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
Lauderdale County, Tennessee severe weather history spans 235 recorded events between 1950 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 58.3% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,215 nationally and #70 in Tennessee.
235
Recorded events
9
Direct deaths
29
Direct injuries
$8.8M
Property damage
The record
What the Lauderdale County, Tennessee severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Lauderdale County, Tennessee severe weather history averages 3.1 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 75 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 33 events fall before 1990 and 202 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Lauderdale County, Tennessee record is tornado, responsible for 9 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $3.6M 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 Lauderdale County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 137 | 0 | $626K | 87 | 1965–2026 |
| Hail | 49 | 0 | $14K | 2.5 | 1962–2025 |
| Tornado | 27 | 9 | $3.6M | F3 | 1950–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 15 | 0 | $3.2M | 0 | 1998–2018 |
| Flood | 4 | 0 | $1.3M | 0 | 2010–2018 |
| Lightning | 2 | 0 | $100K | 0 | 1998–2010 |
| Heavy Rain | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2023–2023 |
Decade by decade
Lauderdale County, Tennessee severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
29 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 23 touched down inside it and 6 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968-04-03 | EF3 | 4 | 32 | 28.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 1994-11-27 | EF3 | 1 | 3 | 16.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1959-09-26 | EF3 | 0 | 21 | 35.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 1950-02-13 | EF2 | 9 | 1 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2002-11-09 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 50.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 1999-01-17 | EF2 | 0 | 11 | 3.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1967-05-06 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-04-05 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 5.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-04-05 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2021-03-27 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 4.9 mi | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Lauderdale County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 13, 1950 | Tornado | 9 | 1 | $25K | |
| Jan 17, 1999 | Tornado | HALLS | 0 | 11 | $2.0M |
| Sep 27, 1959 | Tornado | 0 | 7 | $250K | |
| Dec 15, 1971 | Tornado | 0 | 3 | $250K | |
| May 6, 1984 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 2 | $0 | |
| May 7, 1967 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $250K | |
| Apr 21, 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | RIPLEY | 0 | 1 | $10K |
| May 19, 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
Very heavy rain up to 20 inches produced devastating flooding across Lauderdale County. Twenty homes sustained at least minor damage. Twenty mobile homes and few businesses sustained damage as well. Five roads sustained major damage and fifteen roads received minor damage. The flash flood event transitioned into a flood event by late in the afternoon as heavy rain allowed rivers to rapidly rise and overflow their banks.
The tornado formed just west of Halls and travelled east. A mobile home park was damaged west of Halls with eight homes ripped apart. In Halls, several homes sustained damage to roofs, porches and siding. The tornado moved through the north end of the business district flattening two business with several other buildings including a church suffering major damage. As the tornado exited Halls, it damaged roofs, toppled trees and demolished a solitary mobile home. A total of 49 structures were damaged or destroyed.
The Mississippi River rose to near record levels during the beginning to middle part of May. A few homes along the river were flooded and sustained damage. Several thousand acres of agriculture fields were flooded. Several roads were flooded and/or damaged. The river remained above flood stage through the end of the month.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
24,784
Population (ACS)
$143K
Median home value
24
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 11, 2022 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Lauderdale County, Tennessee?
235 events are on record between 1950 and 2026, causing 9 direct deaths and $8.8M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Lauderdale County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 137 recorded events — 58.3% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Lauderdale County?
29 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 23 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Lauderdale County?
24 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Lauderdale County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Lauderdale County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Lauderdale County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 72 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Lauderdale 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
- Lake County 108
- Lawrence County 733
- Knox County 774
- Lewis County 191
- Johnson County 119
- Lincoln County 541
Cite this page
“Lauderdale County, Tennessee.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/tennessee/lauderdale-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.