Jackson County

Every recorded tornado

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

The National Weather Service sets flood stages for 1 gauge here but lists no crests for it.

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. Aug 18, 2010Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Defeated Creek rose over its banks. Portions of State Highway 85 were covered with approximately 8 inches of water. The Gladdice Fire Department Building appeared to be flooded. Cummins Mill Road was flooded. Swiftly moving water was reported crossing Rush Fork Road in Bloomington Springs.||Newspapers reported that most roads leading into the Blackburn Fork Creek area had been washed away. In all, 35-45 homes were damaged. Three homes and another was washed away in the Roaring River area. There were also several water rescues, including a 69 year old women whose home had been washed away several hours before on Blackburn Ford Road and near a rising creek in the southern part of…

2. Mar 2, 2012Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF2 tornado with maximum wind speeds around 125 mph began south of Sims Lane in southeast Jackson County and moved northeast across the Dodson Branch community. A home and outbuilding were damaged and several trees and power lines were blown down on Mabry School Road. Increasing to one half mile wide, the tornado moved across the Dodson Branch community along Highway 135 between Zion Road and Maynard Hollow Road. Numerous homes and outbuildings were damaged or destroyed in this area with 20 minor injuries reported. Hundreds of trees and several power lines were also blown down. The tornado continued northeast across Allen Drive, Plum Hollow Lane, and Smith Chapel Road, damaging…

3. Feb 14, 2021Winter Storm, Jackson$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Freezing rain brought ice accumulations up to 1/2 inch across Jackson County, resulting in dozens of downed trees, power lines, and power poles. Some trees, power lines, and power poles fell onto homes and blocked numerous roads. Damage estimates from the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency reached 1.26 million dollars.

4. Feb 6, 2025Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This EF-2 tornado touched down just east of Highway 56 north of Center Grove in Jackson County where dozens of trees were snapped and uprooted as well as some minor roof damage to a single family|home. The tornado continued east-northeast and caused significant roof damage to a manufactured home along JC Johnson Lane. From here, the tornado crossed Seven Knobs Road where it intensified, causing significant timber damage west of Blackburn Fork Road. Even more trees were snapped and uprooted as the tornado continued east along Lynn Hill Road. A barn was destroyed along Zion Road before dissipating just east of that area. Damages are a rough estimate.

5. Jan 24, 1997Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado destroyed 4 homes and damaged 6 others. It also destroyed 6 mobile homes and damaged 2 others. Numerous barns and outbuildings were destroyed. Most of the damage occurred on Mayberry School Road and Dodson Branch Road. The tornado path length and width are approximations.

6. Mar 28, 2021Flash Flood$425,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several roads were flooded and closed across the county, including Ash Lane near the Jackson County 911/EMA office in Gainesboro.

7. Mar 3, 2023High Wind, Jackson$300,000
   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 Jackson County. Damages are estimated.

8. Apr 3, 1998Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   3 barns were completely destroyed, several houses, a church, and other barns lost roofs.

9. Feb 6, 2019Lightning$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck an abandoned house in the Gladdice community at Gladdice Highway and Smith Bend Lane. The resulting fire completely destroyed the home.

10. Jul 2, 2015Flash Flood$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Major flash flooding affected much of Jackson County from the evening of July 2 into the morning hours on July 3. Several roads were flooded including Pine Lick Road along Pine Lick Creek, and Keeling Branch Highway near Whitleyville. One water rescue was conducted on Brimstone Creek Road.

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

111°FAug 8, 1930

All-time low

−17°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

88°FJul 26, 1893

Coldest day

−1°F2 times, most recently Feb 13, 1899

Wettest day

8.35 inAug 3, 1893

Snowiest day

15.0 inFeb 25, 1894

Hottest year

1933mean 63.3°F

Coldest year

1969mean 56.0°F

Wettest year

199869.10 in

Driest year

200729.82 in

Snowiest season

20.5 in1966-67

Station Carthage (USC00401480), 515 ft elevation, 18.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1890 to October 21, 2026; 97.2% 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 USC00401480.
• 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.