NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Ripley, TN
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
6 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Ripley, Tennessee since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Olga in 2019. Since 1950, 108 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 15 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 6
- Tornadoes
- 108
- EF3 or stronger
- 15
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
68 deaths in all
What the records show for Ripley
None of the 6 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Ripley; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1888, a tropical storm with 62 mph winds when its centre passed 34 miles away. The record near Ripley begins with an unnamed storm in 1888; the most recent system was Olga in 2019, a tropical storm 27 miles away. Of the 6 systems, one has come since 2000. Ripley has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 44% of the 339 Tennessee cities on this site. The highest rating among the 108 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 4 times; the most recent, on April 16, 1998, came within 23 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on May 15, 1968, killed 35 people. Of the 108, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 37 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 27. The most recent tornado was on April 5, 2025. Ripley has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 80% of the 339 Tennessee cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 57 times since 1961, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Ripley has more hail reports within 10 miles than 58% of the 339 Tennessee cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Ripley
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | OlgaOct 26 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1969 | CamilleAug 19 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1941 | Unnamed 1941 stormSep 25 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 18 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1906 | Unnamed 1906 stormSep 28 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 21 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Ripley: 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 Ripley
By decade
- 2020s13(2 EF3+)
- 2010s10
- 2000s14
- 1990s13(4 EF3+)
- 1980s10(2 EF3+)
- 1970s19
- 1960s13(2 EF3+)
- 1950s16(5 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 1968 | F4 | 20 mi | 20.9 mi | 35 / 364 |
| Apr 16, 1998 | F4 | 23 mi | 5 mi | 2 / 12 |
| Mar 1, 1997 | F4 | 24 mi | 15 mi | 1 / 15 |
| Mar 1, 1997 | F4 | 16 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 14, 1987 | F3 | 20 mi | 25 mi | 6 / 121 |
| Mar 31, 2023 | EF3 | 9 mi | 72.55 mi | 4 / 26 |
| Apr 3, 1968 | F3 | 12 mi | 28.8 mi | 4 / 32 |
| Mar 31, 2023 | EF3 | 12 mi | 39.18 mi | 1 / 28 |
| Nov 27, 1994 | F3 | 24 mi | 16 mi | 1 / 3 |
| Feb 16, 1954 | F3 | 21 mi | 2 mi | 1 / 4 |
| Mar 21, 1952 | F3 | 20 mi | 39.7 mi | 1 / 57 |
| Mar 21, 1952 | F3 | 23 mi | 9.4 mi | 1 / 5 |
The strongest 12 of 108, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Ripley
The Storm Prediction Center has 57 hail reports within 10 miles of Ripley since 1961, made on 49 separate days. Of these, 36 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently April 2, 2006. The most recent report is from May 20, 2025. April has the most reports, 17.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Ripley
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Covington 3 SW, TN, 11 miles southeast of Ripley at 385 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 46°F and 29°F. May and December are the wettest at 5.8 inches of precipitation on average and August and September the driest at 3.6 inches; the year adds up to 55.8 inches over 76 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 49 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 70 nights a year. Snowfall averages 2.4 inches a year, most of it in March. That 55.8 inches is more than at 60 of the 122 Tennessee stations used on this site (49%). Osceola, AR, 10 miles northwest, has its own station (Keiser, AR): 52.1 inches a year, 3.7 less than here, and a July average high of 91°F against 89°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 46 | 29 | 4.4 | 7 | 0.7 |
| Feb | 51 | 32 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.6 |
| Mar | 60 | 40 | 5.3 | 7 | 0.9 |
| Apr | 70 | 48 | 5.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| May | 79 | 58 | 5.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 86 | 66 | 4.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 89 | 69 | 4.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 88 | 67 | 3.6 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 83 | 60 | 3.6 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 72 | 49 | 3.8 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 60 | 39 | 4.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 50 | 32 | 5.8 | 8 | 0.2 |
| Year | 69 | 49 | 55.8 | 76 | 2.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Covington 3 SW, TN (385 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 Ripley
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 73 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Ripley: 60 thunderstorm wind reports, 9 flash floods, 3 floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 2 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $24.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 85 mph, on April 5, 2025. Of the 339 Tennessee cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 73 have had fewer than Ripley.
May 1, 2010: flash flood 3 miles from the centre of Ripley — 1 killed, $20.5 million damage.
March 20, 2011: flood 8 miles from the centre of Ripley — 1 killed.
October 13, 2014: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Ripley — 1 injured, $150,000 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Ripley's ZIP code 38063 have filed 280 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $4.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Mid-spring storms in 2011: 48 claims (17% of all) and $1.6 million, then Flooding in 1997 with 13. 23% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 155 Tennessee cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 144 have fewer than Ripley.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-spring storms2011 | 48 | $1.6 million |
| Flooding1997 | 13 | $222,000 |
Mississippi County, which includes Ripley, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 severe storms, 3 floods, 3 ice storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on May 21, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Mississippi County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and heat waves; Relatively Low for hail, inland flooding and strong wind; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $51.8 million a year, the 8th highest of 75 Tennessee counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $6.6 million (13%), 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 Ripley
- Henning, TNunder 1 mi
- Burlison, TN6 mi
- Osceola, AR10 mi
- Drummonds, TN11 mi
- Munford, TN13 mi
- Covington, TN14 mi
- Brighton, TN14 mi
- Atoka, TN15 mi
- Blytheville, AR20 mi
- Millington, TN20 mi
- Manila, AR22 mi
- Mason, TN25 mi
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