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Claiborne County, Mississippi severe weather history spans 312 recorded events between 1956 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 62.8% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,711 nationally and #48 in Mississippi.
312
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
9
Direct injuries
$32.7M
Property damage
The record
What the Claiborne County, Mississippi severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Claiborne County, Mississippi severe weather history averages 4.5 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 97 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 39 events fall before 1990 and 273 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $27.3M in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Claiborne County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 196 | 0 | $2.8M | 87 | 1956–2026 |
| Hail | 52 | 0 | $1.3M | 2 | 1971–2024 |
| Tornado | 41 | 0 | $27.3M | F3 | 1957–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 18 | 0 | $1.1M | 0 | 1999–2024 |
| Flood | 3 | 0 | $75K | 0 | 2011–2024 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $75K | 0 | 2016–2016 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2008–2008 |
Decade by decade
Claiborne County, Mississippi severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
44 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 33 touched down inside it and 11 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-11-23 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 18.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1978-04-17 | EF3 | 0 | 2 | 18.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2017-04-30 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 19.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2012-03-21 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 9.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-04-04 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 28.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2005-09-25 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2004-12-07 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 26.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1984-04-08 | EF2 | 0 | 6 | 8.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1982-04-03 | EF2 | 0 | 40 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1973-12-04 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Claiborne County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 9, 1984 | Tornado | 0 | 6 | $250K | |
| Apr 18, 1978 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $25.0M | |
| May 12, 1990 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
This tornado touched down on the southeast side of Port Gibson, near the Natchez Trace Parkway. As the tornado tracked north-northeast, it snapped hardwood trees and uprooted numerous trees. One tree fell on a house on Smith Street, which caused roof damage. The tornado then tracked toward the northeast, crossing the Natchez Trace Parkway and Highway 18. Here it continued to snap or uproot trees and also caused roof damage to a structure. An extensive area of trees were snapped or blown down just before it crossed the Natchez Trace corridor a second time. After crossing the Natchez Trace Parkway again, it continued to snap and blow down numerous trees. As the tornado tracked northeast, it crossed Old Port Gibson Road, Hankinson Road, and Moulder Road where it continued to snap or uproot numerous trees. The tornado finally lifted near Fisher Ferry Road in southern Warren County. A tornado debris signature was |noted on radar during this tornado. The total path length of this tornado was 20.03|miles and the estimated maximum wind speed was 115 mph, which occurred in Claiborne County.
Several trees were blown down around Port Gibson with a string of power lines taken down along Rodney Road from a downed tree. A couple units at the Magnolia Apartments were damaged by fallen trees. Numerous other trees were damaged outside of Port Gibson across the county. Off Greenwood Street, a shed was damaged with a portion of the tin roof thrown into some trees.
Hundreds of trees and numerous power lines were blown down across the entire southern portion of Claiborne County. Many roads were blocked and the power was out for 3 to 4 days. The worst and most concentrated damaged occurred across this area as an intense line of thunderstorms moved through and produced wind gusts between 70 and 85 mph.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
8,582
Population (ACS)
$83K
Median home value
29
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 6, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR |
| Jan 24, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
| Aug 12, 2023 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES. | DR |
| Oct 22, 2021 | Hurricane | HURRICANE IDA | DR |
| Aug 28, 2021 | Hurricane | HURRICANE IDA | EM |
| May 4, 2021 | Severe Ice Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Claiborne County, Mississippi?
312 events are on record between 1956 and 2026, causing 0 direct deaths and $32.7M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Claiborne County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 196 recorded events — 62.8% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Claiborne County?
44 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 33 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Claiborne County?
29 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Claiborne County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Claiborne County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Claiborne County as very low risk, placing it in the 25 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Claiborne County, Mississippi severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Choctaw County 229
- Clarke County 560
- Chickasaw County 259
- Clay County 263
- Carroll County 345
- Coahoma County 247
Cite this page
“Claiborne County, Mississippi.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/mississippi/claiborne-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.