Kemper County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Kemper County: 5.
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.

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. Aug 29, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Kemper$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. Apr 15, 2011Tornado$11.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado started just west of County Road 450, downing some pine trees. As it crossed County Road 450, it began downing numerous trees, pushed a mobile home over, and damaged the roof of a house. The tornado intensified as it cross MS Highway 491, destroying a large portion of two chicken houses down to the ground, and causing extensive tree damage. The tornado then appeared to weaken slightly as it crossed County Road 729 and then crossed into Kemper County near White Store Road. Numerous trees were snapped, and a home suffered some minor to moderate damage along County Road 729.||The tornado intensified as it approached Little Rock Road and MS Highway 495. The tornado reached…

3. Apr 7, 2003Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several rounds of thunderstorms dumped 7 to 10 inches of rain over the southern portion of Kemper county. Numerous roads were flooded and washed out.

4. Apr 6, 2025Tornado$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This EF2 tornado began near Willie Clark Road in the Cleveland community, tracking east northeastward across MS Highway 16, Lynville Road, and Anderson Road before lifting just north of MS Highway 16. Along the path, multiple barns were demolished or heavily damaged, and several trees were snapped and uprooted. Along Lynville Road, multiple box trucks and tractors were turned on their sides and a home sustained minor damage. On Anderson Road, a large portion of roof was removed from a home and a portion of the outer walls fell. Path length 1.9 miles, max path width 300 yards, max winds 115 mph.

5. Apr 11, 2013Tornado$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado first touched down in southwest Kemper County and tracked north-northeast through much of Kemper and Noxubee Counties, and then into Pickens County Alabama. The most intense damage occurred in five locations along the path. The first was damage to a steel frame commercial building along highway 493 just north of Moscow. The second was a frame home that was completely destroyed along Highway 16 several miles west of De Kalb. The third was an extensive area of damage just west and northwest of Shuqualak that included a destroyed home as well as significant damage to several other homes and power poles. The fourth was high tension power poles that were bent along Highway…

6. Jan 5, 2007Tornado$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This strong tornado touched down in the Blackwater Community and caused extensive damage along its 2 mile path. Six homes were destroyed, five of which were mobile homes and one modular home. Nine people were injured with three serious. One car was flipped over and rolled along with extensive damage to trees and power lines along the path of this high end F2 tornado.

7. Jan 1, 2011Tornado$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado began near Kellis Store Road where several soft and hardwood trees were snapped and uprooted. The tornado continued northeast to Weaver Sciples Mill Road where it took the roof off of a home along with a couple of load bearing walls. Numerous hardwood and softwood trees were also snapped at this location. Across the street, a portion of a roof was taken off and a shed was also destroyed. The tornado continued northeast and crossed into Noxubee County where it caused significant damage along Gholson Road. One home sustained roof damage and windows were blown out. In addition, numerous hardwood and softwood trees were snapped. Two outbuildings were also destroyed at this…

8. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado touched down just northeast of Scooba on Binnsville Rd. Several trees were uprooted and snapped, and a shed was damaged. The damage intensified in the area where Binnsville Rd turns east where a well built house had a portion of the roof torn off and a large shed was destroyed. Further northeast along Sunflower Rd, several mobile homes had the roofs removed. One mobile home was completely destroyed with everything but the frame thrown into the woods. The tornado was markedly stronger at this location with high-end EF-2 tree damage occurring. From there to the Alabama state line, EF-2 type tree and power line damage occurred, especially along Thorton Rd. The tornado…

9. Apr 22, 2005Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This large supercell thunderstorm, the second to effect Kemper county, moved out of Southwest Noxubee county and tracked across the northern portion of Kemper county. This storm produced a swath of golf ball to tennis ball sized hail from the Kemper/Noxubee county line to Scooba. Several homes and numerous vehicles were damaged in Scooba.

10. Mar 22, 2022Tornado$400,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    This tornado began in a wooded area southwest of Zion Hampton Road. The tornado snapped and uprooted hardwood and softwood trees as it tracked northeast across West Zion Road. It then intensified and caused a swath of EF-2 tree damage that extended from Zion Road near Chisolm Cemetary Road to Chisolm Harbrook Road and Highway 495 South and continuing to the north of Damascus. A large number of trees sustained considerable damage along this swath with several stands of mature trees completely leveled. A home was shifted off of its foundation and a mobile home was destroyed from a fallen tree near the intersection of Chisolm Cemetary Road and Zion Road. The tornado began to…

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, 30.0 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.