NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Reform, AL
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
20 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Reform, Alabama since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Zeta in 2020. Since 1950, 139 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 19 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 20
- Tornadoes
- 139
- EF3 or stronger
- 19
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
150 deaths in all
What the records show for Reform
None of the 20 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Reform; the strongest was Zeta in 2020, a tropical storm with 69 mph winds when its centre passed 51 miles away. The record near Reform begins with an unnamed storm in 1855; the most recent system was Zeta in 2020. The busiest decade was the 1910s, with 5 systems. Of the 20 systems, 3 have come since 2000. Reform has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 55% of the 323 Alabama cities on this site. The strongest of the 139 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on March 3, 1966; its path came within 16 miles, and it killed 58 people. The deadliest, an EF4 on April 27, 2011, killed 64 people. Of the 139, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 88 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 32. The most recent tornado was on March 31, 2025. Reform has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 56% of the 323 Alabama cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 38 times since 1974, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 323 Alabama cities, 71% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Reform.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Reform
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2005 | KatrinaAug 30 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 5 |
| 2004 | IvanSep 16 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1985 | JuanNov 1 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1979 | FredericSep 13 | 12 mi | Tropical storm (59 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1950 | BakerAug 31 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormOct 16 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 18 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormOct 18 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 8 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormSep 30 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormSep 15 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 14 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1901 | Unnamed 1901 stormAug 16 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormSep 9 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 13 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1881 | Unnamed 1881 stormAug 29 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1879 | Unnamed 1879 stormSep 2 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1860 | Unnamed 1860 stormSep 16 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1855 | Unnamed 1855 stormSep 17 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Reform: 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 Reform
By decade
- 2020s17
- 2010s29(6 EF3+)
- 2000s42(2 EF3+)
- 1990s18(1 EF3+)
- 1980s9(2 EF3+)
- 1970s11(2 EF3+)
- 1960s7(4 EF3+)
- 1950s6(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 3, 1966 | F5 | 16 mi | 202.5 mi | 58 / 518 |
| Apr 27, 2011 | EF4 | 24 mi | 80.68 mi | 64 / 1500 |
| Apr 27, 2011 | EF4 | 3 mi | 127.8 mi | 13 / 54 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F4 | in town | 110.6 mi | 3 / 178 |
| Nov 24, 2001 | F3 | 9 mi | 38.9 mi | 2 / 1 |
| Mar 12, 1986 | F3 | 10 mi | 16 mi | 2 / 0 |
| Feb 23, 2019 | EF3 | 18 mi | 9.74 mi | 1 / 11 |
| Apr 11, 2013 | EF3 | 10 mi | 66.35 mi | 1 / 9 |
| Feb 13, 1952 | F3 | 23 mi | 5.6 mi | 1 / 14 |
| Apr 27, 2011 | EF3 | 24 mi | 23.74 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Apr 27, 2011 | EF3 | 13 mi | 22.46 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 10, 2002 | F3 | 14 mi | 29.2 mi | 0 / 55 |
The strongest 12 of 139, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Reform
The Storm Prediction Center has 38 hail reports within 10 miles of Reform since 1974, made on 32 separate days. Of these, 20 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on June 16, 2023. The most recent report is from March 15, 2025. April has the most reports, 11.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Reform
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Columbus, MS, 22 miles west of Reform at 145 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 94°F and low of 73°F; January is the coolest, at 56°F and 36°F. April is the wettest at 5.8 inches of precipitation on average and September the driest at 3.2 inches; the year adds up to 56.7 inches over 79 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 44% of the year's precipitation (24.8 of 56.7 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 20 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (9); a normal September there has highs of 88°F and 3.2 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 83 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 50 nights a year. That 56.7 inches is more than at 44 of the 107 Alabama stations used on this site (41%). Gordo, 10 miles southeast, has its own station (Tuscaloosa Acfd, AL): 57.8 inches a year, 1.1 more than here, and the same July average high, 94°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 56 | 36 | 5.5 | 8 |
| Feb | 61 | 39 | 5.7 | 7 |
| Mar | 70 | 46 | 5.3 | 8 |
| Apr | 78 | 53 | 5.8 | 7 |
| May | 85 | 62 | 4.0 | 6 |
| Jun | 91 | 69 | 4.4 | 7 |
| Jul | 94 | 73 | 4.7 | 8 |
| Aug | 93 | 72 | 4.5 | 6 |
| Sep | 88 | 66 | 3.2 | 5 |
| Oct | 78 | 54 | 3.6 | 5 |
| Nov | 67 | 43 | 4.4 | 6 |
| Dec | 58 | 38 | 5.6 | 7 |
| Year | 77 | 54 | 56.7 | 79 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Columbus, 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 Reform
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 42 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Reform: 39 thunderstorm wind reports and 3 flash floods. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $82,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on July 6, 2012.
April 30, 2017: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Reform — 1 injured.
NWS: “Several trees uprooted along County Road 17. One tree fell on a car and resulted in minor injuries to one person.”
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 Reform's ZIP code 35481 have filed 13 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $190,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 8% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 118 Alabama cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 10 have fewer than Reform.
Pickens County, which includes Reform, has been named in 19 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1974, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 hurricanes, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 29, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Pickens County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for hurricanes, hail, inland flooding and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $8.9 million a year, the 50th highest of 67 Alabama counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $3.3 million (37%), 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 Reform
- Gordo, AL10 mi
- Carrollton, AL13 mi
- Millport, AL14 mi
- Steens, MS22 mi
- Fayette, AL22 mi
- Coker, AL23 mi
- Columbus, MS23 mi
- Aliceville, AL23 mi
- Vernon, AL25 mi
- Northport, AL26 mi
- Caledonia, MS30 mi
- Berry, AL30 mi
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