Decatur County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Decatur County: 0.
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. May 1, 2010Flash Flood$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very heavy rain up to 20 inches produced widespread flooding in Decatur County. Numerous roads and bridges were flooded or washed out. At least 40 roads and eight bridges were damaged from the flooding. As many as 89 homes sustained damage from the flood waters. Numerous rescues from homes and vehicles stranded in flood waters had to be made. The flash flood event transitioned to a flood event by late in the afternoon as heavy rain allowed rivers to overflow their banks.

2. Oct 26, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$3.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Straight line winds caused significant damage across Decatur County. Numerous trees and power lines were knocked down around the county. A 300 foot tower buckled and fell north of Decaturville. A large tree fell on a trailer home and car in rural Decatur County. A woman was critically injured. Numerous homes and structures around the county were damaged.

3. Feb 24, 2011Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado moved from Carroll County into Decatur County and continued northeast. Major damage was sustained to a mobile home in the Five Forks area. A large grain bin was tossed 50 yards and destroyed and there was minor damage to homes and trees in the Bible Hill area. Several tombstones were also overturned and damaged in Bible Hill. The most significant damage occurred on Blue Bird Circle at the Lick Creek Inlet. Eight homes sustained enough damage to render them uninhabitable along with damage to private boat docks and pontoon boats. A roof to a floating boat dock was lifted off of its foundation and tossed approximately one half mile across the inlet and destroyed. Damage to…

4. Apr 24, 2010Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down on Bible Hill Road, approximately 2 miles north-northwest of Parsons. The tornado traveled east-northeast for about 11 miles crossing the Tennessee River and continuing into Perry County, Tennessee. Significant tree damage occurred along the track, especially on Brodie's Landing Road. Although minor damage occurred to most structures hit directly from the tornado, significant property damage occurred from falling trees. In total, 15 homes sustained damage. Three of these homes were completely destroyed. Seven homes received major damage while five had minor damage. One business had a roof blown off while one barn was completely destroyed.

5. May 27, 2008Flash Flood$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain produced flash flooding on many roads near Parsons including McKenzie Road, Bible Hill Road, Old Perryville Road, Highway 412, Davis Mill Road and Tomlin Chapel Road. A total of 22 roads were closed from the flooding. Six roads were damaged. One person fell into the water when a road collapse. However the person was rescued and not injured.

6. Jul 15, 2009Flash Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain produced flash flooding in portions of Decatur County. Bible Hill Road, Cub Creek Road and several other roads were flooded as a result. In addition, a motorist on McIllwain Road had to be rescued from flood waters. People were also trapped in a vehicle while another person was trapped in a home due to flood waters along W O Baker Road. Everyone was rescued safely. In the area of Sugar Tree, three houses and two vehicles were underwater along Mills Road near the Tennessee River. One camper and one boat were also damaged. Five culverts and one bridge were washed out.

7. Dec 11, 2021Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado initially touched down southwest of Inman Ridge and just east of Willow Creek in western Decatur County. It moved due east and hit a mobile home on the corner of Ora Bawcum Lane and Verlie Inman Road. At this location, several trees were snapped at their base, one of which fell onto and demolished half of the mobile home. Insulation and debris from the home were lofted and scattered into a nearby field. The tornado continued along an easterly path through the community of Yellow Springs and crossed over US-641 and into the southern part of Sugar Tree. Intermittent tree damage was noted on high-resolution satellite imagery along its path. The tornado then continues into…

8. Mar 2, 1997Flash Flood$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flooding around the county. 3 bridges were washed out near Sugar Tree.

9. Mar 27, 2017Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damage was observed to trees with mainly roof damage to homes. Two mobile homes were also destroyed. Peak winds estimated at 110 mph.

10. May 5, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Strong thunderstorm winds damaged roofs, signs, storage buildings and windows to several businesses in Parsons. A large pecan tree fell on 4 cars.

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

108°FJul 29, 1952

All-time low

−21°FJan 26, 1940

Warmest night

84°FAug 9, 1943

Coldest day

4°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

6.94 inApr 15, 1910

Snowiest day

15.5 inJan 1, 1964

Hottest year

1897mean 62.6°F

Coldest year

1976mean 54.3°F

Wettest year

201981.82 in

Driest year

194742.13 in

Snowiest season

39.9 in1959-60

Station Waynesboro (USC00409502), 750 ft elevation, 29.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 17, 2026; 97.5% 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 USC00409502.
• 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.