Bolivar County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Bolivar County: 0.
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.

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.

Claims by ZIP code

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.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

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. Nov 24, 2001Tornado$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A supercell thunderstorm moved out of Chicot County Arkansas into northern Washington County, Mississippi. The storm produced a violent tornado that touced down 2.5 miles southwest of Winterville, or along the northern edge of Lake Ferguson. The tornado had a width of up to one half mile and moved through the town of Winterville, causing extensive damage. It then continued northeast into southern Bolivar county about 2 miles northeast of Winterville. The total path length in Washington County was 4.8 miles. The tornado entered southern Bolivar County about 3.5 miles southwest of Stringtown. It travelled northeast 25.5 miles through mostly rural areas of Bolivar County and lifted…

2. Jan 11, 2020Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-2 tornado touched down in Bolivar County near the Mississippi River. Tree damage could be seen from atop the levee just west of Benoit. The tornado tracked through farmland just north of Benoit where it knocked down trees and power lines. It also damaged heavy farm equipment and destroyed a farm equipment shelter, ripping and tossing its concrete anchors over 100 yards. The tornado then crossed Highway 1, where it destroyed some large grain bins and snapped numerous power poles. The tornado proceeded into the Dahomey National Wildlife Refuge where it knocked down trees and power poles. The most substantial damage was noted as the tornado crossed Highway 8 between Pace and…

3. Sep 25, 2011Tornado$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado started out producing a relatively narrow path of tree damage along Township Road. It moved southeast through the Stanton subdivision, heavily damaging four trailer homes and caused minor to moderate damage to several other homes and outbuildings. It continued to move southeast causing tree damage, and widened as it moved into the northwest side of the city of Cleveland. As the tornado moved through the north side of Cleveland, it snapped and uprooted numerous trees, blew the signs out of several restaurants and stores, blew the doors out of the automotive area of a department store, and blew out a wall and a large part of a roof of another commercial building. Several…

4. Jun 8, 2021Flash Flood$2.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Training showers and thunderstorms produced heavy rain that flooded numerous roads and approximately 200 homes in and between the areas of Rosedale, Shelby, Mound Bayou, and Merigold. A neighborhood flooded in Rosedale, and several streets in town were flooded significantly. In Mound Bayou, some residents had to be evacuated from flooded homes. The COOP Observer 2 miles southwest of Shelby measured 11.96 inches of rain during a 6 to 7 hour period that morning.

5. Feb 24, 2001Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado touched down as an F0 tornado in extreme northwest Washington County and moved across a cotton field. The tornado quickly moved into southwest Bolivar County about three miles west of Lamont. The storm moved across the community of Benoit and then about two miles west of Cleveland. The tornado continued on a northeasterly path until dissipating about one mile east of Merigold near the Sunflower County line. The tornado was rated as strong as an F2 in portions of Bolivar County. Damage in the tornado path in Bolivar County included: three houses destroyed, two houses with major damage, five houses with minor damage, and a mobile home destroyed. One small church was…

6. Mar 9, 1997Flood, Bolivar$1.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Mississippi River when above flood stage around the 9th of March and crested between the 21st and 26th. Considerable damage occurred on the Mississippi side of the river. The following is a summary of property damage for each county. Bolivar County - at total of 68 homes and mobile homes were damaged. Claiborne county a total of 5 homes and mobile homes were damaged. Issaquena county a total of 23 homes and mobile homes were damaged. Jefferson county at total of 9 home and mobile homes were damaged. Warren county a total of 177 homes and mobile homes were damaged. Washington county a total of 68 homes and mobile homes were damaged. Adams county had no damage to dwellings.…

7. May 4, 2011Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along the Mississippi River caused extensive flooding of low lying farmland around the river. All of the flood waters were within the mainline levee.

8. Jun 16, 2023Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail up to the size of golf balls and tennis balls fell in the Cleveland area.

9. Jan 29, 2008High Wind, Bolivar$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong gradient winds occurred behind a strong cold front and caused damage across portions of the county. In the Bolivar Community, a mobile home had a large portion of the roof taken off. In Benoit, the rear of the gin was torn off and blown onto Highway 1. Other instances across the county saw several trees and power lines get taken down with some trees causing damage to homes and businesses.

10. Sep 24, 2005Tornado$800,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    This tornado touched down between Cleveland and Ruleville about 3 miles southeast of Dockery in Western Sunflower county. The tornado then tracked northwest into Bolivar county just east of Cleveland and then toward Merigold where it dissipated. As the tornado approached Cleveland it remained over open farm land and caused damage to trees and power lines. The tornado became more intense just east and northeast of Cleveland. Here the most significant damage occurred which was within a swath of nearly 2 miles that extended from the northeast outskirts of Cleveland to the Renova Community. A couple of buildings were severely damage with one commercial storage building totally…

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

105°F4 times, most recently Jul 31, 1986

All-time low

−5°FJan 30, 1966

Warmest night

83°F2 times, most recently Jun 29, 1998

Coldest day

8°F2 times, most recently Dec 23, 1989

Wettest day

9.97 inJun 9, 2021

Snowiest day

10.0 inJan 29, 1966

Hottest year

1998mean 65.4°F

Coldest year

1968mean 60.3°F

Wettest year

201976.83 in

Driest year

196734.57 in

Snowiest season

19.1 in1965-66

Station Rohwer 2 Nne (USC00036253), 151 ft elevation, 28.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1959 to October 13, 2026; 91.1% 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 USC00036253.
• 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.