Pickett County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 16, 1998Tornado$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   40 homes and 22 mobile homes were destroyed from this tornado. 95% of the trees were destroyed in the path of the tornado. 45 utility poles were blown down. 100 barns were destroyed, 2 green houses were heavily damaged, and there was damage to fences and pasture land. There were 4 people injured, but they were treated and released.

2. Feb 14, 2021Winter Storm, Pickett$342,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Freezing rain brought ice accumulations up to 1/2 inch across Pickett 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 342,000 dollars.

3. Feb 20, 2015Winter Storm, Pickett$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snow and sleet accumulations up to 1.0 fell during the late afternoon on February 20, followed by freezing rain with ice accumulations ranging from 0.50 to 1 from the evening on February 20 into the early morning hours on February 21. A CoCoRaHS observer measured 1.0 of snow 2.8 miles SSW of Byrdstown, with an unknown amount of sleet and ice. TEMA reported numerous trees were knocked down in Pickett State Park.

4. Mar 3, 2023High Wind, Pickett$150,000
   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 Pickett County. Damages are estimated.

5. Feb 24, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A Microburst resulted in snapped and uprooted trees, with a farm straddling the state line receiving the most significant damage. A carport was destroyed and blown away, and a barn was completely destroyed. The damage path was approximately two miles long and 100 yards wide.

6. May 28, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds from a thunderstorm blew a house off its foundation by 15 feet. The house sustained major damage. A man was injured by a flying cement block that struck his head. Trees were blown down along Highway 127 south of Static.

7. Aug 3, 2003Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Newspaper story about heavy rains causing several roads to be closed in Pickett County. The road superintendent estimated damage to roads to be $100,000. Several businesses, and even the courthouse in Byrdstown, had up to 6 inches of standing water inside of them. There was one estimate of 7 inches of rain in a few hours.

8. Jul 14, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong to severe winds associated with the rear flank downdraft of a supercell blew down numerous trees across southern Pickett County. Several trees were blown down on Hill Cemetary Road, and another tree fell and blocked Cherry Tree Lane near the Oak Grove Cemetary. A barn was damaged at the south end of Tompkins Lane. A tree fell on a home at 525 Tallman Lane causing significant damage, and another tree fell on a cabin on Eastport Road crushing part of the building. A marina broke away from shore at East Port Marina causing minor damage.

9. May 26, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS storm survey found a large 2.5 mile wide by 7 mile long downburst with embedded stronger microbursts that blew down hundreds of trees across northeast Fentress and eastern Pickett Counties, especially in Pickett State Park and Big South Fork Recreation Area. The park was temporarily closed due to all roads being blocked by downed trees. Max winds were estimated up to 85 mph. Damages are a rough estimate.

10. May 26, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    NWS storm survey found scattered trees were blown down across central Pickett and northern Overton Counties, including on Jolley Road, Iron Creek Road, C Parker Road, Raymond Road, Keisling Ridge Road. A barn was destroyed on Hatcher Hall Road. Winds were estimated up to 70 mph. Damages are a rough estimate.

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

103°F2 times, most recently Jul 2, 2012

All-time low

−26°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

73°FJun 30, 2024

Coldest day

0°FDec 24, 2022

Wettest day

5.00 inJan 30, 2010

Snowiest day

10.0 inJan 30, 1966

Hottest year

1999mean 56.9°F

Coldest year

1976mean 51.4°F

Wettest year

201182.48 in

Driest year

200041.07 in

Snowiest season

25.6 in1983-84

Station Oneida (USC00406829), 1,440 ft elevation, 34.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1959 to October 22, 2026; 94.4% 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 USC00406829.
• 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.