Covington County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Covington County: 2.
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.

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), Covington$200 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 12, 2020Tornado$25.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This violent, deadly tornado traveled 68 miles through parts of five counties including southeastern Jefferson Davis, central Covington, northwestern Jones, southeastern Jasper, and western Clarke counties. Locations impacted by this tornado include Bassfield, the areas between Collins and Seminary, Soso, Moss, Heidelberg, and Pachuta. This tornado is preliminarily rated EF4 with an estimated peak wind of 190 MPH east of Bassfield in southwestern Jefferson Davis County. Additional EF4 damage was noted near Soso in Jones County and at Moss in Jasper County. The maximum path width was 2.25 miles in the vicinity of Hughes Road west of Seminary in western Covington County. At this…

3. Apr 12, 2020Tornado$8.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This strong tornado traveled over 84 miles through parts of six counties including southern Lawrence, central Jefferson Davis, northern Covington, far northwestern Jones, far southeastern Smith, and Jasper counties. Some of the communities impacted include Oak Vale, the area north of Carson, the north side of Collins, Hot Coffee, Summerland, Stringer, and the west side of Paulding. This tornado is preliminarily rated EF3 with an estimated peak wind of 150 MPH near MS Highway 35 northeast of Carson in Jefferson Davis County. The maximum path width was 1.16 miles also near MS Highway 35 in Jefferson Davis County. No fatalities were reported in this tornado, but there was an…

4. May 5, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Across W and SW Covington county, winds increased again as the core of the storm moved generally SE and SSE. Numerous trees were blown down and Several outbuildings had roof damage, and tree fall was extensive. As the stronger winds approached the Covington/Lamar county line, damage notably increased particularly in a narrow corridor near Lott Town Road and New Hope Road. In these areas tree fall was more consolidated, and damage occurred to numerous outbuildings. A chicken house was destroyed with most of the roof and a portion of the wall blown away. Three other chicken houses in the vicinity sustained damage. Swaths of large oaks were completely uprooted, and several pines were…

5. Apr 7, 2014Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado touched down just to the west of Sunset-Williamsburg Rd. Several trees were snapped at this location. The tornado moved northeast where it crossed Sunset Rd and Rock Hill Rd. Snapped & uprooted trees were the main damage. As the tornado neared and crossed Highway 49, the intensity increased to a high end EF-1.||Multiple power lines were downed along with numerous trees, two homes had minor damage along Rock Hill Rd. A home had a portion of the roof removed along Highway 49. As the tornado crossed Byrd Town Rd, more high end tree damage occurred with some minor damage to a home and a couple mobile homes. Several sheds and carports were destroyed here as well. The…

6. Jun 6, 2017Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding around the Lux Community caused a culvert washout along McConnel Foster Road, and several unoccupied campers had to be towed away from flooding along Okatoma River Road. Flood waters eroded the railroad embankment along a stretch of tracks near the Lux Community. Three train cars later derailed after passing over the weakened tracks. An estimated 3 to 6 inches of rain fell nearby.

7. Apr 14, 1999Tornado$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This strong tornado tracked across northeast Covington County before entering northwest Jones County. Many homes were damaged with several homes receiving major damage. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down and there were many livestock fatalities.

8. Feb 11, 2010Heavy Snow, Covington$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Up to 5 inches of snow fell across portions of Covington County, with 5 inches reported just north of Seminary.

9. Dec 20, 2007Tornado$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado touched down just south of Collins to just southeast of the Highway 84 and 37 intersection. The damage began on the south side of Collins where a billboard was blown over and a warehouse building was destroyed. Numerous trees were uprooted and snapped as the tornado tracked east-northeast. The tornado reached its peak intensity and maximum width along Dennis Knight Road. Here, numerous large trees were snapped and uprooted including a swath where a large majority of the trees were snapped off. The tornado continued moving east-northeast, where the roof of a chicken house was completely removed and caused minor to moderate roof damage to two homes.

10. Mar 8, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$600,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A swath of significant wind damage was noted across the southern portion of the county. Numerous trees were blown down along with power lines. Some specific areas where many trees were down was near the intersection of Highway 589 and Richmond road; near the intersections of Highway 598 and Highway 49 and Highway 598 and Old Highway 49. Additionally, a large tree was downed on a house along the 600 block of Highway 49.

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

108°F3 times, most recently Aug 15, 2007

All-time low

3°F2 times, most recently Dec 24, 1989

Warmest night

83°FJun 22, 1904

Coldest day

18°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

9.20 inJun 5, 1928

Snowiest day

10.0 inJan 1, 1964

Hottest year

1911mean 68.1°F

Coldest year

1940mean 62.2°F

Wettest year

194980.61 in

Driest year

195433.89 in

Snowiest season

10.0 in1963-64

Station Laurel (USC00224939), 225 ft elevation, 25.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1891 to October 27, 2026; 88.5% 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 USC00224939.
• 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.