Scott County

Every recorded tornado

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

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), Scott$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$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Continued heavy rains dumped 7 to 12 inches of rain over Scott county. Numerous roads were flooded with several feet of water covering the the roads. This very large amount of water washed out numerous roads and bridges. Due to a washed out bridge, one person was killed when he drove his car into flooded waters around 1:30 am April 7. In addition to the flooded roads, dozens of businesses and homes were flooded across the county.

3. Mar 18, 2013Hail$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A swath of quarter to golf ball size hail fell west of Morton to just south of Forest. Numerous vehicle windows were blown out and several roofs were damaged by the hail.

4. Jan 24, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of severe thunderstorms with destructive, straight-line winds moved through the county. The communities of Forest and Morton were particularly hit hard with winds estimated to be 80 to 90 mph. A total of 3 homes sustained major damage with 27 other homes sustaining minor damage. Ten businesses sustained major damage, while 10 others had minor damage. Four mobile homes were destroyed with one sustaining major damage. Finally, 5 agricultural buildings were destroyed with 16 others sustaining major damage. Numerous trees were also blown down. The estimated cost of the damage in the area was 2 million dollars.

5. Apr 9, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of severe thunderstorms produced a swath of significant damaging winds starting northeast of Forest in Scotty County. In this swath, thousands of trees and numerous power lines and power poles were blown down. Trees were uprooted and snapped. Over 50 homes were damaged by both fallen trees and wind, including 32 which suffered major damage or were destroyed. Several mobile homes were rolled and destroyed. Several sheds and garages were also destroyed. There were five injuries including two in mobile homes on Towner Road and McMillan Road and and three in a house on Jim Owens Road. The peak of the damage occurred just west of Salem road near Old Highway 80 north of Lake…

6. Nov 29, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm produced winds estimated up to 90 mph, causing widespread damage across mainly the northwestern half of the county. An NWS survey team determined the widespread damage was from straight-line winds. Damage produced by the storm included four businesses, two agricultural businesses and a mobile home destroyed. Also, two houses, three mobile homes, three businesses, and seven agricultural businesses had major damage. Furthermore, 13 houses sustained minor damage.

7. Oct 17, 2012Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado began along Old Jackson Road east of Hillsboro. Initially the tornado tracked southeast downing multiple trees as it crossed Harrison Road and MS Highway 21. There were also a few homes with roof damage in this area and outbuildings were damaged by fallen trees. The tornado then began a more easterly course along Greer Road and began to snap and uproot several additional trees as it crossed Ephesus Road, Langsmill Road, and Russell Community Road. Along Russell Community Road multiple trees fell on structures, including one that fell through a home causing an injury. The tornado continued eastward, downing additional trees and caused minor roof damage at a residence…

8. Mar 3, 2008Tornado$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado touched down in a rural area just southwest of Lake and downed many trees as it approached the City of Lake. Before it crossed I-20, two homes sustained roof damage. It then crossed the interstate, more trees were blown down along with a highway sign. The most extensive damage occurred in the City of Lake. Several homes suffered roof damage, three large grain bins were destroyed, two railroad light standards were bent, two cinder block buildings were nearly destroyed, and a mobile home was destroyed by a large tree which fell on it. After the tornado moved through Lake, it continued to produce tree damage which gradually became lesser. It finally dissipated just after…

9. Aug 2, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hundreds of trees and power lines were blown down across the eastern half of Scott County as an intense line of storms moved through the area. Wind gusts ranged from 60 to 75 mph which downed many trees and power lines across area roads. In Forest, 1 tree damaged a home and another damaged a car. Across the county, nearly 85 percent of all roads had at least 1 tree downed across it.

10. Apr 4, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous trees were blown down across Morton along with a few billboard signs blown down. Several homes suffered roof damage as well along with several businesses with minor to major roof damage.

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 30, 2000

All-time low

2°F2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Warmest night

82°FAug 11, 2023

Coldest day

18°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

7.38 inApr 6, 2003

Snowiest day

6.0 inFeb 13, 1960

Hottest year

2023mean 68.8°F

Coldest year

1979mean 62.4°F

Wettest year

197992.75 in

Driest year

200734.82 in

Snowiest season

9.1 in1959-60

Station Jackson International Airport (USW00003940), 296 ft elevation, 32.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1963 to October 25, 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 USW00003940.
• 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.