Choctaw County, Alabama severe weather history spans 327 recorded events between 1953 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 52.3% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,625 nationally and #42 in Alabama.
327
Recorded events
4
Direct deaths
9
Direct injuries
$20.6M
Property damage
The record
What the Choctaw County, Alabama severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Choctaw County, Alabama severe weather history averages 4.5 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 109 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 30 events fall before 1990 and 297 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Choctaw County, Alabama record is flash flood, responsible for 2 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $15.4M in reported property damage. In total, 6 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Choctaw County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 171 | 0 | $1.1M | 70 | 1960–2024 |
| Hail | 70 | 0 | $1.3M | 2.75 | 1965–2022 |
| Flash Flood | 46 | 2 | $2.6M | 0 | 1997–2023 |
| Tornado | 33 | 2 | $15.4M | F4 | 1953–2026 |
| Lightning | 4 | 0 | $125K | 0 | 2001–2007 |
| Funnel Cloud | 3 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1996–2008 |
Decade by decade
Choctaw County, Alabama severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
33 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 26 touched down inside it and 7 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-04-27 | EF4 | 7 | 17 | 122.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1953-05-01 | EF4 | 2 | 3 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2019-12-16 | EF3 | 0 | 2 | 61.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 2025-04-06 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 5.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 2022-03-30 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 37.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-12-14 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-04-05 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 9.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-03-22 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-12-14 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.4 mi | Crossed in |
| 2021-03-17 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 36.6 mi | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Choctaw County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 1953 | Tornado | 2 | 3 | $25K | |
| Mar 31, 2005 | Flash Flood | COUNTYWIDE | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jan 7, 1998 | Flash Flood | COUNTYWIDE | 1 | 0 | $20K |
| Jan 21, 2017 | Tornado | LOU | 0 | 4 | $750K |
| Nov 17, 1968 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $25K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Three to five inches of rain caused extensive flooding and road closures throughout the county. Most of the roads that had to be closed were secondary dirt roads. One death was attributed to the flooding. Two persons were driving along a county road six miles east of Gilbertown. Their automobile became stranded near a bridge across Okatuppa Creek. The rapidly rising current flowing across the road washed the automobile into the creek. One of the passengers was able to swim to shore and the other drowned.
Heavy rains caused several roads across Choctaw county to have standing water in them. Several roads had to be closed for more than an hour due to high water. Radar estimated that five to six inches of rain fell across the county between 630 and 900 AM. A male drowned during the heavy rain event just south of Pushmataha. The sixty-three year old male went to check on some property he used for a hunting camp. The male knew about the flooding and had driven across a bridge that was closed for construction. His truck was then washed off the road. He was able to get out of his truck and was walking along a road and tried to cross a flooded spot in the road. Evidently the water washed him off the road and his body was not found until three days later. Unfortunately, the man passed several locations where he could have escaped the flood waters, but for unknown reasons he chose to keep walking.
The tornado was already on the ground as it moved out of extreme northeastern Clarke County Mississippi into northern Choctaw County Alabama approximately 4 miles to the southwest of the community of Yantley. The tornado then remained on the ground as it moved east across the entire width of extreme northern Choctaw county, before exiting the county by crossing the Tombigbee river north of the|community of Oakchia. The tornado nearly paralleled County Road 32 as it moved east across the county, producing EF-3 damage. Considerable tree damage was noted along the entire path, with many trees snapped off above ground level in a 500 yard wide path. Extensive damage to homes and other structures was also noted. A few homes had their roof taken off and exterior walls collapsed. Several manufactured homes along the path of the tornado were also completely destroyed. Property damage to homes is estimated to be near 2 million dollars, with widespread damage to timber resulting in losses near 6.6 million dollars.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
12,380
Population (ACS)
$123K
Median home value
28
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 26, 2024 | Hurricane | HURRICANE HELENE | EM |
| Dec 10, 2020 | Hurricane | HURRICANE ZETA | DR |
| Sep 14, 2020 | Hurricane | HURRICANE SALLY | EM |
| May 21, 2020 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Mar 29, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Choctaw County, Alabama?
327 events are on record between 1953 and 2026, causing 4 direct deaths and $20.6M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Choctaw County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 171 recorded events — 52.3% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Choctaw County?
33 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 26 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Choctaw County?
28 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Choctaw County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Choctaw County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Choctaw County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 71 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Choctaw County, Alabama 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
- Chilton County 332
- Clarke County 555
- Cherokee County 385
- Clay County 246
- Chambers County 261
- Cleburne County 180
Cite this page
“Choctaw County, Alabama.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/alabama/choctaw-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.