NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Richton, 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
59 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Richton, Mississippi since 1851, 11 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Zeta in 2020. Since 1950, 94 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 14 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 11
- Tropical storms
- 48
- Tornadoes
- 94
- EF3 or stronger
- 14
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
20 deaths in all
What the records show for Richton
The strongest storm to pass near Richton was Camille in 1969, a Category 3 hurricane with 114 mph winds when its centre passed 52 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Zeta in 2020, whose centre came within 1 mile. The record near Richton begins with an unnamed storm in 1852; the most recent system was Zeta in 2020. The busiest decade was the 2000s, with 7 systems, 2 of them at hurricane strength. Of the 59 systems, 12 have come since 2000. Richton has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 87% of the 232 Mississippi cities on this site. The highest rating among the 94 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 3 times; the most recent, on April 19, 2020, came within 16 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on February 28, 1987, killed 6 people. Of the 94, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 60 have come since 2000. March has had the most tornadoes, 20. The most recent tornado was on April 6, 2025. Of the 232 Mississippi cities, 77% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Richton. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 36 times since 1975, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Of the 232 Mississippi cities, 82% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Richton.
Compare Richton's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Richton
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 1 mi | Category 1 (85 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2019 | OlgaOct 26 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2018 | GordonSep 5 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2017 | NateOct 8 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2011 | LeeSep 5 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2005 | KatrinaAug 29 | 37 mi | Category 1 (83 mph) | Category 5 |
| 2005 | DennisJul 11 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2005 | CindyJul 6 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2004 | IvanSep 16 | 67 mi | Category 1 (86 mph) | Category 5 |
| 2002 | IsidoreSep 26 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2002 | HannaSep 14 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2001 | AllisonJun 11 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1998 | GeorgesSep 29 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1995 | ErinAug 4 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1985 | ElenaSep 2 | 67 mi | Category 2 (106 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1979 | FredericSep 13 | 16 mi | Category 1 (94 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1979 | BobJul 11 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1971 | EdithSep 17 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1969 | CamilleAug 18 | 52 mi | Category 3 (114 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1964 | HildaOct 4 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1960 | EthelSep 16 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1950 | BakerAug 31 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (66 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1948 | Unnamed 1948 stormSep 4 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1947 | Unnamed 1947 stormSep 8 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1944 | Unnamed 1944 stormSep 11 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1939 | Unnamed 1939 stormSep 26 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1939 | Unnamed 1939 stormAug 14 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1939 | Unnamed 1939 stormJun 16 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1936 | Unnamed 1936 stormAug 1 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormOct 16 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 1 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (64 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1926 | Unnamed 1926 stormSep 21 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 18 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormJun 26 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 6 | 11 mi | Category 1 (77 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormSep 30 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormSep 14 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 13 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1911 | Unnamed 1911 stormAug 12 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormSep 22 | 17 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1906 | Unnamed 1906 stormSep 27 | 7 mi | Category 1 (77 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1901 | Unnamed 1901 stormAug 16 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 13 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1895 | Unnamed 1895 stormAug 16 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1894 | Unnamed 1894 stormAug 8 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 2 | 48 mi | Category 1 (87 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormSep 8 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 12 | 13 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1887 | Unnamed 1887 stormOct 19 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormSep 27 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1881 | Unnamed 1881 stormAug 3 | 42 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1880 | Unnamed 1880 stormSep 1 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1879 | Unnamed 1879 stormOct 7 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1872 | Unnamed 1872 stormJul 12 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1863 | Unnamed 1863 stormOct 1 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1860 | Unnamed 1860 stormSep 15 | 2 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1860 | Unnamed 1860 stormAug 12 | 48 mi | Category 2 (97 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1855 | Unnamed 1855 stormSep 16 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (71 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1852 | Unnamed 1852 stormAug 26 | 44 mi | Category 1 (86 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Richton: 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 Richton
By decade
- 2020s22(3 EF3+)
- 2010s19(3 EF3+)
- 2000s19(1 EF3+)
- 1990s10
- 1980s8(4 EF3+)
- 1970s9(2 EF3+)
- 1960s4
- 1950s3(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 28, 1987 | F4 | 23 mi | 35 mi | 6 / 350 |
| Apr 19, 2020 | EF4 | 16 mi | 53.76 mi | 1 / 1 |
| Feb 10, 2013 | EF4 | 16 mi | 21.65 mi | 0 / 71 |
| Jan 21, 2017 | EF3 | 11 mi | 31.06 mi | 4 / 57 |
| Apr 15, 2011 | EF3 | 20 mi | 18.3 mi | 4 / 28 |
| Feb 26, 1958 | F3 | in town | 29.1 mi | 4 / 20 |
| May 27, 1973 | F3 | 20 mi | 15 mi | 1 / 35 |
| Feb 12, 2025 | EF3 | 23 mi | 27.49 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Nov 30, 2022 | EF3 | 21 mi | 20.06 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 15, 2006 | F3 | 22 mi | 15.88 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Nov 4, 1988 | F3 | 24 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 20, 1983 | F3 | 22 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 94, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Richton
The Storm Prediction Center has 36 hail reports within 10 miles of Richton since 1975, made on 23 separate days. Of these, 25 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on June 16, 2023. The most recent report is from June 17, 2023. April has the most reports, 15.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Richton
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Beaumont Expstation, MS, 9 miles southwest of Richton at 194 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 94°F and low of 71°F; January is the coolest, at 62°F and 36°F. December is the wettest at 6.2 inches of precipitation on average and September the driest at 4.1 inches; the year adds up to 64.0 inches over 81 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 47% of the year's precipitation (30.0 of 64.0 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 59 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (27); a normal September there has highs of 90°F and 4.1 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 113 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 49 nights a year. Snowfall averages 0.5 inches a year, most of it in March. That 64.0 inches is more than at 76 of the 87 Mississippi stations used on this site (87%). Ovett, 15 miles northwest, has its own station (Laurel, MS): 59.8 inches a year, 4.2 less than here, and a July average high of 93°F against 94°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 62 | 36 | 6.1 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Feb | 66 | 39 | 5.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Mar | 73 | 45 | 6.0 | 7 | 0.3 |
| Apr | 80 | 52 | 5.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| May | 87 | 60 | 5.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 92 | 68 | 5.7 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 94 | 71 | 6.1 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 94 | 70 | 5.7 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 90 | 65 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 82 | 53 | 4.2 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 71 | 42 | 4.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 64 | 38 | 6.2 | 7 | 0.2 |
| Year | 79 | 53 | 64.0 | 81 | 0.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Beaumont Expstation, MS (194 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 Richton
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 63 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Richton: 51 thunderstorm wind reports, 11 flash floods and 1 lightning strike. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $3.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 85 mph, on March 3, 2008. December has had the most flash floods, 3 of 11. Of the 232 Mississippi cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 49 have had fewer than Richton.
December 27, 2018: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Richton — $1.8 million damage.
December 27, 2018: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Richton — $1.0 million damage.
NWS: “A swatch of 10 to 15 inches of rain caused major flash flooding over a large part of Wayne County. The heaviest axis of rain and most significant area of flash flooding impacts was located from southwest of Clara northeast into and just north of Waynesboro.”
December 27, 2018: flash flood 2 miles from the centre of Richton — $500,000 damage.
NWS: “Extensive flash flooding occurred in extreme northwest Greene County,north of Highway 42 and west of Highway 63. 2 roads were destroyed, 2 suffered major damage, and 1 road had minor 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Richton's ZIP code 39476 have filed 11 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1993, and were paid $442,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 36% 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, 1 have fewer than Richton.
Perry County, which includes Richton, has been named in 33 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 22 of them major disasters (by incident: 16 hurricanes, 6 severe storms, 3 tornadoes, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Tropical Storm Arthur, on August 3, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Perry County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for hurricanes, tornadoes, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hail and inland flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $5.8 million a year, the 66th highest of 82 Mississippi counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $2.3 million (39%), 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 Richton
- Beaumont, MS13 mi
- Ovett, MS15 mi
- State Line, MS20 mi
- Leakesville, MS20 mi
- Petal, MS22 mi
- Buckatunna, MS24 mi
- Brooklyn, MS25 mi
- Waynesboro, MS26 mi
- Ellisville, MS26 mi
- Moselle, MS28 mi
- Hattiesburg, MS28 mi
- Laurel, MS29 mi
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