Yazoo County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Yazoo County: 15.
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.

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. Apr 24, 2010Tornado$140 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado moved out of extreme southeast Sharkey County and into west central Yazoo County and gained intensity as it tracked northeast. The tornado caused significant home damage northwest of Satartia, and again as it crossed Highway 3 near the Crupp Community. The tornado then moved through a rural area southwest of Yazoo City, causing major damage or destruction of a number of homes, as well as intense tree damage. As the tornado approached the intersection of US Highway 49 and Highway 16, on the south side of Yazoo City, it reached its widest point and maximum intensity. Here the rating peaked at EF4 with maximum winds around 170 mph. The tornado had a maximum width of 1.75…

2. Aug 29, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Yazoo$20.0 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…

3. Apr 6, 2003Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several rounds of thunderstorms produced 7 to 12 inches of rain across the southern portion of Yazoo county. This rainfall resulted in a very large number of roads being covered with water, as well as large amounts of farmland.

4. Sep 25, 2005Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Early Sunday morning several bands of thunderstorms developed across Southwest, West-central and Central Mississippi. These bands repeatedly moved over the same locations for a few hours and produced locally heavy rainfall. Most locations received 3 to 5 inches of rain in a few hour period. The heaviest rains fell within a corridor that was generally aligned along the Big Black River. This corridor received nearly 7 to 10 inches of rain over a few hour period. The worst flooding occurred in Warren and Yazoo counties. Here, many roads were washed out or flooded by several feet of water. Many homes in these areas had some amount of water inside them. The rest of the affected areas…

5. Apr 30, 2017Tornado$2.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This strong tornado started east of Bentonia near Indian Creek where minor tree damage was noted and continued to travel along a path just north of the Big Black River. The tornado caused minor structural damage along Scotland Road, where it also downed hundreds of trees. The tornado was strongest as it crossed Trail End Road, where it snapped wooden power poles, caused minor structural damage and snapped and uprooted nearly 1000 trees. A tin roof was ripped completely off of a mobile home along Linwood Rd in the Berryville Community. Tree damage was also surveyed along near and along I-55 near and north of the Vaughan exit. The tornado crossed over I-55 before dissipating south…

6. May 28, 2008Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A slow moving cluster of thunderstorms dumped 4 to 7 inches of rain across portions of Yazoo County. In the city, 6.59 inches of rain was measured. Numerous roads and streets were flooded. Several dozen vehicles were flooded along with 30 homes and businesses.

7. Nov 29, 2010Tornado$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This storm tracked through downtown Yazoo City. It damaged several buildings, most of which was roof damage however one building had some exterior walls destroyed. Numerous windows were blown out of downtown buildings and a large area of siding was torn from another building. The tornado knocked down trees and damaged the roof of the county courthouse. Damage in the downtown area was the strongest for this tornado and rated as EF2.The tornado weakened as it moved northeast for about a mile with only scattered tree damage occurring. As the tornado crossed Jerry Clower Blvd it strengthened and snapped a power pole and damaged the roof of a store. The tornado weakened again and…

8. Oct 16, 2006Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain between six and ten inches fell across all of Yazoo County during the late afternoon and evening hours of October 16th. This heavy rain caused many roads and farm fields to become flooded by several feet of water. Numerous mud slides occurred along the bluffs and some roads had sections washed out or large amounts of mud coving them. High water marks were noted by debris across the landscape. A few homes were also flooded in the county.

9. Mar 26, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The same left moving supercell thunderstorm that brought the large hail, also brought devastating straight line winds to a good portion of central Yazoo county from Bentonia to north of Benton. Several hundred trees and dozens of power lines were blown down or snapped. One tree and power line landed on a car and caused an injury. The most significant wind damage occurred from Bentonia to around Little Yazoo. Here the winds were estimated around 90 mph. Many structures sustained major to minor damage with all or a portion of the roof blown off, siding peeled off and windows broken. The Bentonia-Gibbs School had a good portion of its roof blown off and sustained water damage.…

10. Dec 9, 2008Tornado$700,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Tornado initially touched down and tracked northeast through the area south of Yazoo City. At this point, the tornado was narrow and weak, with only relatively minor tree damage observed. As the tornado crossed Highway 16 on the east side of Yazoo City, it became wider and stronger. Several homes and businesses sustained roof damage along Highway 16 and Old Benton Road, and numerous trees were snapped and uprooted. The tornado maintained this strength for a number of miles as it moved northeast, snapping, splintering and uprooting a number of hardwood and softwood trees as well as downing powerlines. The tornado weakened somewhat as it crossed into Holmes County, before…

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, 39.4 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.