Itawamba County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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. Apr 28, 2014Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado moved from Lee County into Northwest Itawamba County. The tornado tracked across rural parts of Itawamba County before moving into Prentiss County. Ten homes were destroyed in Itawamba County while 29 homes suffered major damage. 107 other homes had minor damage. 14 mobile homes were destroyed and 17 had major damage. 30 other mobile homes suffered minor damage.

2. Nov 5, 2018Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado developed near the bottoms of Twentymile Creek. As the tornado approached Highway 371 south of Kirkville, it uprooted and snapped trees and substantially damaged a metal garage building. After crossing Highway 371 the tornado continued to uproot and snap off numerous trees and caused minor damage to several mobile homes. The last damage observed was east of Ramey Road northeast before dissipating.

3. Jun 11, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Straight-line winds uprooted trees on Enon Church Road and caused significant damage to three greenhouses on Cardsville Church Road. Other greenhouses suffered minor damage. The swath of damaging wind traveled southeast and tore the roof off of a boathouse along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.

4. May 6, 2003Tornado$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado move into extreme western Itawamba County from Lee County hitting the Shiloh community. Six mobile homes were destroyed and one other mobile home and a house were damaged. Two vehicles were rolled onto their roofs. A carport was demolished along with a couple of barns and outbuildings. Numerous trees were knocked down.

5. Feb 22, 2019Flood$206,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several roads across the county closed due to flooding. Several culverts were damaged and need to be replaced.

6. Aug 31, 2017Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado developed in a wooded area south of Houston-Palestine Road. As the tornado crossed Houston-Palestine Road, it damaged trees and two mobile homes. The tornado damaged trees along Natchez Trace Parkway and homes along Palestine Road. The most significant damage occurred along Highway 370 where a double-wide mobile home was carried 100 feet and a small commercial building suffered roof damage. The tornado dissipated north of Highway 370. Peak winds were estimated at 105 to 110 mph.

7. May 8, 2008Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The initial tornado touchdown occurred in the Palestine community in extreme Northwest Itawamba County. Numerous large trees were uprooted or snapped. Several homes had partial roof damage. One home was severely damaged when a large part of its roof was torn off. The tornado lifted near the Natchez Trace Parkway about one mile southwest of Kirksville.

8. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A violent tornado moved northeast from Monroe County, Mississippi into Southeast Itawamba County. The tornado weakened as it moved through Itawamba County. Numerous trees and power lines were knocked down. One home sustained roof damage. The tornado continued northeast and crossed over into Marion County, Alabama.

9. Mar 15, 2025Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant flooding occurred in the Mantachie area. Several homes and structures around the school were damaged by floodwaters.

10. Oct 25, 1997Hail$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous cars and homes had their windows broken. One farmer lost over 100 acres of cotton as the hail knocked the cotton off of the plants and the heavy rains washed the cotton away. Other farmers lost crops as well.

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°FAug 15, 2007

All-time low

−12°FJan 30, 1966

Warmest night

80°F3 times, most recently Jul 3, 2024

Coldest day

10°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

7.89 inMay 26, 1991

Snowiest day

8.0 inMar 22, 1968

Hottest year

2023mean 65.9°F

Coldest year

1976mean 59.2°F

Wettest year

199181.05 in

Driest year

198130.98 in

Snowiest season

11.0 in1967-68

Station Tupelo Regional Airport (USW00093862), 340 ft elevation, 21.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1962 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00093862.
• 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.