Clarke County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Clarke County: 4.
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.

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.

River crests

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 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. Aug 29, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Clarke$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Katrina will likely go down as the worst and costliest natural disaster in United States history. The amount of destruction, the cost of damaged property/agriculture and the large loss of life across the affected region has been overwhelming. Catastrophic damage was widespread across a large portion of the Gulf Coast region. The devastation was not only confined to the coastal region, widespread and significant damage occurred well inland up to the Hattiesburg area and northward past Interstate 20. This hurricane has changed life as we know it across the Gulf Coast region which will take many years to return to normal.Hurricane Katrina was a very large and powerful storm…

2. Mar 9, 2011Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant and widespread heavy rainfall occurred across nearly all of Clarke County. Rainfall totals ranged from 6 to 8 inches. Dozens of roads were flooded with many washed out. Extensive flooding occurred around Quitman with 15 homes and businesses flooded. Water rescues occurred at nearly a dozen homes with people trapped by the flood waters. Across the county, 10 additional homes were flooded.

3. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado started by downing some trees just southeast of Raleigh, near and across Highway 18. As the tornado moved northeast along Bailey Road and crossed County Road 130, it intensified and produced high end EF-1 damage, snapping and uprooting trees, taking shingles off roofs, and blowing skirting out from mobile homes. The tornado continued to strengthen as it moved northeast, and along County Roads 136, 107, and 105, it produced damage indicative of high end EF-2. A few mobile homes were destroyed and several homes and buildings sustained significant roof damage, along with extensive tree damage. Along County Road 105, a mobile home was picked up by the tornado, bounced…

4. Jan 8, 1998Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An emergency spillway on a small dam at the Archusa Water Park failed and sent flood waters down the Chickasawhay river. Water got up around fifty homes, but only twenty five homes were flooded.

5. Feb 5, 2020Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This long track tornado affected the counties of Jasper, Clarke and Lauderdale. This tornado began in Jasper County south of Bay Springs along County Road 9, where it snapped several softwood trees and some minor peeling of the tin roof of a home also occurred. It progressed northeast and crossed MS Highway 15 where it snapped a few softwood trees. As the tornado moved northeast to County Road 17, it began to ramp up in intensity as it caused a fire tower to bend and pulled the cement foundation several feet out of the ground. Additionally, it destroyed a nearby trailer, a nearby barn and caused some minor damage to the roof of a one-story home. The tornado continued its…

6. Feb 11, 2010Heavy Snow, Clarke$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Up to 5 inches of snow fell across portions of Clarke County, with 5 inches reported east of Quitman.

7. May 3, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hundreds of trees and numerous power lines were blown down across the central portion of Clarke County. At least 20 roads across the county had downed trees across them. A barn was blown down. This damage occurred as a large bow echo, called a derecho, raced across the region.

8. May 29, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A swath of wind damage occurred across portions of Clarke county from Pachuta to Quitman to Stonewall. Within this area several dozen trees were blown down with many blocking area roads. In Pachuta 1 tree damaged a vehicle and in Quitman 1 tree caused major damage to a house.

9. Apr 13, 2022Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado started in Jasper County just east of Mississippi Highway 15 near County Road 1561 where it caused mainly tree damage. The tornado moved east along County Road 2414, uprooted a swath of pine trees, uprooted several hardwoods, and snapped numerous large pine tree limbs. Metal roofing panels were peeled off a barn. More trees were uprooted or damaged as the tornado moved across Mississippi Highway 503 and County Road 31. Near CR31, there was widespread tree damage, a shed was destroyed, and a home had some shingles removed. The crossbar on a power pole was broken, and several power lines in this area were blown down. The tornado continued east across Country Road 24 and…

10. Mar 3, 2008Tornado$400,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    This tornado started in a rural area and downed trees and limbs along its path until causing its most intense damage at it crossed County Road 250. Here, it moved a large two story frame house several feet off its foundation, along with blowing out numerous windows and causing roof damage. Additionally, many dozens of large trees were snapped and uprooted in the vicinity. The tornado continued to move north northeast, causing extensive tree damage with hundreds of trees snapped or uprooted. Very near the end point, just east southeast of the DeSoto Community, roof damage occurred to two homes. Maximum wind speed was 115 mph.

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

107°FJul 14, 1980

All-time low

0°FJan 12, 1962

Warmest night

79°F5 times, most recently Aug 12, 2023

Coldest day

16°FJan 10, 1962

Wettest day

7.99 inDec 25, 1973

Snowiest day

14.0 inDec 31, 1963

Hottest year

2016mean 67.5°F

Coldest year

1976mean 61.0°F

Wettest year

197379.03 in

Driest year

195435.34 in

Snowiest season

18.6 in1963-64

Station Meridian Key Field (USW00013865), 289 ft elevation, 18.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1944 to October 25, 2026; 99.8% 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 USW00013865.
• 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.