Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Richland, MS

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Jackson International Airport, MS, 8 miles northeast of Richland at 296 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 92°F and low of 72°F; January is the coolest, at 57°F and 37°F. April is the wettest at 5.8 inches of precipitation on average and September the driest at 3.5 inches; the year adds up to 57.3 inches over 75 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 45% of the year's precipitation (25.8 of 57.3 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 30 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (12); a normal September there has highs of 88°F and 3.5 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 85 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 40 nights a year. Snowfall averages 1.0 inches a year, most of it in December. That 57.3 inches is more than at 21 of the 87 Mississippi stations used on this site (24%). Jackson, 7 miles northwest, has its own station (Jackson Hawkins Field, MS): 51.3 inches a year, 6.0 less than here, and the same July average high, 92°F.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 640 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Richland: 393 thunderstorm wind reports, 216 flash floods, 13 floods, 12 lightning strikes and 6 heavy rain events. They killed 3 people and injured 6, and the NWS estimated $25.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on February 12, 2008. April has had the most flash floods, 45 of 216. Of the 232 Mississippi cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 230 have had fewer than Richland.

Flood insurance policyholders in Richland's ZIP code 39218 have filed 58 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $1.3 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1983: 14 claims (24% of all) and $389,000. The year with the most claims was 2001, with 19. 28% 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, 68 have fewer than Richland.