NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Charleston, 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
14 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Charleston, Mississippi since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Olga in 2019. Since 1950, 73 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 14
- Tornadoes
- 73
- EF3 or stronger
- 8
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
67 deaths in all
What the records show for Charleston
None of the 14 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Charleston; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1888, a tropical storm with 66 mph winds when its centre passed 18 miles away. The record near Charleston begins with an unnamed storm in 1860; the most recent system was Olga in 2019, a tropical storm 27 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1930s, with 3 systems. Of the 14 systems, one has come since 2000. Of the 232 Mississippi cities on this site, 78% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Charleston. The strongest of the 73 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on February 21, 1971; its path came within 11 miles, and it killed 58 people. Of the 73, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 28 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 14. The most recent tornado was on April 5, 2025. Of the 232 Mississippi cities, 89% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Charleston. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 28 times since 1971, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 232 Mississippi cities, 91% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Charleston.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Charleston
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | OlgaOct 26 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1969 | CamilleAug 18 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 28 | overhead | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 17 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 20 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 2 | 50 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 18 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 16 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 7 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1909 | Unnamed 1909 stormSep 21 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1906 | Unnamed 1906 stormSep 28 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 20 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (66 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1881 | Unnamed 1881 stormAug 29 | 35 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1860 | Unnamed 1860 stormOct 3 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Charleston: 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 Charleston
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s6(1 EF3+)
- 2000s13(1 EF3+)
- 1990s6(1 EF3+)
- 1980s12(1 EF3+)
- 1970s17(4 EF3+)
- 1960s7
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 1971 | F4 | 11 mi | 202.1 mi | 58 / 795 |
| Feb 21, 1971 | F3 | 20 mi | 8.6 mi | 3 / 0 |
| Dec 23, 2015 | EF3 | 21 mi | 61.57 mi | 2 / 28 |
| Feb 24, 2001 | F3 | 22 mi | 22 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 21, 1990 | F3 | 15 mi | 3.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 19, 1988 | F3 | 22 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Nov 24, 1973 | F3 | 22 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 20, 1973 | F3 | 17 mi | 11.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 24, 2001 | F2 | 22 mi | 43.5 mi | 3 / 33 |
| Dec 27, 1968 | F2 | 11 mi | 0.1 mi | 1 / 5 |
| Jan 11, 2020 | EF2 | 23 mi | 5.43 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 11, 2020 | EF2 | 19 mi | 5.54 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 73, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Charleston
The Storm Prediction Center has 28 hail reports within 10 miles of Charleston since 1971, made on 26 separate days. Of these, 13 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on June 8, 1996. The most recent report is from May 15, 2022. May has the most reports, 7.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Charleston
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Minter City, MS, 16 miles south of Charleston at 145 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 92°F and low of 73°F; January is the coolest, at 53°F and 36°F. December is the wettest at 6.5 inches of precipitation on average and August and October the driest at 3.5 inches; the year adds up to 60.7 inches over 79 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 42% of the year's precipitation (25.7 of 60.7 inches); the other six months are wetter. Highs reach 90°F on about 69 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 46 nights a year. Snowfall averages 1.2 inches a year, most of it in January. That 60.7 inches is more than at 58 of the 87 Mississippi stations used on this site (67%). Oakland, 15 miles northeast, has its own station (Water Valley, MS): 58.7 inches a year, 2.0 less than here, and a July average high of 90°F against 92°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 53 | 36 | 5.3 | 8 | 1.0 |
| Feb | 58 | 39 | 6.1 | 8 | 0.2 |
| Mar | 67 | 46 | 5.4 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Apr | 76 | 54 | 6.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| May | 84 | 64 | 5.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 89 | 70 | 4.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 92 | 73 | 4.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 92 | 72 | 3.5 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 88 | 66 | 3.9 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 77 | 54 | 3.5 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 65 | 44 | 5.7 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 56 | 38 | 6.5 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Year | 75 | 55 | 60.7 | 79 | 1.2 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Minter City, MS (145 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 Charleston
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 54 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Charleston: 46 thunderstorm wind reports, 7 flash floods and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 0 people and injured 4, and the NWS estimated $1.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on March 8, 2012. June has had the most flash floods, 4 of 7. Of the 232 Mississippi cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 24 have had fewer than Charleston.
March 8, 2012: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Charleston — 2 injured.
NWS: “Straight line winds caused extensive damage across much of Tallahatchie County. Trees and power lines were knocked down across the county.”
July 7, 2012: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Charleston — 2 injured.
NWS: “Straight line winds knocked down numerous trees in Charleston. The trees fell onto a few homes damaging them.”
June 19, 2007: flash flood 4 miles from the centre of Charleston — $750,000 damage.
NWS: “3 inches of rain in Charleston. The heavy rain caused some major flooding.”
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 Charleston's ZIP code 38921 have filed 56 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $562,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 13% 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, 66 have fewer than Charleston.
Tallahatchie County, which includes Charleston, has been named in 27 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1971, 22 of them major disasters (by incident: 12 severe storms, 4 hurricanes, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm, on February 6, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Tallahatchie County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and strong wind; Relatively Low for hurricanes, hail, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for inland flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $7.9 million a year, the 58th highest of 82 Mississippi counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $2.2 million (28%), 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 Charleston
- Oakland, MS15 mi
- Tutwiler, MS16 mi
- Pope, MS19 mi
- Courtland, MS22 mi
- Marks, MS22 mi
- Grenada, MS23 mi
- Drew, MS24 mi
- Parchman, MS25 mi
- Batesville, MS25 mi
- Coffeeville, MS28 mi
- Ruleville, MS29 mi
- Water Valley, MS31 mi
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