Perry County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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. Dec 27, 2018Flash Flood$1.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant flash flooding occurred in the northeast part of Perry County, particularly in the town of Richton. In Richton, a dozen businesses were flooded. Water was knee deep in some businesses. At the height of the flash flooding, 15 people were rescued from a low lying apartment complex in Richton. In total for Perry County, over a dozen homes experienced major flood damage. Numerous roads were flooded and closed. One public road was destroyed by the flash flooding with 5 other roads experiencing major damage. Twelve other roads had minor flood damage.||Perry County EMA estimates damages of $300,000 to residences and business and $1.5 million in infrastructure damage.

2. Sep 25, 1998Hurricane (Typhoon), Perry$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Please see the narrative on Hurricane Georges under Alabama, Southwest, September 25-29, 1998.

3. Jun 5, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of severe thunderstorms moved through the county between 950 pm and 1030 pm. The storms moved from west to east and blew down trees and power lines across the county. The most damage occurred along State Highway 42 leading into Richton from the west. In Richton several businesses were damaged or destroyed in the downtown area. The fire station had most of its roof and the west side of its building blown in. The police station suffered damage and a floral shop in the same area was heavily damaged. A car wash and a small barber shop were also destroyed. All the damage appeared to be caused by straight line winds. It appeared the winds were funnelled into the downtown area…

4. Apr 14, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large bow echo moved across the north part of Perry County. Several trees and powerlines were blown down northwest of Richton. Several manufactured homes were damaged with one turned over. One wood frame house was also damaged. No injuries. This area still had unrepaired damage from Hurricane Katrina that hit in August of 2005.

5. Jan 21, 2017Tornado$160,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado entered extreme NW Perry County, MS from|NE Forrest County 2 miles WNW of Runnelstown, MS and continued to|move NE at 45 to 50 MPH before lifting 5.5 miles NE of Runnelstown.|Two main areas along the path had significant damage, with EF-2|category winds between 111 to 125 mph. One was located on Pumping|Station Road 1.3 miles NW of Runnelstown, and the other 2.7 miles NE|of Runnelstown along Cole Drive. Significant tree damage and|sporadic power lines were downed along the track of the tornado. Damage estimates from property were around $105,000 with tree damage estimated at $55,000.

6. Jun 27, 2015Lightning$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Twenty-three cows, nine yearlings, and one bull were killed by a lightning strike Saturday evening in Richton.

7. Mar 12, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were blown down as a line of severe thunderstorms moved through the community. An area store was also damaged by the high winds.

8. Mar 11, 2016Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused water to enter a building at the elementary school. Several roads closed across the northern portion of the county.

9. Feb 19, 1996Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A TORNADO FIRST TOUCHED DOWN IN PERRY COUNTY NEAR REDHILL WHICH IS ABOUT 6 MILES SOUTH OF NEW AUGUSTA AT ABOUT 235 PM CDT. THE TORNADO THEN MOVED NORTHEAST ACROSS MS HWY 29 KNOCKING DOWN SEVERAL TREES IN ITS PATH. THE TORNADO CONTINUED SKIPPING ALONG THE GROUND CROSSING US HWY 98 JUST WEST OF BEAUMONT. THE TORNADO DAMAGED ROOFS ON THREE HOMES JUST SOUTH OF KITTRELL AND WEST OF MS HWY 15. THE TORNADO CROSSED MS HWY 15 NEAR KITTRELL AND DAMAGED SIDING AND SHINGLES FROM SEVERAL HOMES HERE. THE TORNADO THEN CONTINUED NORTHEAST ACROSS OPEN PASTURE KNOCKING DOWN TREES. THE TORNADO SKIPPED ALONG THE GROUND FOR ABOUT 13 MILES IN PERRY COUNTY BEFORE MOVING INTO GREENE COUNTY, 3 MILES WEST…

10. Mar 11, 2016Flash Flood$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous roads closed across northern portions of the county due to heavy rain. A bridge was washed out on Highway 42 at Tallahalla Creek.

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°F6 times, most recently Aug 14, 2007

All-time low

10°F2 times, most recently Feb 5, 1996

Warmest night

80°F4 times, most recently Aug 15, 2023

Coldest day

28°F2 times, most recently Jan 22, 2025

Wettest day

8.97 inMay 4, 2009

Snowiest day

5.5 inMar 13, 1993

Hottest year

2023mean 68.5°F

Coldest year

1993mean 63.3°F

Wettest year

200985.90 in

Driest year

200041.66 in

Station Beaumont Expstation (USC00220585), 172 ft elevation, 4.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1991 to October 21, 2026; 97.6% 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 USC00220585.
• 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.