McNairy County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within McNairy County: 18.
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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Mar 31, 2023Tornado$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado crossed from Hardeman County into McNairy County and moved east-northeast along Skipper Creek, intensifying as it moved into the Rose Creek area. A swath of significant damage was surveyed along Rose Creek Road from Talley Road to King Road. Tree damage was widespread and several homes were severely damaged. A single-wide manufactured home was destroyed on Rose Creek Road, killing all four occupants. Maximum wind speeds in this area were estimated at 125 mph. The tornado briefly weakened as it approached Highway 64 west of Selmer. Widespread tree damage and sporadic damage to structures were noted along Bud Long Road, Highway 64, and John Moore Road, with several…

2. Apr 2, 2025Tornado$11.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado developed near Locke Road and quickly intensified as it moved to the east-northeast just north of Sulphur Springs. It produced mainly tree damage along Eldie Foster and Nelson Store Roads. The tornado produced significant damage to several homes on Sulphur Springs Road near Dee Moore Road and destroyed a manufactured home. The tornado then moved over a more forested area south of Ervin Hester Road, but a well-defined swath of downed trees can be seen via aerial imagery. The tornado intensified as it moved across Highway 45 into Selmer, damaging numerous homes on the western and northern portions of town. The most significant damage was surveyed along New Bethel Road…

3. May 2, 2010Tornado$7.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down near the intersection of Sulphur Springs Road and Steadman Road, southwest of Selmer, and tracked northeast. This tornado was spawned from the same cell that produced a tornado from near Ashland, Mississippi to near Pocahontas, Tennessee and just west of Ramer, Tennessee in McNairy County. Tree and minor roof damage was noted at the beginning of the track. The tornado tracked further to the northeast and hit northern parts of Selmer. A carport failed due to fallen trees at the Christmas Tree Farm. A large home was moved off the foundation as well as a double wide mobile home. A single wide trailer was destroyed and wrapped around a tree. Total collapse of a…

4. Oct 26, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$2.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Straight line winds caused significant damage across McNairy County. 880 homes were damaged and 21 homes were destroyed. Trees and power lines were knocked down across the county. Adamsville was the hardest hit area of the county while Milledgeville and Miche also sustained damage. A man was killed by a falling tree in Milledgeville.

5. Jul 1, 2020Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A levee broke outside of Selmer toward Purdy which, when combined with very heavy rainfall of up to eight inches, resulted in widespread flash flooding. Twenty people were rescued. Ten homes and 50 businesses were flooded and damaged. Roads and bridges were also damaged.

6. Dec 23, 2015Tornado$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado moved into McNairy County from Hardeman County and began weakening. Around 15 homes were damaged or destroyed south of Selmer. The last observed damage was near Highway 45 on the southeast edge of Selmer.

7. Mar 1, 1997Flood, Mcnairy$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…

8. Mar 31, 2023Tornado$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS damage surveys concluded that a tornado touched down just south of Bethel Springs on Main Street around 9:30 PM CDT on the evening of March 31, 2023. The tornado picked up in size and intensity as it moved northeast toward Murray School Road where a double-wide manufactured home was completely destroyed. EF-2 damage continued northeast on Bethel Purdy Road where wooden power poles were snapped. A nearly 5-mile-long swath of EF-1 damage was noted up through Good Hope Church Road where more structures were significantly damaged. EF-2 damage was observed at several locations off Good Hope Church Road, including significant roof damage to a single-family residence along with bent…

9. Mar 1, 1997Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down near the town of Ramer and moved northeast toward the town of Selmer. Forty-eight homes and two businesses were damaged or destroyed. One farm which housed emus was damaged and nine emus were killed. Several trees were uprooted or shredded.

10. May 2, 2010Flash Flood$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Very heavy rain fell across McNairy County producing widespread flash flooding. The city park in Selmer was flooded. Numerous roads and bridges were flooded or washed out. The flash flooding transitioned to flooding as the heavy rain caused rivers to rapidly rise and overflow their banks.

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

107°F2 times, most recently Jun 30, 2012

All-time low

−21°FJan 30, 1966

Warmest night

83°FJun 23, 1988

Coldest day

5°FJan 11, 1982

Wettest day

7.15 inSep 27, 2002

Snowiest day

10.0 inJan 22, 1935

Hottest year

2024mean 63.0°F

Coldest year

1976mean 56.4°F

Wettest year

201875.12 in

Driest year

195235.09 in

Snowiest season

25.0 in1967-68

Station Selmer (USC00408160), 445 ft elevation, 3.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1958 to September 30, 2026; 97.4% 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 USC00408160.
• 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.