Bledsoe County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Bledsoe County: 4.
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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   New Harmony Tornado. A NWS storm survey reported a tornado path in Sequatchie county and continued its track northeast into and across southeastern Bledsoe County. It had a path length of 16.3 miles in Bledsoe county and a 1/2 mile path width. The 190 mph wind destroyed several homes up on Waldens Ridge, with continuous damage noted into Rhea county. Numerous trees and barns were also downed in the path of the large tornado. Vehicles were picked up and thrown. ||Four people died in the Pitts Gap area just before the tornado reached New Harmony. The fatalities included a married couple--a 43 year old woman and a 39 year old man in their mobile home. A man, his wife (64 years old),…

2. Mar 17, 2002Flood, Bledsoe$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flooding occurred across most of East Tennessee with the hardest hit counties in central East Tennessee including Bledsoe, Meigs, Roane, Rhea, Loudon, Blount, Knox, and Sevier Counties. Rainfall totals between five and eight inches were reported in 36 hours. Numerous major rivers flooded including the Clinch, Powell, Sequatchie, and Pigeon Rivers. Total damage estimates were calculated to be over 5 million dollars.

3. May 5, 2003Flash Flood$3.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flooding, road closures, damage, evacuations.

4. Feb 23, 2019Flash Flood$850,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple roads closed throughout the county. Evacuations in the northern part of the county. All told, there was about $850,000 in damages across Bledsoe County from this flooding event.

5. Nov 10, 2002Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F1 tornado (with wind speeds estimated between 85 and 90 mph) touched down just west of the intersection of highways 101 and 285 in northwest Bledsoe county. This tornado passed just north of the Bellview community. Five homes were damaged and numerous trees were downed along the tornado's path, which crossed Highway 101 and continued just north of Highway 285 from the Three-Way Market to the Tennessee Regional State Correctional Facility.

6. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   N Dunlap Tornado. A NWS storm survey reported an EF1 tornado continued into Bledsoe county, Tennessee, just northeast of Mount Airy, Tennessee. The tornado tracked to near Highway 603 and the Lower East Valley Road in Bledsoe County where it dissipated. It had a path width of 80 yards and a path length of 1.47 miles in Bledsoe county. The 100 mph wind damage a few roofs and downed numerous trees.

7. Apr 3, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$65,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several large trees were reported down, a mobile home was destroyed, and a garage roof was blown off in the northwest portion of the county.

8. Mar 28, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees were blown down near Brayton. A car windshield was damaged. The strong thunderstorm winds tore roofing off a utility building, took some roofing off the back of a house, a trailer was knocked off its foundation, and a tin roof was taken off a barn and workshop. The winds also ripped shingles off the roof of a house, pulled siding and shutters from another house and overturned an outbuilding.

9. May 6, 1999Flood$50,000
10. Jun 5, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Emergency manager personnel reported trees downed by thunderstorm wind countywide. Wind also damaged homes in Pikeville.

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

102°FJun 29, 2012

All-time low

−21°F2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Warmest night

77°F3 times, most recently Aug 11, 2010

Coldest day

5°F3 times, most recently Dec 22, 1989

Wettest day

6.29 inMay 27, 1973

Snowiest day

18.0 inMar 13, 1993

Hottest year

2012mean 58.4°F

Coldest year

1958mean 53.0°F

Wettest year

202075.32 in

Driest year

196838.49 in

Snowiest season

60.8 in1959-60

Station Crossville Mem Airport (USW00003847), 1,865 ft elevation, 23.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1954 to October 26, 2026; 99.7% 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 USW00003847.
• 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.