am on Wednesday, September 16th as a strong Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.
- Tropical Storm and Storm Surge in Louisiana, September 15 to 16, 2020Hurricane Sally initially formed as an area of disturbed weather over the Bahamas late on September 10th, 2020. Over the next few days, the system became better organized and became Tropical Depression Nineteen in the afternoon hours on September 11th.
- Tornadoes and Tropical Storm in Florida, September 15 to 16, 2020Hurricane Sally made landfall early on the morning of September 16 across Gulf Shores Alabama. The greatest impacts to the tri-state area came in the form of very heavy rain and significant flooding on and away from area rivers.
- Coastal Flood in North Carolina, September 15, 2020Unusual high tides caused coastal flooding.
- Coastal Flood in South Carolina, September 15, 2020Unusual high tides caused coastal flooding.
- Coastal Flood in South Carolina, September 15 to 16, 2020Major coastal flooding impacted portions of the southeast South Carolina coast as astronomical high tides were elevated due to the perigee and a new moon cycle.
- Flash Flooding and Heavy Rain in Georgia, September 16 to 18, 2020Hurricane Sally made landfall near Gulf Shores, AL, as a category 2 hurricane, in the early morning of Wednesday, September 16, 2020, and then weakened and turned to the NE, tracking across the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) of Georgia, and across Central SC, as a…
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in South Carolina, September 16 to 18, 2020Hurricane Sally made landfall near Gulf Shores, AL, as a category 2 hurricane, in the early morning of Wednesday, September 16, 2020, and then weakened and turned to the NE, tracking across the Central Savannah River Area of Georgia, and across Central SC, as a post-tropical…
- Flood in Maine, September 16 to 19, 2020On September 16th around 09:30 a landslide occurred in Westbrook near the Sappi Mill. The landslide immediately blocked the entire channel of the Presumscot River. River levels immediately began to rise as the landslide dammed the river.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Georgia, September 16 to 17, 2020Hurricane Sally made landfall early on the morning of September 16 across Gulf Shores Alabama. The greatest impacts to the tri-state area came in the form of very heavy rain and significant flooding on and away from area rivers.
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Alabama, September 16 to 17, 2020Hurricane Sally made landfall early Wednesday morning on September 16, near Gulf Shores, Alabama.
- Tropical Storm and Flash Flooding in Alabama, September 16 to 17, 2020Hurricane Sally made landfall early on the morning of September 16 across Gulf Shores Alabama. The greatest impacts to the tri-state area came in the form of very heavy rain and significant flooding on and away from area rivers.
- Flash Flooding and Strong Wind in Georgia, September 16 to 17, 2020A weakening Tropical Storm Sally moved into Georgia on September 16th, spreading heavy rainfall amounts and producing damaging winds in north and central Georgia.
- Tornado in Georgia, September 16, 2020A quasi-stationary front extended from Hurricane Sally near the central Florida Gulf Coast to across NE FL and offshore of the local coast.
- Tornado and Damaging Wind in Georgia, September 17, 2020Tropical Cyclone Sally made landfall along the northeast Gulf Coast and began to track inland into the Southeast region in the early morning hours.
- Flood and Hail in Oregon, September 17 to 18, 2020An eastward-moving upper level trough and associated area of surface low pressure moved across northwest Oregon and southwest Washington September 17-18, resulting in fairly widespread showers and thunderstorms beginning late in the afternoon of the 17th through most of the day…
- Tornado and Damaging Wind in South Carolina, September 17, 2020Tropical Cyclone Sally made landfall along the northeast Gulf Coast and began to track inland into the Southeast region in the early morning hours.
- Heavy Rain in Virginia, September 17 to 18, 2020Post Tropical Cyclone Sally tracking northeast across the Southeast United States and off the Mid Atlantic Coast produced heavy rain across portions of Central and Eastern Virginia.
- Heavy Rain in North Carolina, September 17 to 18, 2020Post Tropical Cyclone Sally tracking northeast across the Southeast United States and off the Mid Atlantic Coast produced heavy rain across portions of northeast North Carolina.
- Flash Flood in Georgia, September 17, 2020Moisture associated with the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Sally moved into northeast Georgia during the evening of the 16th and continued into the morning of the 17th. 3 to 4 inches of rain fell across much of the area in about 12 hours, resulting in localized flash flooding.
- Heavy Rain in Maryland, September 17 to 18, 2020Post Tropical Cyclone Sally tracking northeast across the Southeast United States and off the Mid Atlantic Coast produced heavy rain across portions of the Lower Maryland Eastern Shore.
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, September 17, 2020Moisture from Tropical Storm Sally produce flash flooding and strong storms.
- Tornadoes in South Carolina, September 17, 2020The remnants of Tropical Storm Sally spawn numerous tornadoes.
- Flood in North Carolina, September 17 to 18, 2020Moisture associated with the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Sally moved into western North Carolina during the evening of the 16th and continued into the morning of the 17th.
- Flooding in Virginia, September 17, 2020Post Tropical Cyclone Sally tracking northeast across the Southeast United States produced heavy rain which caused flooding across portions of central Virginia.
- Flooding in North Carolina, September 17, 2020Moisture from Tropical Storm Sally produce flooding.
- Tornadoes in North Carolina, September 17, 2020The remnants of Tropical Storm Sally spawn numerous tornadoes.
- Tornadoes in North Carolina, September 17 to 18, 2020The remnants of Tropical Cyclone Sally moved through the region during the evening and overnight, producing several tornadoes.
- Flood in Washington, September 17 to 18, 2020An eastward-moving upper level trough and associated area of surface low pressure moved across northwest Oregon and southwest Washington September 17-18, resulting in fairly widespread showers and thunderstorms beginning late in the afternoon of the 17th through most of the day…
- Flash Flooding in Virginia, September 18, 2020Post Tropical Cyclone Sally tracking northeast across the Southeast United States and off the Mid Atlantic Coast produced heavy rain which caused flash flooding across portions of southeast Virginia.
More
Every billion-dollar disasterEvery storm of 2020The 2020 hurricane seasonTornadoes in 2020
Sources
NOAA NCEI, U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (2025), https://doi.org/10.25921/stkw-7w73, and the Storm Events Database for the episodes.