Houston County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 27, 2013Flash Flood$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Repeated development of thunderstorms across Houston County resulted in 5 to 7 inches of rain falling during the evening hours on April 27. Major flash flooding resulted from the heavy rainfall, with several homes and businesses damaged along with numerous roadways flooded. A house off Midway Drive was significantly damaged by the flood. Erin First Baptist Church, Houston County Middle School, and Sudden Service were some of the non-residential buildings that flooded. Fourteen residents were evacuated from the Oak Brook Retirement Home. Roads that were flooded, closed, or suffered flood damage in Erin included Main Street, Mobley Lane, Mitchell Road, Spring Street, Metcalf Drive,…

2. May 27, 2000Tornado$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The storm complex that produced a tornado in Benton county moved into Houston county and generated a tornado that hit Tennessee Ridge and Erin. The Houston county executive estimated 1.3 million dollars worth of damage. Roofs and walls of some well constructed homes were torn off. Many trees were snapped and blown down along with power lines. The Betty Ligon Pavillion in Erin was flattened. 50 people required shelter at Erin. A storage trailer was moved 50 feet at Tennessee Ridge.

3. May 2, 2010Flood$800,000
   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.

4. Nov 15, 2005Tornado$650,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Well built modular home was destroyed at intersection of Waverly Road and Long Branch Road. Other homes in the area were damaged. Damage was estimated to be $650K by the EMA Director.

5. Aug 21, 2021Flash Flood$613,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads were closed due to widespread flash flooding across Houston County. TEMA reported damage to roads throughout the county totaled $612,992.

6. Oct 26, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 5-10 mile wide swath of severe downburst winds struck eastern Houston County, mainly from Erin eastward to the Dickson County border. Dozens of power lines and power poles were blown down and thousands of trees were snapped or uprooted, with a few falling on homes. Power outages lasted up to 2 weeks, with most Houston County schools closed during this 2 week period. Damage estimates from the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency across Houston County reached $500,000. Winds were estimated up to 90 mph.

7. Mar 3, 2023High Wind, Houston$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several hours of severe non-thunderstorm winds resulted in numerous damage reports, including downed and uprooted trees, downed powerlines, and roof and other property damage across all of Houston County. Damages are estimated.

8. Feb 5, 2008Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees were down. Homes were damaged. TEMA reported 10 homes had major damage, 2 mobile homes were destroyed and 20 mobile homes had major damage.

9. Mar 2, 1997Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Local law enforcement reported high water on several roads. About 40 to 50 homes received some damage.

10. Jun 16, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Trees and power lines were reported down in the Tennessee Ridge Area. Newspaper also reported damage to roof of Houston County High School's Field House. Roof damage to the high school field house consited of part of the roof being blown off. Actual amount of roof being blown off was unkown. The goal post on the high school football field were bent and limbs and debris scattered about the athletic fields located between the field house and the high school's main building. Across State Highway 149 from the high school, a portion of the metal roof was peeled back and a few windows were broken out at Lockhart's Chapel United Methodist Church. A tree in the parking lot was broke off…

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

110°FJul 22, 1901

All-time low

−24°FJan 24, 1963

Warmest night

90°FJul 15, 1901

Coldest day

0°FJan 22, 1985

Wettest day

7.60 inAug 31, 1982

Snowiest day

12.0 in2 times, most recently Dec 8, 1917

Hottest year

1921mean 62.4°F

Coldest year

1983mean 54.0°F

Wettest year

195778.16 in

Driest year

193032.43 in

Snowiest season

34.0 in1967-68

Station Dover 1 W (USC00402589), 492 ft elevation, 15.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1897 to October 18, 2026; 87.2% 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 USC00402589.
• 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.