NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Tupelo, 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
16 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Tupelo, Mississippi since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Olga in 2019. Since 1950, 123 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 17 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 16
- Tornadoes
- 123
- EF3 or stronger
- 17
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
57 deaths in all
What the records show for Tupelo
None of the 16 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Tupelo; the strongest was Frederic in 1979, a tropical storm with 52 mph winds when its centre passed 45 miles away. The record near Tupelo begins with an unnamed storm in 1860; the most recent system was Olga in 2019, a tropical storm 49 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1910s, with 3 systems. Of the 16 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Of the 232 Mississippi cities on this site, 68% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Tupelo. The strongest of the 123 tornadoes within 25 miles was an EF5 on April 27, 2011; its path came within 22 miles, and it killed 23 people. Of the 123, 16 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 71 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 30. The most recent tornado was on June 7, 2025. Tupelo has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 50% of the 232 Mississippi cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 170 times since 1967, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Tupelo has more hail reports within 10 miles than 97% of the 232 Mississippi cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Tupelo
Of the 16 tracks on the map, 9 were moving north as they passed Tupelo, 5 northeast and 1 east. Frederic (1979), the strongest pass, was heading north; its centre passed 45 miles east of Tupelo. None made landfall within 75 miles of Tupelo; 14 of the 16 were hurricanes at their peak, none at their closest to the city. In the last 30 seasons (1996–2025), 2 came near Tupelo: 0.7 a decade, against 1.0 a decade from 1851 to 1995.
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | OlgaOct 26 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 2005 | KatrinaAug 30 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1979 | FredericSep 13 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1969 | CamilleAug 18 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 28 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1950 | BakerAug 31 | 12 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 17 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 18 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormOct 19 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 7 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormSep 30 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1906 | Unnamed 1906 stormSep 28 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormSep 9 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1881 | Unnamed 1881 stormAug 29 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1879 | Unnamed 1879 stormSep 2 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1860 | Unnamed 1860 stormOct 3 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Tupelo: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Tupelo
By decade
- 2020s31(1 EF3+)
- 2010s20(4 EF3+)
- 2000s20(2 EF3+)
- 1990s16(2 EF3+)
- 1980s13(3 EF3+)
- 1970s10(2 EF3+)
- 1960s5(2 EF3+)
- 1950s8(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 27, 2011 | EF5 | 22 mi | 37.3 mi | 23 / 137 |
| Apr 29, 1963 | F4 | 8 mi | 4.7 mi | 3 / 20 |
| Apr 21, 1984 | F3 | 19 mi | 71 mi | 15 / 76 |
| Feb 24, 2001 | F3 | 12 mi | 52 mi | 6 / 73 |
| Apr 27, 2011 | EF3 | 20 mi | 51.45 mi | 4 / 25 |
| Mar 24, 2023 | EF3 | 23 mi | 36.56 mi | 2 / 55 |
| Nov 19, 1988 | F3 | 6 mi | 12.5 mi | 2 / 11 |
| Apr 28, 2014 | EF3 | 2 mi | 30.97 mi | 0 / 32 |
| Apr 27, 2011 | EF3 | 20 mi | 58.74 mi | 0 / 25 |
| May 8, 2008 | EF3 | 3 mi | 7.56 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 1, 1997 | F3 | 19 mi | 30 mi | 0 / 16 |
| Mar 1, 1997 | F3 | 21 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 123, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Tupelo
The Storm Prediction Center has 170 hail reports within 10 miles of Tupelo since 1967, made on 115 separate days. Of these, 93 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on October 25, 1997. The most recent report is from May 25, 2025. April has the most reports, 36.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Tupelo
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Tupelo 2, MS, 2 miles northwest of Tupelo at 350 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 72°F; January is the coolest, at 51°F and 32°F. December is the wettest at 5.9 inches of precipitation on average and September the driest at 3.7 inches; the year adds up to 58.0 inches over 76 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 45% of the year's precipitation (26.1 of 58.0 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 16 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (5); a normal September there has highs of 85°F and 3.7 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 66 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 57 nights a year. Snowfall averages 0.8 inches a year, most of it in February. That 58.0 inches is more than at 29 of the 87 Mississippi stations used on this site (33%). Belden, 6 miles northwest, has its own station (Tupelo Regional Airport, MS): 57.8 inches a year, 0.2 less than here, and a July average high of 92°F against 90°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 51 | 32 | 5.1 | 7 | 0.1 |
| Feb | 55 | 36 | 5.3 | 7 | 0.4 |
| Mar | 64 | 43 | 5.3 | 7 | 0.2 |
| Apr | 73 | 51 | 5.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| May | 81 | 60 | 5.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 87 | 68 | 5.4 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 90 | 72 | 4.4 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 90 | 71 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 85 | 64 | 3.7 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 75 | 52 | 4.1 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 63 | 41 | 4.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 54 | 35 | 5.9 | 7 | 0.1 |
| Year | 72 | 52 | 58.0 | 76 | 0.8 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Tupelo 2, MS (350 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 Tupelo
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 252 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Tupelo: 203 thunderstorm wind reports, 44 flash floods, 4 lightning strikes and 1 flood. They killed 0 people and injured 9, and the NWS estimated $3.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 98 mph, on November 23, 2004. June has had the most flash floods, 9 of 44. Of the 232 Mississippi cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 200 have had fewer than Tupelo.
March 3, 2023: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Tupelo — 2 injured, $25,000 damage.
June 11, 2023: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Tupelo — 1 injured, $65,000 damage.
NWS: “Trees and powerlines were knocked down in central Tupelo. One tree fell on a house with a minor injury.”
November 23, 2004: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Tupelo — 1 injured, $50,000 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 Tupelo's 2 ZIP codes have filed 120 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $1.7 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2003, with 44. 7% 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, 90 have fewer than Tupelo.
Lee County, which includes Tupelo, has been named in 22 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 severe storms, 5 hurricanes, 2 biological emergencies, 2 winter storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm, on February 6, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Lee County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, strong wind and heat waves; Relatively Low for hurricanes, hail and inland flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $37.9 million a year, the 11th highest of 82 Mississippi counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $12.1 million (32%), 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.