Live
Active alerts for this county
Heat Advisory
Clay; Greene; Craighead; Poinsett; Mississippi; Cross; Crittenden; St. Francis; Lee; Phillips; Dunklin; Pemiscot; DeSoto; Marshall; Benton; Tippah; Alcorn; Tishomingo; Tunica; Tate; Prentiss; Coahoma; Quitman; Panola; Lafayette; Union; Pontotoc; Lee; Itawamba; Tallahatchie; Yalobusha; Calhoun; Chickasaw; Monroe; Lake; Obion; Weakley; Henry; Dyer; Gibson; Carroll; Benton; Lauderdale; Tipton; Haywood; Crockett; Madison; Chester; Henderson; Decatur; Shelby; Fayette; Hardeman; McNairy; Hardin
Henderson County, Tennessee severe weather history spans 307 recorded events between 1952 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 46.6% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,747 nationally and #42 in Tennessee.
307
Recorded events
15
Direct deaths
139
Direct injuries
$31.1M
Property damage
The record
What the Henderson County, Tennessee severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Henderson County, Tennessee severe weather history averages 4.1 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 89 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 18 events fall before 1990 and 289 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Henderson County, Tennessee record is tornado, responsible for 14 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $19.8M 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 Henderson County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 143 | 1 | $5.8M | 96 | 1957–2026 |
| Hail | 106 | 0 | $72K | 2 | 1981–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 25 | 0 | $5.4M | 0 | 1999–2025 |
| Tornado | 23 | 14 | $19.8M | F4 | 1952–2021 |
| Lightning | 4 | 0 | $33K | 0 | 2006–2020 |
| Flood | 4 | 0 | $15K | 0 | 2011–2018 |
| Heavy Rain | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2009–2013 |
Decade by decade
Henderson County, Tennessee severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
26 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 17 touched down inside it and 9 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952-03-21 | EF4 | 38 | 157 | 46.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 2003-05-04 | EF4 | 11 | 86 | 39.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1956-04-03 | EF4 | 3 | 60 | 11.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 1988-01-19 | EF3 | 3 | 24 | 22.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2003-05-04 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 21.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2021-12-11 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 15.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-02-24 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 12.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2006-04-07 | EF2 | 0 | 5 | 9.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1957-04-04 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1953-03-14 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 24.0 mi | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Henderson County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 22, 1952 | Tornado | 11 | 43 | $2.5M | |
| Apr 3, 1956 | Tornado | 3 | 60 | $2.5M | |
| Jan 18, 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | BLUE GOOSE | 1 | 4 | $2.6M |
| May 5, 2003 | Tornado | LURAY | 0 | 20 | $10.0M |
| Jan 30, 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | MIDDLE FORK | 0 | 3 | $0 |
| Apr 9, 1991 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 2 | $0 | |
| Mar 15, 1953 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $25K | |
| Dec 11, 2021 | Tornado | SAND RIDGE | 0 | 1 | $4.0M |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The same thunderstorm complex that produced a tornado in Madison county continued to move northeast and produced downburst winds over parts of Henderson county. One person was killed and several buildings were destroyed south of Blue Goose. Nine houses, 26 mobile homes and 22 other structures were destroyed. Another 134 houses, 61 mobile homes and 52 farm structures were damaged.
The same tornado that produced substantial damage to the city of Jackson continued into Henderson county and moved through the city of Lexington. Thirty-six homes were destroyed and nearly 1,000 homes were damaged. Seven commercial buildings were destroyed and another 73 were damaged including the Everett Horn Library.
Very heavy rain up to 20 inches produced widespread flooding in Henderson County. Numerous roads and bridges were flooded or washed out. At least 35 culverts were washed out from the heavy rain. As many as 43 homes sustained damage from the flood waters. Numerous rescues from homes and vehicles stranded in flood waters had to be made. The flash flood event transitioned to a flood event by late in the afternoon as heavy rain allowed rivers to overflow their banks.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
27,980
Population (ACS)
$165K
Median home value
27
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 6, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR |
| Jan 24, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
| Jun 19, 2025 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Apr 2, 2025 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | EM |
| May 17, 2023 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADO | DR |
| Mar 8, 2023 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Henderson County, Tennessee?
307 events are on record between 1952 and 2026, causing 15 direct deaths and $31.1M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Henderson County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 143 recorded events — 46.6% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Henderson County?
26 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 17 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Henderson County?
27 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Henderson County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Henderson County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Henderson County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 63 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Henderson County, Tennessee 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
- Haywood County 184
- Henry County 333
- Hawkins County 318
- Hickman County 376
- Hardin County 256
- Houston County 162
Cite this page
“Henderson County, Tennessee.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/tennessee/henderson-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.