Benton County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Feb 5, 2008Tornado$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado came out of northern Benton County and caused damage in Houston County. Trees were uprooted and snapped, and homes were damaged along Highway 147 from the Tennessee River to just west-northwest of McKinnon. There were 20 power poles down on Danville Rd. Worst damage was from Big Sandy to Faxon to Grannys Branch.||Fourteen homes were destroyed, and one other had major damage. About half of these homes were mobile homes.

2. Jan 22, 1999Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado resulted in the only fatality in Middle Tennessee from the severe weather outbreak of January 22,1999. The tornado killed a 50 year old woman who left her shelter in a brick ranch home located on Cedar Grove Road. She went outside to get her dogs inside her home, and that's when the tornado struck and killed her. Her husband remained inside the home and survived. There were 5 injuries from the tornado. A 1600 square foot frame home was moved 10 to 12 feet from its foundation. 12 homes were destroyed, 33 homes sustained damage and 5 businesses were damaged. Power lines and trees were blown down. The winds picked up a 7500 pound Cadillac, and hurled its engine 300-400…

3. Mar 2, 2020Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado started in Benton County northwest of Camden and caused a substantial amount of tree damage along the path the extended into the Tennessee River. Several homes and mobile homes were damaged along the path in Benton County. The most damage, in Benton County, was in the Ballard Road area. Peak winds were estimated around 125 mph. The tornado then moved across the Tennessee River and into Humphreys County.

4. Jul 8, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Straight-line winds caused significant damage to a marina on the Tennessee River southeast of Camden.

5. Apr 10, 2009Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado touchdown about 6 miles northeast of Camden at 1041 A.M. CDT. A newspaper reported that the damage began at the Prospect Church and Cemetery, damaging the trim of the church and uprooting trees in the cemetery. It traveled northeast and ended at the Tennessee River at about 1048 A.M. CDT. Damage width was 75 yards wide. Much of the damage was along and near Grapevine and Harmon Dock Roads. Many hundreds of large hardwoood trees and pine trees were snapped or uprooted along the 4 mile damage path. Twelve homes suffered roof and structural damage and several outbuildings, including two barns, were destroyed, two mobile homes were damaged, and at least two cars were damaged…

6. Nov 15, 2005Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Home destroyed. Roof was gone and walls left standing on a home on French Store Rd.

7. May 2, 2010Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous homes, numerous businesses, numerous non comercial buildings, along with several county, state, and federal roads across the county received damage due to the flood.

8. Jun 13, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$278,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. 3 homes had damage because trees fell on them. A 75-foot oak tree, whcih was probably more than 100 years old, fell into another tree, and they both fell on a carport and on a 1995 Ford Aerostar van. The hardest hit areas was in northeast Camden on Wren Avenue, Rowsey Street, and Flatwoods Road. A 500 foot TV tower belonging to Charter Cable fell to the ground. The tower will not be erected, and the metal will be sold for scrap. Dollar damage estimate was from Benton County EMA director.

9. Apr 7, 2006Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   One home was destroyed, and 15 other homes and businesses had major damage. One home lost its entire roof on Conley Branch Rd. Other homes had roof damage. Numerous large trees were snapped, uprooted or blown down.

10. Apr 25, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Damage in Benton county was the result of an unusually intense microburst with estimated wind speeds of 110 miles an hour. Damage occurred along a 15-mile path that was up to 1 mile wide. There were thousands of trees snapped or uprooted. There was also roof damage to many homes. A couple of barns were barns destroyed.

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 17, 2007

All-time low

−3°FJan 17, 2024

Warmest night

80°FJul 21, 2022

Coldest day

10°FJan 7, 2014

Wettest day

8.00 inSep 26, 2002

Snowiest day

5.0 inMar 8, 2008

Hottest year

2016mean 62.0°F

Coldest year

2014mean 57.3°F

Wettest year

201365.58 in

Driest year

200039.36 in

Snowiest season

12.7 in2010-11

Station Camden (USC00401352), 423 ft elevation, 1.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1997 to September 30, 2026; 93.1% 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 USC00401352.
• 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.