NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Newton, 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
31 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Newton, Mississippi since 1851, 3 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Zeta in 2020. Since 1950, 179 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 23 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 3
- Tropical storms
- 28
- Tornadoes
- 179
- EF3 or stronger
- 23
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
118 deaths in all
What the records show for Newton
The strongest storm to pass near Newton was Camille in 1969, a Category 1 hurricane with 82 mph winds when its centre passed 46 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Frederic in 1979, whose centre came within 27 miles. The record near Newton begins with an unnamed storm in 1855; the most recent system was Zeta in 2020, a Category 1 hurricane 55 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1910s, with 4 systems. Of the 31 systems, 6 have come since 2000. Newton has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 61% of the 232 Mississippi cities on this site. The strongest of the 179 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on March 3, 1966; its path came within 25 miles, and it killed 58 people. Of the 179, 20 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 119 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 40. The most recent tornado was on May 26, 2025. Newton has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 78% of the 232 Mississippi cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 83 times since 1960, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Newton has more hail reports within 10 miles than 75% of the 232 Mississippi cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Newton
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 55 mi | Category 1 (79 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2019 | OlgaOct 26 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2017 | NateOct 8 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2011 | LeeSep 5 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2005 | KatrinaAug 29 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 5 |
| 2002 | IsidoreSep 26 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1995 | ErinAug 4 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1979 | FredericSep 13 | 27 mi | Category 1 (75 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1971 | EdithSep 17 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1969 | CamilleAug 18 | 46 mi | Category 1 (82 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1950 | BakerAug 31 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1948 | Unnamed 1948 stormSep 5 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormOct 16 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 1 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 18 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 6 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormSep 30 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormSep 14 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 13 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormSep 22 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1906 | Unnamed 1906 stormSep 27 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1901 | Unnamed 1901 stormAug 16 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormSep 8 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 12 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1880 | Unnamed 1880 stormSep 1 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1879 | Unnamed 1879 stormOct 7 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1879 | Unnamed 1879 stormSep 2 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1872 | Unnamed 1872 stormJul 12 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1860 | Unnamed 1860 stormOct 3 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1860 | Unnamed 1860 stormSep 16 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1855 | Unnamed 1855 stormSep 17 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Newton: 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 Newton
By decade
- 2020s42(4 EF3+)
- 2010s38(5 EF3+)
- 2000s39(1 EF3+)
- 1990s12(3 EF3+)
- 1980s15(3 EF3+)
- 1970s11(2 EF3+)
- 1960s9(3 EF3+)
- 1950s13(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 3, 1966 | F5 | 25 mi | 202.5 mi | 58 / 518 |
| Jan 23, 1969 | F4 | 3 mi | 117.8 mi | 32 / 241 |
| Apr 12, 2020 | EF4 | 23 mi | 67.43 mi | 7 / 98 |
| Apr 27, 2011 | EF4 | 14 mi | 122.04 mi | 7 / 17 |
| Dec 2, 1967 | F4 | 18 mi | 7.6 mi | 2 / 10 |
| Nov 22, 1992 | F4 | 2 mi | 40 mi | 0 / 20 |
| Mar 12, 1986 | F4 | 23 mi | 23 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Mar 29, 1976 | F4 | 3 mi | 126.5 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Mar 10, 1992 | F3 | 22 mi | 20 mi | 3 / 57 |
| Nov 27, 1994 | F3 | 7 mi | 40 mi | 2 / 0 |
| Apr 21, 1951 | F3 | 12 mi | 33.5 mi | 2 / 16 |
| Jun 18, 2023 | EF3 | 17 mi | 6.46 mi | 1 / 25 |
The strongest 12 of 179, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Newton
The Storm Prediction Center has 83 hail reports within 10 miles of Newton since 1960, made on 72 separate days. Of these, 25 were 1 inch across or larger, and 4 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on July 31, 2018. The most recent report is from October 12, 2022. April has the most reports, 21.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Newton
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Newton Exp Stn, MS, 4 miles east of Newton at 349 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 58°F and 33°F. April is the wettest at 6.1 inches of precipitation on average and September the driest at 3.2 inches; the year adds up to 58.3 inches over 76 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 44% of the year's precipitation (25.9 of 58.3 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 31 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (16); a normal September there has highs of 89°F and 3.2 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 64 nights a year. That 58.3 inches is more than at 36 of the 87 Mississippi stations used on this site (41%). Hickory, 8 miles east, has its own station (Newton 5 ENE, MS): 58.2 inches a year, 0.1 less than here, and a July average high of 90°F against 93°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 58 | 33 | 5.8 | 8 |
| Feb | 63 | 36 | 5.5 | 7 |
| Mar | 70 | 43 | 5.4 | 7 |
| Apr | 77 | 50 | 6.1 | 6 |
| May | 84 | 59 | 4.1 | 6 |
| Jun | 91 | 67 | 4.9 | 8 |
| Jul | 93 | 69 | 4.8 | 8 |
| Aug | 93 | 68 | 4.6 | 7 |
| Sep | 89 | 62 | 3.2 | 4 |
| Oct | 80 | 50 | 3.8 | 4 |
| Nov | 68 | 40 | 4.6 | 6 |
| Dec | 61 | 36 | 5.5 | 7 |
| Year | 77 | 51 | 58.3 | 76 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Newton Exp Stn, MS (349 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 Newton
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 176 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Newton: 155 thunderstorm wind reports and 21 flash floods. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $3.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 85 mph, on April 4, 2008. Of the 232 Mississippi cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 137 have had fewer than Newton.
July 17, 2000: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Newton — 1 injured, $25,000 damage.
August 29, 2005: flash flood 6 miles from the centre of Newton — $400,000 damage.
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
Newton County, which includes Newton, has been named in 24 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1974, 19 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 severe storms, 7 hurricanes, 2 biological emergencies, 2 winter storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm, on February 6, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Newton County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for hurricanes, hail, inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $10.7 million a year, the 45th highest of 82 Mississippi counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $3.0 million (28%), is from tornadoes.
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 Newton
- Hickory, MS8 mi
- Decatur, MS9 mi
- Lake, MS11 mi
- Conehatta, MS14 mi
- Louin, MS15 mi
- Union, MS19 mi
- Forest, MS19 mi
- Enterprise, MS21 mi
- Collinsville, MS23 mi
- Bay Springs, MS25 mi
- Walnut Grove, MS25 mi
- Meridian, MS26 mi
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