Perry County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Perry County: 5.
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.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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.

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. May 2, 2010Flood$2.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A father and his special needs daughter were killed when trying to evacuate their mobile home. Also, 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.

2. Oct 26, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 5-10 mile wide swath of severe downburst winds struck the northwest portions of Perry County into adjacent eastern Decatur County along the Tennessee River. Dozens of power lines and power poles were blown down and thousands of trees were snapped or uprooted, with many falling on homes in the Deer Creek and Crooked Creek areas. A few homes received direct structural damage from the high winds, especially along the Tennessee River. Power outages lasted up to 2 weeks in this area, with most Perry County schools closed during this 2 week period. Damage estimates from the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency across northwest Perry County reached $1.07 million. Winds were estimated…

3. Dec 23, 2015Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF2 tornado touched down in southern Perry County with estimated maximum sustained winds around 115 mph. Starting along the Buffalo River near the Sugar Hill community four miles south of Linden, the tornado traveled to the east-northeast for 15 miles. Along the path, on Hurricane Creek Road, damage to a brick home was concurrent with winds around 115 mph. Multiple other sheds and barns were destroyed in this same area along with scores of snapped and uprooted hardwood trees. The tornado continued east-northeast and crossed U.S. Highway 412 where a home was totally destroyed. Inside the home, 2 people were fatally injured. Multiple other outbuildings were destroyed along with…

4. Feb 5, 2008Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were blown down in Perry County. Across extreme northwest Lewis County, trailers were destroyed. Roofs were damaged. Barns and outbuildings were flattened along McCord Hollow Road and Cane Creek Rd. This tornado continued into Lewis and Hickman Counties.||TEMA reported this tornado destroyed 4 homes, and one mobile home in Perry County.

5. May 3, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$314,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were blown down with power outages across Perry County.

6. Mar 3, 2023High Wind, Perry$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 Perry County. Damages are estimated.

7. May 5, 1999Tornado$295,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F4 tornado struck the town of Linden, located about 70 miles southwest of Nashville. The tornado damaged many homes, schools and businesses and churches. There were 3 fatalities. A 14 year old girl was sucked out of her home by the tornado as she, her father, and her mother were headed to the basement. Her dad was also sucked out of the home, but was found unharmed in the yard. The 14 year old girl was found 5 hours later in the rumble of their home. Hollis Hinson, 47 year old male and Perry County Trustee, was killed in his home. His girlfriend, 47 year old school teacher Patti Haston, was also killed in Mr. Hinson's house. The home was lifted off the foundation and flung into…

8. May 2, 2010Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hundreds of trees were snapped and uprooted. A couple of outbuildings were destroyed and a home suffered some minor roof damage. Maximum wind speeds in the tornado were estimated to be around 90 mph.

9. May 2, 2009Flash Flood$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Homes were flooded on Upper Bush Creek Road. Newspaper reported a mudslide closed portions of Highway 412 west of Linden. The slide originated at the top of a hollow near Graham Lumber, and the mud, rocks, and brush washed across the highway. Crews pushed the debris to the sides and had the roadway opened quickly.

10. May 2, 2009Flash Flood$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Homes were flooded on Red Bank 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

108°FJul 29, 1952

All-time low

−21°FJan 26, 1940

Warmest night

84°FAug 9, 1943

Coldest day

4°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

6.94 inApr 15, 1910

Snowiest day

15.5 inJan 1, 1964

Hottest year

1897mean 62.6°F

Coldest year

1976mean 54.3°F

Wettest year

201981.82 in

Driest year

194742.13 in

Snowiest season

39.9 in1959-60

Station Waynesboro (USC00409502), 750 ft elevation, 24.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 17, 2026; 97.5% 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 USC00409502.
• 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.