Clay County

Every recorded tornado

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

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), Clay$1.0 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. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado touched down in northern Choctaw County and eventually tracked across multiple counties as it moved northeast. Many thousands of trees were snapped or uprooted along the path of this tornado. Numerous roofs of homes were severely damaged. Numerous mobile homes were severely damaged and several mobile homes were completely destroyed. Numerous barns and sheds received heavy damage or were destroyed. Numerous power poles and power lines were down. Extensive damage occurred to a school in Cumberland, Webster County, and this was the basis for the EF-3 rating. Maximum winds were around 140 mph. Total path length across Choctaw, Webster, Clay, Chickasaw, and Monroe Counties…

3. Apr 15, 2011Flash Flood$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extensive flash flooding was reported in the city of West Point. Numerous roads were flooded. Ten apartments took on water and one home was damaged.

4. Mar 18, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There was a swath of damaging thunderstorm winds across the county. A 20 foot section of the roof was blown off the Justice Court Building. There was roof damage to a home on Torbert Drive, and a tree fell and crushed a truck on Mapleview Drive. Numerous other trees and power lines were blown down across portions of the county. A woman was taken to the hospital with injuries after being blown over by the winds.

5. Feb 9, 2011Heavy Snow, Clay$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy snow, between 3-5 inches fell across the county. Many accident were reported due to the slick roads.

6. Jan 10, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   On the east side of town, more damage from the forward flank downdraft occurred. Here, numerous trees were snapped, uprooted or had large limbs broken off. One area along Highway 50 was especially hard hit. Here several storage sheds were flipped and destroyed. Debris was blown into a few buildings and caused damage to windows and the roofs. Several trees were also snapped in the area. On the north side of the highway, a large office building sustained substantial shingle damage. Like on the south side of town, all the damage was blown to the south and southeast.

7. Dec 23, 1998Ice Storm, Clay$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A crippling ice storm struck the three state region of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi at one of the worst times, just before Christmas. Much of the fall and early winter season of late 1998 had been very mild for southerners. But on Tuesday December 22nd, a strong surge of shallow Arctic air drove southward and spelled a quick end to the unseasonable warmth and helped set the stage for one of winter's nasty tricks. A moist southwest flow above the cold air brought several upper level disturbances. This combination of cold air and moisture held together for several days and brought periods of freezing rain and sleet to the three state region, beginning tuesday night and not…

8. Nov 29, 2010Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado started near Highway 45 Alternate north-northwest of West Point, where a few trees were snapped and a road sign was twisted. A billboard was blown apart with tin from the billboard scattered across a field. Near the intersection of Tva Road and Hazelwood Road, six homes had minor shingle damage, and five sheds were damaged or destroyed. Multiple trees were also uprooted and snapped. Maximum winds were around 90 mph.

9. Feb 27, 2009Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple clusters of heavy rain moved across the county from the afternoon through the early morning hours. Many roads were flooded across the southern portion of the county with several roads closed due to high water. Rainfall amounts between 5 and 8 inches fell across the area.

10. Jan 25, 2008Winter Weather, Clay$200,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Light icing across the county caused many accidents due to a glaze on area roads.

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

111°FJul 29, 1930

All-time low

−12°FFeb 13, 1899

Warmest night

88°FJul 2, 1897

Coldest day

10°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

8.28 inFeb 28, 2009

Snowiest day

10.0 in2 times, most recently Feb 13, 1960

Hottest year

1933mean 67.4°F

Coldest year

1968mean 60.1°F

Wettest year

201989.55 in

Driest year

194230.75 in

Station State University (USC00228374), 185 ft elevation, 11.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1891 to October 27, 2026; 92.1% 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 USC00228374.
• 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.