Lake County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Lake County: 3.
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.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Dec 10, 2021Tornado$4.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   After traveling along the Mississippi River the tornado crossed into Lake County, Tennessee southwest of Wynnburg. The tornado significantly damaged trees with debarking southwest of Wynnburg. Homes and shop buildings suffered substantial damage north of Wynnburg. The tornado approached the Reelfoot Lake area and caused significant damage to a hotel, convenience store, restaurant, and camping facilities in the Cypress Point area. Three fatalities occurred in this area. On the southeast shore of Reelfoot Lake, the tornado damaged cabins and numerous recreational vehicles that were parked in a storage area. The tornado then crossed into Obion County, Tennessee. Peak winds in Lake…

2. Mar 1, 1997Flood, Lake$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Excessive rainfall during the first few days of March along with rivers that were already high caused prolonged flooding along the Mississippi and Tennessee rivers as well as their tributaries. Along the Mississippi, the river reached levels that had not been seen since 1937. Numerous roads were closed for days. In several counties people had to be evacuated from homes including 400 persons in the town of Rives in Obion county. In Madison county, two persons were killed when their car was swept off a flooded road. One person was killed in Shelby county when his car went over a flooded bridge. One man was also killed in Obion county when he fell out of a boat helping people out of…

3. May 1, 2011Flood$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Mississippi River rose to record levels in Tiptonville during the beginning to middle part of May. A few homes along the river were flooded and sustained damage while additional homes in Tiptonville were flooded and sustained minor damage. Campgrounds at Reelfoot Lake were flooded. Several thousand acres of agriculture fields were flooded. Several roads were flooded and/or damaged. Lake County Airport was closed due to the flooding. The river remained above flood stage through the end of the month.

4. Apr 28, 2002Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down just west of Tiptonville and tracked northeast just north of Tiptonville. Eleven mobile homes were destroyed and another twelve were damaged. A shed was demolished. Five homes were also damaged. Numerous trees were blown down.

5. Apr 16, 2000Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Many leaves were taken off trees by the hail. Many cars and roofs were damaged by the hail as well.

6. Feb 23, 2019Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Mutiple roads flooded and water rescue for vehicles and 8 people rescued in houses.

7. Sep 14, 2008Tropical Depression, Lake$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High winds from Tropical Depression Ike affected Lake County. Sustained winds were estimated between 25 and 33 knots. Numerous trees and power lines were knocked down across the county. A mobile home was destroyed near Tiptonville. The roof off of two classrooms at the Margaret Newton Grade School was blown off. Another building was blown off of it's foundation in Tiptonville. Two buildings were completely destroyed and two businesses had the facade blown off from the winds. Awnings were damaged as well. One house had a tree fall onto it's roof.

8. May 24, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A mobile home blew over on top of a truck. Several trees and power lines were knocked down. A few trees fell on houses.

9. May 10, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$70,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A church was destroyed. Five homes were damaged. Five utility poles were blown down.

10. Apr 30, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$60,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Trees and power lines down. A few farm sheds and old buildings damaged.

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 10, 1930

All-time low

−22°FJan 9, 1942

Warmest night

84°F2 times, most recently Jul 25, 1907

Coldest day

−3°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

10.38 inAug 3, 2023

Snowiest day

12.0 inJan 6, 1910

Hottest year

1921mean 63.4°F

Coldest year

1960mean 54.6°F

Wettest year

195780.19 in

Driest year

190126.68 in

Snowiest season

34.3 in1977-78

Station Union City (USC00409219), 321 ft elevation, 24.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1895 to September 30, 2026; 97.7% 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 USC00409219.
• 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.