Leake County

Every recorded tornado

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

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), Leake$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 6, 2003Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several rounds of thunderstorms and continued heay rain dumped 7 to 12 inches of rain across the southern portion of Leake county. Numerous roads were flooded with a few bridges being washed out. Several homes and businesses were also flooded.

3. Nov 29, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm produced winds of up to 90 mph in southwestern portions of the county. An NWS survey team determined the damage was due to straight-line winds. Total damage produced by the wind included one mobile homes and seven businesses destroyed. Five houses, one mobile home, and eleven businesses sustained extensive damage. Finally, 14 houses, one mobile home, and 20 businesses sustained minor damage.

4. Feb 21, 1997Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down 2 miles southwest of the Midway community. As the tornado tracked northeast through the community of Midway, it destroyed three mobile homes and caused significant roof damage to two residences. In addition the Midway Community Center was nearly totally destroyed. Just to the northeast of Midway the tornado uprooted or snapped off 75 to 100 trees and a house was significantly damaged. Another older house was totally destroyed. The tornado continued to move northeast and it lifted in the town of Walnut Grove. Damage in Walnut Grove consisted of several houses having some roof damage and several large trees being uprooted. Just southwest of Walnut Grove, six…

5. Aug 2, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hundreds of trees and power lines were blown down as an intense line of storms hit Leake County with 60 to 80 mph winds. Almost 50 roads were blocked by down trees and lines across the county. About 5 homes sustained minor shingle damage, a few sheds were destroyed and 3 mobile homes had tin blown off the roof. The damage was widespread across the county as the line moved generally from northeast to southwest.

6. Apr 28, 2014Tornado$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado first touched down in northeastern Leake County, where the damage was mostly downed trees. As the tornado approached the 4 corners intersection of Leake, Attala, Neshoba, and Winston Counties, it strengthened and began to impact structures. Several mobile homes, medal buildings and single family homes were damaged or destroyed in this area along Highway 25. The tornado continued northeast impacting rural areas of southwest Winston County. There it intensified and began to produce EF3 and some areas of EF4 damage. Numerous homes were destroyed, trees were debarked and severe damage occurred to several chicken farms. The EF4 damage in this area was a building reduced to…

7. Jan 13, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damaging thunderstorm winds tore a path across southern Leake county from near Lena to near Tuscola. Four chicken houses were severely damaged and four out buildings were destroyed. Seven residential homes and one church sustained major roof damage. In addition, dozens of trees were blown down with several across area roads and several more downing power lines.

8. Feb 15, 2016Tornado$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado began just to the west of Highway 429, snapping some trees near Koli Creek. The tornado then tracked northeast along Cooper Road. In this area, it caused heavy tree damage along the path, snapping or uprooting numerous trees. Also along this road, three chicken houses were flattened and another was damaged. A home suffered minor roof damage. The tornado crossed Waggoner Road and lifted in an adjacent wooded area. The maximum estimated wind speed was 110mph.

9. Mar 30, 2022Tornado$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This strong tornado started in the Singleton community along Minshew Road and tracked NE into southern Attala county before dissipating. The tornado grew and intensified quickly along Corinth and Faulkner Roads. Thousands of trees were uprooted or snapped and several homes had minor damage. A few sheds were destroyed and many power lines were downed. The tornado peaked in intensity as it crossed Singleton Road and Highway 35. Significant tree damage occurred in this area. Multiple homes and buildings sustained varying degrees of damage. Many power lines were down here as well. The tornado then crossed Big Springs and Daugherty Roads where substantial tree damage continued. Some…

10. Apr 6, 2005Tornado$700,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    This tornado was the third tornado produced by a "Cyclic Supercell" thunderstorm and it cut a path 23 miles across Leake and a small part of West-Central Neshoba county. This tornado first touched down between Lena and Walnut Grove and tracked northeast to where it moved into Neshoba county just east of Edinburg. Along the path, a dozen homes sustained significant roof damage with many shingles and pieces of the roof torn off. Additionally, 6 to 8 sheds were heavily damaged or destroyed. Several hundred trees and many power lines were blown down and damaged along the 23 mile path.

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.

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.
• 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.