NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Indianola, 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
13 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Indianola, Mississippi since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Olga in 2019. Since 1950, 120 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 13
- Tornadoes
- 120
- EF3 or stronger
- 7
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
111 deaths in all
What the records show for Indianola
None of the 13 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Indianola; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1888, a tropical storm with 68 mph winds when its centre passed 2 miles away. The record near Indianola begins with an unnamed storm in 1860; the most recent system was Olga in 2019, a tropical storm 53 miles away. The 1900s and the 1930s were the busiest decades, with 3 systems each. Of the 13 systems, one has come since 2000. Of the 232 Mississippi cities on this site, 81% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Indianola. The strongest of the 120 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on February 21, 1971; its path came within 7 miles, and it killed 47 people. The deadliest, an F4 on February 21, 1971, killed 58 people. Of the 120, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 57 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 30. The most recent tornado was on July 3, 2025. Of the 232 Mississippi cities, 53% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Indianola. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 51 times since 1968, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Of the 232 Mississippi cities, 56% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Indianola.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Indianola
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | OlgaOct 26 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1969 | CamilleAug 18 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 28 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 17 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 20 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 2 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 16 | 30 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 7 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1909 | Unnamed 1909 stormSep 21 | 47 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1906 | Unnamed 1906 stormSep 28 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1905 | Unnamed 1905 stormSep 30 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 20 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1860 | Unnamed 1860 stormOct 3 | 35 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Indianola: 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 Indianola
By decade
- 2020s6
- 2010s11
- 2000s40(2 EF3+)
- 1990s18(1 EF3+)
- 1980s15
- 1970s16(4 EF3+)
- 1960s8
- 1950s6
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 1971 | F5 | 7 mi | 109.2 mi | 47 / 510 |
| Feb 21, 1971 | F4 | 15 mi | 202.1 mi | 58 / 795 |
| Nov 24, 2001 | F4 | 21 mi | 30.3 mi | 0 / 48 |
| Mar 9, 1992 | F4 | 19 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 17, 1978 | F4 | 17 mi | 3.6 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Nov 24, 2001 | F3 | 13 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Apr 21, 1972 | F3 | 16 mi | 12.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 22, 1953 | F2 | 13 mi | 234.7 mi | 2 / 22 |
| Mar 27, 1950 | F2 | 20 mi | 0.1 mi | 1 / 2 |
| Mar 14, 2025 | EF2 | 18 mi | 35.78 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 11, 2020 | EF2 | 23 mi | 23.38 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Jan 11, 2020 | EF2 | 22 mi | 17.66 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 120, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Indianola
The Storm Prediction Center has 51 hail reports within 10 miles of Indianola since 1968, made on 48 separate days. Of these, 37 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on May 16, 1968. The most recent report is from April 22, 2020. April has the most reports, 15.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Indianola
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Moorhead, MS, 9 miles east of Indianola at 117 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 91°F and low of 73°F; January is the coolest, at 52°F and 35°F. April is the wettest at 6.2 inches of precipitation on average and August the driest at 3.1 inches; the year adds up to 55.9 inches over 69 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 42% of the year's precipitation (23.3 of 55.9 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 13 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (5); a normal September there has highs of 87°F and 3.5 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 73 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 35 nights a year. Snowfall averages 0.5 inches a year, most of it in January. That 55.9 inches is more than at 9 of the 87 Mississippi stations used on this site (10%). Shaw, 13 miles northwest, has its own station (Cleveland, MS): 59.3 inches a year, 3.4 more than here, and a July average high of 92°F against 91°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 52 | 35 | 5.1 | 7 | 0.4 |
| Feb | 57 | 39 | 5.4 | 7 | 0.1 |
| Mar | 65 | 46 | 5.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Apr | 74 | 55 | 6.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| May | 82 | 64 | 4.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 88 | 71 | 3.9 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 91 | 73 | 4.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 91 | 73 | 3.1 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 87 | 66 | 3.5 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 77 | 55 | 3.9 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 64 | 44 | 4.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 55 | 38 | 5.7 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Year | 74 | 55 | 55.9 | 69 | 0.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Moorhead, MS (117 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 Indianola
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 111 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Indianola: 89 thunderstorm wind reports, 21 flash floods and 1 flood. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $8.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on March 9, 2006. March has had the most flash floods, 5 of 21. Of the 232 Mississippi cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 137 have had fewer than Indianola.
April 12, 2020: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Indianola — 1 injured, $20,000 damage.
NWS: “A tree was blown down onto and destroyed a mobile home near Moorhead. An individual was trapped in the home before being airlifted for an injury.”
March 9, 2006: thunderstorm wind in Indianola — $5.0 million damage.
NWS: “As a line of severe storms pushed through the Mississippi Delta, a small segment of the line caused extensive damage in Indianola and then across areas to the northeast. This "bow echo" segment was extremely intense with winds estimated around 80 kts (92 mph).”
September 3, 2008: flash flood 1 mile from the centre of Indianola — $600,000 damage.
NWS: “Locally heavy rainfall flooded several roads across the central portion of the county.”
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 Indianola's ZIP code 38751 have filed 45 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $159,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 9% 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, 54 have fewer than Indianola.
Sunflower County, which includes Indianola, has been named in 22 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1971, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 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 Sunflower County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail and strong wind; Relatively Low for hurricanes, inland flooding, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $17.9 million a year, the 26th highest of 82 Mississippi counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $4.9 million (27%), 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 Indianola
- Shaw, MS13 mi
- Leland, MS13 mi
- Itta Bena, MS19 mi
- Ruleville, MS21 mi
- Cleveland, MS21 mi
- Belzoni, MS22 mi
- Greenville, MS23 mi
- Hollandale, MS24 mi
- Greenwood, MS28 mi
- Drew, MS30 mi
- Mound Bayou, MS30 mi
- Tchula, MS31 mi
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