Montgomery County

Every recorded tornado

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

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), Montgomery$10.0 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. Mar 24, 2023Tornado$4.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This long track tornado began just southwest of Black Hawk in a wooded area with widespread tree damage, including snapped and uprooted trees. Satellite imagery indicates major tree damage of EF2 intensity. It continued northeast before crossing Highway 430, CR 235, and Highway 17. In this area, numerous residential structures were damaged, including 2 homes that were destroyed, with both losing outer walls and another with collapsed brick on the exterior with the interior slab exposed. Large farming equipment was also blown over on the side. No injuries were reported in this area. The tornado was strongest just northeast of here at EF3 intensity, around 155mph, where Black Hawk…

3. Apr 30, 2017Tornado$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado started southwest of Kilmichael just south of Vaiden-Kilmichael Road and tracked north-northeast. As it crossed Vaiden-Kilmichael Road, many trees were damaged and two sheds were destroyed, minor damage was noted to roofs on a couple homes. The tornado then entered and tracked through the town of Kilmichael uprooting/snapping thousands of trees. The tree damage was extensive through town. Dozens of homes sustained minor roof damage with a dozen or so more heavily damaged by fallen trees. A tall communications tower was broken in half and dozens of power poles and power lines were downed. The tornado continued north-northeast across Highway 82 and then along Minerva…

4. Apr 30, 2017Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado started on the south side of Vaiden and tracked northeast, dissipating just to the northwest of Kilmichael. Initially, trees were snapped and uprooted along county road 28 and county road 27. The tornado then crossed Highway 51 where numerous trees were snapped or uprooted and power lines were downed. A few homes sustained minor roof damage and one had a large tree down on it. The railroad was blocked by several trees as well. The tornado then crossed Highway 35 where more trees were damaged. It then moved into a wooded area and mostly tracked south of Highway 430. A few damage locations were accessible along CR 9 where more trees were downed, but the road was blocked…

5. Apr 7, 2006Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The long lived damaging supercell thunderstorm moved out of northeast Carroll County and into northern Montgomery County just southwest of Duck Hill. A swath of golf ball to baseball sized hail fell with this storm until the storm was just east of Duck Hill. This very large hail damage homes, broke windows and damage vehicles across the area. As the storm neared southeast Grenada County and northwest Webster County the hail was a bit smaller, but still to the size of hen eggs. The supercell tracked east-northeast across the southeast corner of Grenada County and then the northeast corner of Webster County and produced more quarter to hen egg sized hail before moving into Calhoun…

6. Dec 23, 1998Ice Storm, Montgomery$900,000
   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…

7. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado touched down just west of the Poplar Creek Community and headed off to the northeast. Thousands of trees were snapped off and uprooted. A few trees fell on homes, sheds and small barns causing substantial damage. One power pole was snapped and some trees fell across power lines. The tornado crossed into Choctaw County where it dissipated. Maximum winds were around 115 mph. Total path length across Montgomery and Choctaw Counties was 11.5 miles.

8. Dec 31, 2010Flash Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Locally heavy rain, between 4 and 6 inches, caused several streets to flood in the city of Winona. Many cars were flooded in town due to the high water. Additionally, several roads were closed, with some washed out, near and around Winona.

9. Apr 20, 2011Hail$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A swath of golf ball to tennis ball sized hail fell across central Montgomery County.

10. Feb 9, 2011Heavy Snow, Montgomery$300,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy snow, between 3-4 inches fell across the county. Many accident were reported due to the slick 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

105°FAug 31, 2000

All-time low

−9°FJan 30, 1966

Warmest night

79°FJul 5, 2024

Coldest day

8°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

9.07 inMar 16, 1973

Snowiest day

9.0 in2 times, most recently Mar 23, 1968

Hottest year

1953mean 65.6°F

Coldest year

1968mean 58.3°F

Wettest year

198379.95 in

Driest year

195435.91 in

Snowiest season

9.0 in1959-60

Station Winona 5 E (USC00229743), 392 ft elevation, 3.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1953 to December 11, 2025; 92.7% 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 USC00229743.
• 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.