Lauderdale County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Lauderdale County: 9.
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.

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. Mar 1, 1997Flood, Lauderdale$5.0 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…

2. May 1, 2010Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very heavy rain up to 20 inches produced devastating flooding across Lauderdale County. Twenty homes sustained at least minor damage. Twenty mobile homes and few businesses sustained damage as well. Five roads sustained major damage and fifteen roads received minor damage. The flash flood event transitioned into a flood event by late in the afternoon as heavy rain allowed rivers to rapidly rise and overflow their banks.

3. Jan 17, 1999Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado formed just west of Halls and travelled east. A mobile home park was damaged west of Halls with eight homes ripped apart. In Halls, several homes sustained damage to roofs, porches and siding. The tornado moved through the north end of the business district flattening two business with several other buildings including a church suffering major damage. As the tornado exited Halls, it damaged roofs, toppled trees and demolished a solitary mobile home. A total of 49 structures were damaged or destroyed.

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

   The Mississippi River rose to near record levels during the beginning to middle part of May. A few homes along the river were flooded and sustained damage. Several thousand acres of agriculture fields were flooded. Several roads were flooded and/or damaged. The river remained above flood stage through the end of the month.

5. May 1, 2010Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very heavy rains produced a flash flooding event in Lauderdale County. As much as 20 inches of rain fell across Lauderdale County. The flash flooding event transitioned to a flood event by late afternoon of May 1st. The South Fork Forked Deer River in Halls rose quickly above flood stage. Many homes and roads were affected by the high water.

6. Jan 8, 2008Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down along Highway 88 about 4 miles west-northwest of Halls. A mobile home was shifted from its foundation and destroyed. The tornado continued east-northeast and crossed Double Bridges Road where it caused significant roof damage to one home and destroyed an outbuilding of another home. The tornado continued across Mill Creek Road to Church Road where three homes were damaged. The roof was blown off of one home and completely destroyed the kitchen area. The other two homes suffered roof damage, fence damage and a collapsed garage. The tornado continues east-northeast and reached its maximum intensity as it moved across Highway 51 in the Poplar Grove Community.…

7. Apr 5, 2025Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down near Concord Road, about five miles northeast of Ripley. Large tree limbs were downed and a small barn was damaged. The tornado began to track northeast along Concord Road downing and uprooting additional trees. A barn along the road lost a portion of its wooden roof. Uprooted trees and snapped tree trunks were noted as the tornado tracked toward Wilkes Road. On Wilkes Road, an outbuilding lost a portion of its metal roof panels. Tree damage continued along the path as it neared the southeast side of Gates. A home on Mitchell Road lost its siding and tree damage continued to W Wardlow Street. The tornado lifted shortly after. Peak winds were estimated at 100 mph.

8. May 24, 2009Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain produced flash flooding in Halls. Areas that were flooded include Sumrow Street, New Street, Industrial Road, Airport Street, Pearl Street and Fenton Street. Several trucks in the public works lot were flooded. Several homes were also flooded.

9. Aug 21, 2010Lightning$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a house on Carmack Road, north of Ripley. A fire started as a result causing a complete loss of the home.

10. Apr 3, 2008Flash Flood$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rain caused the ground beneath a house to fall into Mills Creek. The house was located on Double Bridges-Unionville Road. A large tree on the side of the hill was also uprooted.

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

109°FJul 12, 1930

All-time low

−13°FJan 12, 1918

Warmest night

81°F3 times, most recently Jul 3, 1980

Coldest day

2°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

16.00 inMay 1, 2010

Snowiest day

16.5 inMar 22, 1968

Hottest year

1921mean 64.6°F

Coldest year

1979mean 57.8°F

Wettest year

195775.58 in

Driest year

194131.45 in

Snowiest season

31.8 in1967-68

Station Brownsville (USC00401145), 374 ft elevation, 19.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1895 to October 20, 2026; 94.9% 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 USC00401145.
• 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.