NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Belzoni, MS
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
16 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Belzoni, Mississippi since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 110 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 10 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 16
- Tornadoes
- 110
- EF3 or stronger
- 10
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
150 deaths in all
What the records show for Belzoni
None of the 16 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Belzoni; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1888, a tropical storm with 69 mph winds when its centre passed 17 miles away. The record near Belzoni begins with an unnamed storm in 1860; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 67 miles away. The 1900s and the 1930s were the busiest decades, with 3 systems each. Of the 16 systems, 3 have come since 2000. Of the 232 Mississippi cities on this site, 68% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Belzoni. The strongest of the 110 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on February 21, 1971; its path came within 12 miles, and it killed 47 people. The deadliest, an F4 on February 21, 1971, killed 58 people. Of the 110, 17 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 62 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 29. The most recent tornado was on October 18, 2025. Of the 232 Mississippi cities, 63% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Belzoni. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 48 times since 1969, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 232 Mississippi cities, 61% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Belzoni.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Belzoni
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | IdaAug 30 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2020 | DeltaOct 10 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2019 | OlgaOct 26 | 42 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1969 | CamilleAug 18 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 28 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 17 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 20 | 9 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 2 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 16 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 7 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1909 | Unnamed 1909 stormSep 21 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1906 | Unnamed 1906 stormSep 28 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1905 | Unnamed 1905 stormSep 30 | 42 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 20 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1879 | Unnamed 1879 stormSep 2 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1860 | Unnamed 1860 stormOct 3 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Belzoni: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Belzoni
By decade
- 2020s15(1 EF3+)
- 2010s16(1 EF3+)
- 2000s31(1 EF3+)
- 1990s18(2 EF3+)
- 1980s10
- 1970s8(4 EF3+)
- 1960s4
- 1950s8(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 1971 | F5 | 12 mi | 109.2 mi | 47 / 510 |
| Feb 21, 1971 | F4 | 5 mi | 202.1 mi | 58 / 795 |
| Mar 24, 2023 | EF4 | 5 mi | 59.23 mi | 17 / 165 |
| Feb 21, 1971 | F4 | 22 mi | 65.2 mi | 13 / 182 |
| Apr 24, 2010 | EF4 | 24 mi | 148.97 mi | 10 / 146 |
| Mar 9, 1992 | F4 | 6 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Nov 7, 1957 | F3 | 18 mi | 31.2 mi | 2 / 1 |
| Nov 24, 2001 | F3 | 9 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 5 |
| May 2, 1997 | F3 | 16 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 21, 1972 | F3 | 11 mi | 12.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 27, 1950 | F2 | 3 mi | 0.1 mi | 1 / 2 |
| Mar 15, 2025 | EF2 | 16 mi | 19.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 110, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Belzoni
The Storm Prediction Center has 48 hail reports within 10 miles of Belzoni since 1969, made on 42 separate days. Of these, 33 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on May 2, 1997. The most recent report is from September 6, 2023. April has the most reports, 15.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Belzoni
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Belzoni, MS, 1 mile northeast of Belzoni at 115 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 74°F; January is the coolest, at 53°F and 36°F. April is the wettest at 6.0 inches of precipitation on average and September the driest at 3.3 inches; the year adds up to 57.4 inches over 72 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 42% of the year's precipitation (23.9 of 57.4 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 16 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (6); a normal September there has highs of 87°F and 3.3 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 86 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 39 nights a year. That 57.4 inches is more than at 22 of the 87 Mississippi stations used on this site (25%). Tchula, 13 miles east, has its own station (Lexington, MS): 56.7 inches a year, 0.7 less than here, and the same July average high, 90°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 53 | 36 | 5.4 | 7 |
| Feb | 57 | 40 | 5.1 | 7 |
| Mar | 66 | 47 | 5.8 | 7 |
| Apr | 74 | 54 | 6.0 | 7 |
| May | 82 | 64 | 5.7 | 7 |
| Jun | 88 | 71 | 3.8 | 5 |
| Jul | 90 | 74 | 4.2 | 6 |
| Aug | 91 | 72 | 3.8 | 5 |
| Sep | 87 | 66 | 3.3 | 4 |
| Oct | 76 | 55 | 4.3 | 5 |
| Nov | 64 | 45 | 4.5 | 5 |
| Dec | 55 | 39 | 5.5 | 7 |
| Year | 74 | 55 | 57.4 | 72 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Belzoni, MS (115 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Belzoni
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 83 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Belzoni: 74 thunderstorm wind reports and 9 flash floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $3.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on May 2, 1997. Of the 232 Mississippi cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 34 have had fewer than Belzoni.
April 22, 2008: flash flood 1 mile from the centre of Belzoni — $1.0 million damage.
NWS: “Several inches of rain, in a short amount of time, caused significant flooding across Belzoni and northern portions of the county. Many roads were flooded by several feet of water.”
May 15, 2008: flash flood 1 mile from the centre of Belzoni — $710,000 damage.
NWS: “Heavy rain, between 3 and 6 inches, fell across the southern two thirds of Humphreys County. Many streets and roads were flooded around Belzoni, with several of them closed due to high water.”
June 19, 2007: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Belzoni — $153,000 damage.
NWS: “Several dozen acres of corn was blown flat by downburst winds. The damaged crops were located east of Belzoni to around Silver City.”
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Belzoni's ZIP code 39038 have filed 251 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $2.0 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1979: 13 claims (5% of all) and $67,000. The year with the most claims was 1982, with 51. 6% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 133 Mississippi cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 103 have fewer than Belzoni.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1979 | 13 | $67,000 |
Humphreys County, which includes Belzoni, has been named in 25 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1971, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 severe storms, 5 hurricanes, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm, on February 6, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Humphreys County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for inland flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $5.5 million a year, the 67th highest of 82 Mississippi counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $1.6 million (29%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Belzoni
- Tchula, MS13 mi
- Hollandale, MS21 mi
- Yazoo City, MS22 mi
- Indianola, MS22 mi
- Lexington, MS25 mi
- Itta Bena, MS25 mi
- Leland, MS27 mi
- Benton, MS28 mi
- Greenwood, MS31 mi
- Shaw, MS35 mi
- Greenville, MS35 mi
- Pickens, MS36 mi
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