Benton County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Benton County: 8.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the county boundary (or inside the county).
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Dec 23, 2015Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado crossed from Marshall County into Benton County near Highway 4 west of Ashland. The tornado appeared to strengthen as it entered Benton County. Several houses west-northwest of Ashland has damage approaching EF-4 with EF-4 damage observed in Northeast Benton County. Six fatalities occurred in Benton County. Eighty-five structures were affected in Benton County. Seventeen homes and fifteen mobile homes were destroyed. Fifteen homes and three mobile homes suffered major damage. Twenty homes and seven mobile homes had minor damage. Many acres of timber were also damaged or destroyed. The tornado then continued into Tippah County.

2. May 2, 2010Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down near Highway 5 approximately 2 miles south of Ashland. The tornado traveled northeast crossing into Tippah County. Eleven homes and mobile homes were destroyed with six receiving major damage. Twenty-three homes sustained minor damage. Numerous trees were snapped and debarked along the path. Power lines were also knocked down. A free standing transmission tower collapsed and was severely twisted as well. Two deaths and one critical injury occurred when a double wide mobile home was destroyed just east of Ashland. Four additional injuries, three of them critical, occurred when a mobile home was picked up by the tornado.

3. May 2, 2010Flash Flood$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain produced flash flooding across Benton County. Twenty roads sustained major damage. Forty roads received minor damage. Highway 4 west of Ashland was one road that was closed as a result of the flooding. Several homes and mobile homes sustained damage from the flooding.

4. Apr 2, 2025Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado began along Highway 72, south of Hopewell, and moved northeast towards Jones Road, uprooting trees and damaging several homes before crossing into Tippah County. Estimated peak winds were around 120 mph in Benton County.

5. May 5, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   One mobile home was destroyed. Ten homes were damaged. Many trees and power lines were blown down.

6. Apr 3, 2025Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Once the tornado crossed into Benton County, widespread tree damage could be found along Bryan Road and Breedlove Road. Homes along Dorse Road had exterior walls collapse, roof damage, and uprooted trees before crossing into Fayette County, Tennessee. Estimated peak winds were 135 mph in Benton County.

7. Jan 23, 2026Ice Storm, Benton$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sleet and snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches, followed by 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice.

8. May 10, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Straight line winds produced widespread damage from Ashland to Hickory Flat. A large portion of the Holly Springs National Forest just west of Snow Lake Shores, along Highway 4, was completely blown down. Extensive damage, including numerous trees, downed power lines and 15 snapped power poles, was reported in the Snow Lake Shores community. Also in Snow Lake Shores, a carport was destroyed and a vehicle was crushed by a large tree. There was a lot of tree damage along Liberty Road and Pleasant Hill Road.

9. Jun 25, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A cold front approached the Mid-South during the afternoon hours of June 25, 2023. A very hot and unstable airmass was in place across the Mid-South with temperatures in mid 90s and dewpoints in the mid to upper 70s. Meanwhile, ample wind shear aided storm organization during the event. Supercells developed over north central Arkansas in the afternoon and pushed into the Mid-South late in the day. The cells bowed out causing swaths of wind damage across the Mid-South. The main swath of damaging winds stretched across the entire region from northeast Arkansas through the Memphis metropolitan area into northeast Mississippi. The most significant damage stretched from northern Shelby…

10. Jan 31, 2026Cold/Wind Chill, Benton$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A dry, mid-level shortwave aid in the push of another cold front in late January. Another arctic airmass residing behind this boundary resulting in another bitterly cold period. Cold temperatures combined with elevated northerly winds resulted in sub zero wind chill values across north Mississippi.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

106°FAug 16, 2007

All-time low

−12°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

79°F2 times, most recently Jul 8, 1998

Coldest day

1°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

8.30 inSep 1, 2017

Snowiest day

6.0 inMar 1, 2009

Hottest year

1998mean 62.9°F

Coldest year

1979mean 57.2°F

Wettest year

197974.67 in

Driest year

200741.40 in

Snowiest season

12.0 in2010-11

Station Ames Plantation (USC00400137), 543 ft elevation, 20.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1976 to October 22, 2026; 95.7% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

Neighbouring counties

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USC00400137.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.