51
Recorded events
5
Direct deaths
45
Direct injuries
$70.6M
Property damage
Tornado in Holmes County, Mississippi: 51 recorded events between 1957 and 2025. The strongest on record measured F4. That places the county #364 nationally and #27 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Holmes County, Mississippi: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Holmes County is the 2020s, when 13 of the county's 51 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Holmes County archive, tornado makes up 12.6% of all recorded severe weather across 5 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #364 for this hazard and #27 within Mississippi, putting it in the 87.8 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Apr is the peak month for tornado in Holmes County with 16 recorded events, while Jun is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-03-24 | EF4 | 59.2 mi | 1,320 yd | Crossed in |
| 1971-02-21 | EF4 | 65.2 mi | 10 yd | Crossed in |
| 2010-04-24 | EF4 | 149.0 mi | 3,080 yd | Crossed in |
| 1957-11-07 | EF3 | 31.2 mi | 300 yd | Touched down here |
| 1990-12-21 | EF3 | 20.0 mi | 880 yd | Touched down here |
| 2011-04-27 | EF3 | 23.0 mi | 1,760 yd | Touched down here |
| 2008-01-10 | EF3 | 9.7 mi | 1,320 yd | Touched down here |
| 1997-05-02 | EF3 | 20.0 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 1972-04-21 | EF3 | 12.8 mi | 150 yd | Crossed in |
| 2017-04-30 | EF2 | 23.4 mi | 1,900 yd | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 8, 1957 | F3 | 2 | 0 | $250K | |
| Apr 24, 2010 | ZEIGLERVILLE | EF4 | 1 | 40 | $60.0M |
| Feb 16, 2001 | GOODMAN | F2 | 1 | 1 | $50K |
| Apr 30, 2017 | PICKENS | EF2 | 1 | 0 | $3.5M |
| Jan 10, 2008 | PICKENS | EF3 | 0 | 3 | $3.0M |
| Mar 30, 2022 | KEIRN | EF1 | 0 | 1 | $130K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 15, 2025 | EGYPT | EF2 | $0 |
| Jul 9, 2024 | EDSVILLE | EF1 | $0 |
| Mar 25, 2023 | REFUGE | EF2 | $100K |
| Dec 14, 2022 | HOWARD | EF0 | $10K |
| Mar 30, 2022 | KEIRN | EF1 | $130K |
| Mar 22, 2022 | PICKENS | EF1 | $600K |
| Mar 22, 2022 | CROSSING | EF1 | $50K |
| May 3, 2021 | DURANT | EF1 | $100K |
| May 2, 2021 | ZEIGLERVILLE | EF0 | $5K |
| May 2, 2021 | ACONA | EF2 | $65K |
Other hazards here
More from Holmes County
- Thunderstorm Wind 226
- Hail 100
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The tornado continued northeast into rural southern Holmes County, causing intense tree damage and damaging or destroying a number of rural residences. The damage across this area was in the EF3 range. As the tornado moved by the Franklin Community, in rural Holmes county, it again reached EF4 intensity. It completely destroyed two brick homes and heavily damaged or destroyed a number of other homes. The tornado then crossed Interstate 55, causing significant tree damage and blowing a number of vehicles off the road. As the tornado approached the area just south of Durant and crossed US Highway 51, it narrowed and reached one of its weakest points. One fatality occurred in Holmes County.
The tornado formed about 1.4 miles west of interstate 55 at mile marker 150, then tracked eastward. As the tornado tracked eastward across Interstate 55, an eighteen wheeler truck was overturned. The tornado continued to track eastward across Holmes County State Park, where many trees were blown down and several cabins were damaged. A woman caught in the storm at the State Park was killed when her car was blown on top of her after she had abandoned the vehicle to take refuge in a ditch. The tornado then moved eastward to a point just north of the highway 51/424 intersection and dissipated.
This tornado tracked from along Ebenezer Pickens Rd where a shed was destroyed and debris strewn downstream. A travel trailer was also lofted and thrown across the roadway. The damage near this location was consistent with an EF-1 rating. The tornado continued northeast across I-55 where trees were downed. Progressing then through the city of Goodman, the tornado produced widespread tree damage as well as destroying numerous outbuildings. Roofing damage was significant across a variety of|building types including on the campus of Holmes Community College. Within Goodman, the tornado reached its maximum intensity with winds estimated at 110 mph. It continued northeast of this location across the Big Black River and into|western Attala county where it continued to produce EF-0 and EF-1 damage primarily within forested areas. The tornado dissipated along Boyette Rd. Total path length was around 14.5 miles. Max width for the tornado was 700 yards.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Holmes County, Mississippi?
51 tornado events are recorded in Holmes County between 1957 and 2025, causing 5 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Holmes County?
The strongest tornado on record in Holmes County measured F4.
Where does the tornado data for Holmes County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Tornado in Holmes County, Mississippi.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/mississippi/holmes-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.