NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Clarksdale, 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
12 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Clarksdale, Mississippi since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Olga in 2019. Since 1950, 75 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 12
- Tornadoes
- 75
- EF3 or stronger
- 7
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
17 deaths in all
What the records show for Clarksdale
None of the 12 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Clarksdale; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1888, a tropical storm with 66 mph winds when its centre passed 12 miles away. The record near Clarksdale begins with an unnamed storm in 1860; the most recent system was Olga in 2019, a tropical storm 56 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1900s, with 3 systems. Of the 12 systems, one has come since 2000. Of the 232 Mississippi cities on this site, 88% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Clarksdale. The strongest of the 75 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on November 24, 2001; its path came within 24 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on April 29, 1963, killed 5 people. Of the 75, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 28 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 16. The most recent tornado was on March 30, 2022. Of the 232 Mississippi cities, 87% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Clarksdale. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 48 times since 1966, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 232 Mississippi cities, 61% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Clarksdale.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Clarksdale
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | OlgaOct 26 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1969 | CamilleAug 18 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 28 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 17 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 20 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 16 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 7 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1909 | Unnamed 1909 stormSep 21 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1906 | Unnamed 1906 stormSep 28 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1905 | Unnamed 1905 stormSep 30 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 20 | 12 mi | Tropical storm (66 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1860 | Unnamed 1860 stormOct 3 | 54 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 Clarksdale: 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 Clarksdale
By decade
- 2020s8
- 2010s10(1 EF3+)
- 2000s10(2 EF3+)
- 1990s4
- 1980s8(1 EF3+)
- 1970s17(2 EF3+)
- 1960s11(1 EF3+)
- 1950s7
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 24, 2001 | F4 | 24 mi | 30.3 mi | 0 / 48 |
| Apr 29, 1963 | F3 | 16 mi | 5.7 mi | 5 / 10 |
| Feb 21, 1971 | F3 | 17 mi | 8.6 mi | 3 / 0 |
| Dec 23, 2015 | EF3 | 7 mi | 61.57 mi | 2 / 28 |
| Feb 24, 2001 | F3 | 21 mi | 42 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 19, 1988 | F3 | 17 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Apr 24, 1976 | F3 | 7 mi | 24.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Nov 24, 2001 | F2 | 9 mi | 43.5 mi | 3 / 33 |
| Dec 21, 2013 | EF2 | 1 mi | 10.07 mi | 1 / 2 |
| Dec 27, 1968 | F2 | 21 mi | 0.1 mi | 1 / 5 |
| Apr 28, 1962 | F2 | 20 mi | 34.6 mi | 1 / 6 |
| Mar 27, 2021 | EF2 | 18 mi | 2.91 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 75, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Clarksdale
The Storm Prediction Center has 48 hail reports within 10 miles of Clarksdale since 1966, made on 42 separate days. Of these, 25 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently March 31, 2015. The most recent report is from December 9, 2023. April has the most reports, 18.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Clarksdale
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Clarksdale, MS, 2 miles east of Clarksdale at 173 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 72°F; January is the coolest, at 50°F and 32°F. April is the wettest at 6.2 inches of precipitation on average and August the driest at 2.9 inches; the year adds up to 56.2 inches over 74 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 41% of the year's precipitation (23.1 of 56.2 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 12 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (4); a normal September there has highs of 86°F and 3.3 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 67 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 52 nights a year. That 56.2 inches is more than at 10 of the 87 Mississippi stations used on this site (11%). Tutwiler, 17 miles southeast, has its own station (Lambert 1W, MS): 56.7 inches a year, 0.5 more than here, and a July average high of 92°F against 90°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 50 | 32 | 5.5 | 7 |
| Feb | 55 | 35 | 5.6 | 6 |
| Mar | 64 | 42 | 5.4 | 7 |
| Apr | 73 | 52 | 6.2 | 8 |
| May | 81 | 62 | 5.1 | 8 |
| Jun | 88 | 69 | 4.0 | 6 |
| Jul | 90 | 72 | 4.2 | 5 |
| Aug | 91 | 70 | 2.9 | 5 |
| Sep | 86 | 64 | 3.3 | 4 |
| Oct | 76 | 52 | 4.4 | 5 |
| Nov | 63 | 41 | 4.3 | 6 |
| Dec | 53 | 35 | 5.3 | 7 |
| Year | 73 | 52 | 56.2 | 74 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Clarksdale, MS (173 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 Clarksdale
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 64 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Clarksdale: 54 thunderstorm wind reports, 9 flash floods and 1 flood. They killed 1 person and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $2.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on April 12, 2020. May has had the most flash floods, 5 of 9. Of the 232 Mississippi cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 34 have had fewer than Clarksdale.
April 4, 2014: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Clarksdale — 1 killed, $30,000 damage.
NWS: “Straight line winds destroyed a mobile home off of Stribling Road near Farrell. The homeowner was injured when he was thrown from the mobile home.”
May 10, 2006: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Clarksdale — 1 injured, $25,000 damage.
NWS: “Straight line winds knocked down numerous trees and power lines across much of Coahoma County. The city of Clarksdale was especially hard hit.”
April 26, 1999: thunderstorm wind in Clarksdale — 1 injured, $15,000 damage.
NWS: “Straight line winds moved through a baseball field in Clarksdale. The winds blew down the wall of a above ground dugout injuring one girl.”
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 Clarksdale's ZIP code 38614 have filed 166 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $4.5 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Late winter severe storms in 2016: 37 claims (22% of all) and $3.0 million. 32% 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, 94 have fewer than Clarksdale.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Late winter severe storms2016 | 37 | $3.0 million |
Coahoma County, which includes Clarksdale, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 severe storms, 4 floods, 4 hurricanes, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm, on February 6, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Coahoma County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and strong wind; Relatively Low for hurricanes, hail, inland flooding, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $15.0 million a year, the 31st highest of 82 Mississippi counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $3.9 million (26%), 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 Clarksdale
- Tutwiler, MS17 mi
- Marks, MS19 mi
- Parchman, MS19 mi
- Helena, AR20 mi
- Mound Bayou, MS23 mi
- Drew, MS23 mi
- West Helena, AR24 mi
- Charleston, MS31 mi
- Cleveland, MS32 mi
- Rosedale, MS32 mi
- Ruleville, MS32 mi
- Sarah, MS35 mi
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