NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Shelbyville, 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
4 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Shelbyville, Tennessee since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Frederic in 1979. Since 1950, 113 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 11 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 4
- Tornadoes
- 113
- EF3 or stronger
- 11
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
43 deaths in all
What the records show for Shelbyville
None of the 4 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Shelbyville; the strongest was Frederic in 1979, a tropical storm with 45 mph winds when its centre passed 6 miles away. The record near Shelbyville begins with an unnamed storm in 1892; the most recent system was Frederic in 1979. None of the 4 systems has come since 2000. Of the 339 Tennessee cities on this site, 81% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Shelbyville. The strongest of the 113 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on April 3, 1974; its path came within 16 miles, and it killed 16 people. Of the 113, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 70 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 38. The most recent tornado was on May 25, 2025. Shelbyville has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 84% of the 339 Tennessee cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 53 times since 1976, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Shelbyville has more hail reports within 10 miles than 51% of the 339 Tennessee cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Shelbyville
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | FredericSep 14 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 28 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormOct 1 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 13 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Shelbyville: 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 Shelbyville
By decade
- 2020s15(1 EF3+)
- 2010s33(1 EF3+)
- 2000s22(2 EF3+)
- 1990s12(1 EF3+)
- 1980s9
- 1970s12(3 EF3+)
- 1960s4
- 1950s6(3 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 1974 | F5 | 16 mi | 83.3 mi | 16 / 190 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F4 | 22 mi | 27.5 mi | 11 / 121 |
| Feb 13, 1952 | F4 | 21 mi | 12.7 mi | 3 / 44 |
| Feb 29, 1952 | F4 | 23 mi | 2 mi | 2 / 150 |
| Jan 24, 1997 | F4 | 22 mi | 6.5 mi | 0 / 18 |
| Apr 28, 2014 | EF3 | 17 mi | 26.76 mi | 2 / 0 |
| May 8, 2024 | EF3 | 24 mi | 11.53 mi | 1 / 12 |
| May 5, 2003 | F3 | 15 mi | 1.6 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Apr 28, 2002 | F3 | 20 mi | 3.2 mi | 0 / 31 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F3 | 25 mi | 15.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 13, 1952 | F3 | 17 mi | 7.4 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Nov 10, 2002 | F2 | 14 mi | 12.3 mi | 2 / 24 |
The strongest 12 of 113, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Shelbyville
The Storm Prediction Center has 53 hail reports within 10 miles of Shelbyville since 1976, made on 41 separate days. Of these, 29 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on May 18, 1995. The most recent report is from March 31, 2025. May has the most reports, 14.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Shelbyville
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Shelbyville Water Dept, TN, 2 miles northwest of Shelbyville at 760 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 49°F and 29°F. December is the wettest at 6.1 inches of precipitation on average and October the driest at 3.7 inches; the year adds up to 59.5 inches over 88 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 76 nights a year. Snowfall averages 1.1 inches a year, most of it in March. That 59.5 inches is more than at 102 of the 122 Tennessee stations used on this site (84%). Wartrace, 9 miles east, has its own station (Wartrace 6E, TN): 60.3 inches a year, 0.8 more than here, and a July average high of 82°F against 89°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 49 | 29 | 5.3 | 8 | 0.1 |
| Feb | 54 | 32 | 5.6 | 8 | 0.2 |
| Mar | 63 | 39 | 5.8 | 9 | 0.7 |
| Apr | 72 | 47 | 5.0 | 8 | 0.0 |
| May | 80 | 56 | 5.1 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 86 | 64 | 5.0 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 89 | 68 | 5.1 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 89 | 67 | 4.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 84 | 60 | 4.2 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 73 | 48 | 3.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 62 | 37 | 4.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 52 | 32 | 6.1 | 9 | 0.1 |
| Year | 71 | 48 | 59.5 | 88 | 1.1 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Shelbyville Water Dept, TN (760 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 Shelbyville
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 179 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Shelbyville: 163 thunderstorm wind reports, 8 flash floods, 7 floods and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 0 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $2.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 98 mph, on May 31, 2004. May has had the most flash floods, 2 of 8. Of the 339 Tennessee cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 57 have had fewer than Shelbyville.
April 20, 1996: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Shelbyville — 2 injured, $100,000 damage.
August 3, 2011: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Shelbyville — 1 injured, $25,000 damage.
NWS: “A one mile wide microburst struck the northern side of Shelbyville. A gym on North Main Street lost part of its roof and facade, while a nearby lumber company also lost its roof.”
May 31, 2004: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Shelbyville — $1.0 million damage.
NWS: “Numerous trees and power lines were down. Flat Creek and Hilltop areas were hardest hit.”
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 Shelbyville's ZIP code 37160 have filed 25 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1984, and were paid $251,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 40% 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, 65 have fewer than Shelbyville.
Bedford County, which includes Shelbyville, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 severe storms, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 ice storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm, on February 6, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Bedford County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and strong wind; Relatively Low for hail, inland flooding, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $25.4 million a year, the 24th highest of 95 Tennessee counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $11.9 million (47%), 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 Shelbyville
- Wartrace, TN9 mi
- Bell Buckle, TN11 mi
- Unionville, TN12 mi
- Lynchburg, TN15 mi
- Petersburg, TN15 mi
- Tullahoma, TN16 mi
- Christiana, TN17 mi
- Chapel Hill, TN17 mi
- Lewisburg, TN18 mi
- Rockvale, TN20 mi
- Beechgrove, TN20 mi
- Eagleville, TN21 mi
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