NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Pickens, 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
24 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Pickens, Mississippi since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 165 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 18 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 24
- Tornadoes
- 165
- EF3 or stronger
- 18
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
52 deaths in all
What the records show for Pickens
None of the 24 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Pickens; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1888, a tropical storm with 70 mph winds when its centre passed 50 miles away. The record near Pickens begins with an unnamed storm in 1860; the most recent system was Ida in 2021, a tropical storm 56 miles away. The 1900s and the 1930s were the busiest decades, with 3 systems each. Of the 24 systems, 4 have come since 2000. Of the 232 Mississippi cities on this site, 51% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Pickens. The highest rating among the 165 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 5 times; the most recent, on April 24, 2010, came within 8 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on February 21, 1971, killed 13 people. Of the 165, 11 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 101 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 43. The most recent tornado was on December 28, 2024. Pickens has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 73% of the 232 Mississippi cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 34 times since 1962, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 232 Mississippi cities, 84% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Pickens.
Compare Pickens's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Pickens
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | IdaAug 30 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2019 | OlgaOct 26 | 9 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2005 | KatrinaAug 30 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 5 |
| 2002 | IsidoreSep 26 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1995 | ErinAug 4 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1971 | EdithSep 17 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1969 | CamilleAug 18 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 28 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1948 | Unnamed 1948 stormSep 5 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 17 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 20 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 2 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 18 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 16 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 6 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormSep 30 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1906 | Unnamed 1906 stormSep 28 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1905 | Unnamed 1905 stormSep 30 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1901 | Unnamed 1901 stormAug 16 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormSep 8 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 20 | 50 mi | Tropical storm (70 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1879 | Unnamed 1879 stormSep 2 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1872 | Unnamed 1872 stormJul 12 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1860 | Unnamed 1860 stormOct 3 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Pickens: 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 Pickens
By decade
- 2020s33
- 2010s39(4 EF3+)
- 2000s29(2 EF3+)
- 1990s22(6 EF3+)
- 1980s14
- 1970s17(3 EF3+)
- 1960s5(1 EF3+)
- 1950s6(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 1971 | F4 | 15 mi | 65.2 mi | 13 / 182 |
| Nov 21, 1992 | F4 | 19 mi | 128 mi | 12 / 122 |
| Apr 24, 2010 | EF4 | 8 mi | 148.97 mi | 10 / 146 |
| Mar 29, 1976 | F4 | 13 mi | 22.3 mi | 3 / 177 |
| Nov 24, 2001 | F4 | 22 mi | 11.5 mi | 2 / 21 |
| Feb 26, 1958 | F3 | 18 mi | 69.7 mi | 8 / 26 |
| Dec 21, 1990 | F3 | 21 mi | 20 mi | 1 / 15 |
| Apr 27, 2011 | EF3 | 16 mi | 23 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 1, 2011 | EF3 | 15 mi | 23.45 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Nov 29, 2010 | EF3 | 15 mi | 9.6 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Jan 10, 2008 | EF3 | 2 mi | 9.73 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Dec 9, 1999 | F3 | 22 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 165, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Pickens
The Storm Prediction Center has 34 hail reports within 10 miles of Pickens since 1962, made on 30 separate days. Of these, 23 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), was reported on 7 days, most recently June 16, 2023. The most recent report is from March 23, 2025. April has the most reports, 9.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Pickens
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Canton 4N, MS, 15 miles south of Pickens at 250 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 92°F and low of 70°F; January is the coolest, at 56°F and 34°F. April is the wettest at 6.1 inches of precipitation on average and August the driest at 3.8 inches; the year adds up to 57.0 inches over 71 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 45% of the year's precipitation (25.4 of 57.0 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 24 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (10); a normal September there has highs of 88°F and 4.1 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 76 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 57 nights a year. Snowfall averages 0.5 inches a year, most of it in December. That 57.0 inches is more than at 18 of the 87 Mississippi stations used on this site (21%). Benton, 14 miles west, has its own station (Yazoo City 5 NNE, MS): 60.4 inches a year, 3.4 more than here, and a July average high of 94°F against 92°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 56 | 34 | 5.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Feb | 60 | 36 | 4.9 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Mar | 68 | 43 | 5.7 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Apr | 75 | 51 | 6.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| May | 83 | 60 | 4.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 89 | 67 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 92 | 70 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 91 | 69 | 3.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 88 | 63 | 4.1 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 78 | 51 | 4.3 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 66 | 40 | 4.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 58 | 35 | 5.0 | 6 | 0.4 |
| Year | 75 | 52 | 57.0 | 71 | 0.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Canton 4N, MS (250 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 Pickens
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 83 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Pickens: 75 thunderstorm wind reports and 8 flash floods. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $671,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 96 mph, on April 30, 2017. Of the 232 Mississippi cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 26 have had fewer than Pickens.
May 22, 1999: thunderstorm wind in Pickens — 2 injured, $80,000 damage.
NWS: “A tree fell down onto a mobile home and injured two persons. Numerous power lines were blown down.”
April 30, 2017: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Pickens — $100,000 damage.
NWS: “Numerous trees and powerlines were blown down on the Holmes Community College campus.”
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
Yazoo County, which includes Pickens, has been named in 31 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1971, 21 of them major disasters (by incident: 13 severe storms, 7 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 Yazoo County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail and strong wind; Relatively Low for hurricanes, inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $18.9 million a year, the 24th highest of 82 Mississippi counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $4.3 million (23%), 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 Pickens
- Benton, MS14 mi
- Sallis, MS16 mi
- Durant, MS17 mi
- Lexington, MS17 mi
- Canton, MS18 mi
- Tchula, MS25 mi
- Kosciusko, MS26 mi
- Yazoo City, MS28 mi
- Lena, MS28 mi
- Carthage, MS28 mi
- Madison, MS28 mi
- Flora, MS29 mi
All Mississippi cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Pickens with another place →