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Holmes County, Mississippi severe weather history spans 405 recorded events between 1955 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 55.8% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,236 nationally and #34 in Mississippi.
405
Recorded events
5
Direct deaths
48
Direct injuries
$88.0M
Property damage
The record
What the Holmes County, Mississippi severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Holmes County, Mississippi severe weather history averages 5.7 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 125 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 57 events fall before 1990 and 348 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Holmes County, Mississippi record is tornado, responsible for 5 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $70.6M in reported property damage. In total, 5 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Holmes County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 226 | 0 | $2.6M | 83 | 1958–2026 |
| Hail | 100 | 0 | $1.2M | 4.25 | 1955–2024 |
| Tornado | 51 | 5 | $70.6M | F4 | 1957–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 27 | 0 | $13.6M | 0 | 1997–2021 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2022–2022 |
Decade by decade
Holmes County, Mississippi severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
53 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 38 touched down inside it and 15 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-03-24 | EF4 | 17 | 165 | 59.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 1971-02-21 | EF4 | 13 | 182 | 65.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 2010-04-24 | EF4 | 10 | 146 | 149.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1957-11-07 | EF3 | 2 | 1 | 31.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1990-12-21 | EF3 | 1 | 15 | 20.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-04-27 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 23.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2008-01-10 | EF3 | 0 | 3 | 9.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1997-05-02 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 20.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1972-04-21 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 12.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 2017-04-30 | EF2 | 1 | 0 | 23.4 mi | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Holmes County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 8, 1957 | Tornado | 2 | 0 | $250K | |
| Apr 24, 2010 | Tornado | ZEIGLERVILLE | 1 | 40 | $60.0M |
| Feb 16, 2001 | Tornado | GOODMAN | 1 | 1 | $50K |
| Apr 30, 2017 | Tornado | PICKENS | 1 | 0 | $3.5M |
| Jan 10, 2008 | Tornado | PICKENS | 0 | 3 | $3.0M |
| May 22, 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | PICKENS | 0 | 2 | $80K |
| Mar 30, 2022 | Tornado | KEIRN | 0 | 1 | $130K |
| Mar 22, 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | LEXINGTON | 0 | 1 | $15K |
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.
Over six inches of rain fell in Lexington in a little over three hours. The heavy rain caused Bear creek to over flow and flood much of the town of Lexington. Forty five business were affected by the flooding and thirty of these suffered major losses. As many as 300 homes had water damage.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
16,191
Population (ACS)
$80K
Median home value
30
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 Holmes County, Mississippi?
405 events are on record between 1955 and 2026, causing 5 direct deaths and $88.0M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Holmes County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 226 recorded events — 55.8% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Holmes County?
53 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 38 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Holmes County?
30 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Holmes County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Holmes County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Holmes County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 50 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Holmes 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
- Hinds County 1,418
- Humphreys County 230
- Harrison County 536
- Issaquena County 176
- Hancock County 292
- Itawamba County 313
Cite this page
“Holmes County, Mississippi.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/mississippi/holmes-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.