NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Winchester, 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
5 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Winchester, 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, 13 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 5
- Tornadoes
- 113
- EF3 or stronger
- 13
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
113 deaths in all
What the records show for Winchester
None of the 5 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Winchester; the strongest was Frederic in 1979, a tropical storm with 45 mph winds when its centre passed 32 miles away. The record near Winchester begins with an unnamed storm in 1892; the most recent system was Frederic in 1979. None of the 5 systems has come since 2000. Of the 339 Tennessee cities on this site, 55% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Winchester. The highest rating among the 113 tornadoes within 25 miles is F5 or EF5, reached 2 times; the most recent, on April 27, 2011, came within 7 miles. Of the 113, 12 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 74 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 28. The most recent tornado was on August 20, 2025. Winchester has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 84% of the 339 Tennessee cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 65 times since 1974, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Winchester has more hail reports within 10 miles than 68% of the 339 Tennessee cities.
Compare Winchester's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Winchester
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | FredericSep 14 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 28 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormOct 17 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormOct 1 | 15 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 13 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Tropical storm |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Winchester: 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 Winchester
By decade
- 2020s21(1 EF3+)
- 2010s34(3 EF3+)
- 2000s19(1 EF3+)
- 1990s16
- 1980s5
- 1970s8(4 EF3+)
- 1960s5
- 1950s5(4 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 27, 2011 | EF5 | 7 mi | 132 mi | 72 / 145 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F5 | 10 mi | 83.3 mi | 16 / 190 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F4 | 4 mi | 27.5 mi | 11 / 121 |
| Feb 13, 1952 | F4 | 2 mi | 12.7 mi | 3 / 44 |
| Feb 29, 1952 | F4 | 25 mi | 2 mi | 2 / 150 |
| Apr 28, 2014 | EF3 | 12 mi | 26.76 mi | 2 / 0 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F3 | 24 mi | 46.5 mi | 2 / 7 |
| Apr 1, 2023 | EF3 | 18 mi | 12.03 mi | 1 / 5 |
| Mar 2, 2012 | EF3 | 22 mi | 33.99 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 5, 2003 | F3 | 25 mi | 1.6 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F3 | 9 mi | 7.1 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Feb 13, 1952 | F3 | 18 mi | 5.1 mi | 0 / 2 |
The strongest 12 of 113, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Winchester
The Storm Prediction Center has 65 hail reports within 10 miles of Winchester since 1974, made on 44 separate days. Of these, 31 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on March 2, 2012. The most recent report is from May 8, 2025. April has the most reports, 18.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Winchester
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Winchester 5SE, TN, 7 miles east of Winchester at 941 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 49°F and 30°F. March and December are the wettest at 5.8 inches of precipitation on average and October the driest at 3.4 inches; the year adds up to 57.9 inches over 91 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 33 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 71 nights a year. Snowfall averages 4.1 inches a year, most of it in January. That 57.9 inches is more than at 87 of the 122 Tennessee stations used on this site (71%). Estill Springs, 6 miles north, has its own station (Tullahoma, TN): 60.7 inches a year, 2.8 more than here, and the same July average high, 87°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 49 | 30 | 4.8 | 8 | 1.4 |
| Feb | 53 | 33 | 5.4 | 9 | 1.0 |
| Mar | 61 | 40 | 5.8 | 8 | 1.0 |
| Apr | 71 | 47 | 5.1 | 8 | 0.0 |
| May | 78 | 56 | 4.8 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 85 | 64 | 5.2 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 87 | 68 | 4.7 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 87 | 66 | 3.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 82 | 60 | 4.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 72 | 49 | 3.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 61 | 38 | 4.7 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 52 | 33 | 5.8 | 9 | 0.7 |
| Year | 70 | 49 | 57.9 | 91 | 4.1 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Winchester 5SE, TN (941 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 Winchester
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 201 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Winchester: 176 thunderstorm wind reports, 20 flash floods, 3 lightning strikes and 2 heavy rain events. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $613,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 104 mph, on May 5, 2003. March has had the most flash floods, 7 of 20. Of the 339 Tennessee cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 236 have had fewer than Winchester.
January 10, 2008: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Winchester — 2 injured, $1,000 damage.
NWS: “A line of severe thunderstorms produced damaging winds, which hurled debris through the air injuring two people.”
May 5, 2003: flash flood 3 miles from the centre of Winchester — $100,000 damage.
NWS: “Newspaper article quoted EMA director saying 30 homes were damaged by flooding.”
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
Franklin County, which includes Winchester, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods, 2 winter storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm, on February 6, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Franklin 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 $19.6 million a year, the 35th highest of 95 Tennessee counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $8.5 million (44%), 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.