Tornadoes in Mississippi
2,854 tornadoes since 1950, an average of 37.6 a year, 8th of the 53 states and territories in the record. They have killed 505 people and injured 6,760. 35 were rated F4 or EF4 and above, 4 of them F5 or EF5.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The United States rated tornadoes on Ted Fujita’s F scale until 31 January 2007 and on the Enhanced Fujita scale after it. Both run from 0 to 5, and both rate the damage rather than measure the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
F0 / EF040 to 72 mph on the F scale, 65 to 85 mph on the EF scale
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F1 / EF173 to 112 mph on the F scale, 86 to 110 mph on the EF scale
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2 / EF2113 to 157 mph on the F scale, 111 to 135 mph on the EF scale
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
F3 / EF3158 to 206 mph on the F scale, 136 to 165 mph on the EF scale
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4 / EF4207 to 260 mph on the F scale, 166 to 200 mph on the EF scale
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5 / EF5261 to 318 mph on the F scale, over 200 mph on the EF scale
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.
The deadliest in Mississippi
- F4, Issaquena, Sharkey, Humphreys, Leflore and Hardeman counties, Mississippi and TennesseeFebruary 21, 1971
- F5, Hinds, Rankin, Scott, Leake, Pickens and Tuscaloosa counties, Mississippi and AlabamaMarch 3, 1966
- F5, Warren County, MississippiDecember 5, 1953
- F4, Jefferson, Copiah, Simpson and Rankin counties, MississippiJanuary 23, 1969
- EF5, Monroe, Itawamba, Marion and Franklin counties, Mississippi and AlabamaApril 27, 2011
- EF4, Issaquena, Sharkey, Humphreys and Holmes counties, MississippiMarch 24, 2023
- F4, Marshall and Fayette counties, Mississippi and TennesseeMarch 21, 1952
- F3, Yalobusha, Tallahatchie, Leflore and Lafayette counties, MississippiApril 21, 1984
- F4, Warren, Yazoo and Holmes counties, MississippiFebruary 21, 1971
- F4, Copiah, Simpson, Rankin and Scott counties, MississippiNovember 21, 1992
- EF4, Leake, Attala, Neshoba and Winston counties, MississippiApril 28, 2014
- EF4, Tate, Marshall, Benton, Tippah, Hardeman and McNairy counties, Mississippi and TennesseeDecember 23, 2015
The strongest
- F5, Hinds, Rankin, Scott, Leake, Pickens and Tuscaloosa counties, Mississippi and AlabamaMarch 3, 1966
- EF5, Monroe, Itawamba, Marion and Franklin counties, Mississippi and AlabamaApril 27, 2011
- EF5, Neshoba, Winston, Kemper and Noxubee counties, MississippiApril 27, 2011
- F5, Warren County, MississippiDecember 5, 1953
- F4, Issaquena, Sharkey, Humphreys, Leflore and Hardeman counties, Mississippi and TennesseeFebruary 21, 1971
- F4, Copiah, Simpson, Rankin and Scott counties, MississippiNovember 21, 1992
- F4, Copiah, Simpson, Rankin and Smith counties, MississippiMarch 29, 1976
- EF4, Smith, Jasper, Clarke, Choctaw, Sumter, Marengo and Perry counties, Mississippi and AlabamaApril 27, 2011
- F4, Jefferson, Copiah, Simpson and Rankin counties, MississippiJanuary 23, 1969
- EF4, Tate, Marshall, Benton, Tippah, Hardeman and McNairy counties, Mississippi and TennesseeDecember 23, 2015
- EF4, Jefferson Davis, Covington, Jones and Jasper counties, MississippiApril 12, 2020
- F4, Warren, Yazoo and Holmes counties, MississippiFebruary 21, 1971
The longest paths
- F5, Hinds, Rankin, Scott, Leake, Pickens and Tuscaloosa counties, Mississippi and AlabamaMarch 3, 1966
- F4, Issaquena, Sharkey, Humphreys, Leflore and Hardeman counties, Mississippi and TennesseeFebruary 21, 1971
- F4, Copiah, Simpson, Rankin and Scott counties, MississippiNovember 21, 1992
- F4, Copiah, Simpson, Rankin and Smith counties, MississippiMarch 29, 1976
- F2, Sunflower, Leflore, Grenada and Yalobusha counties, MississippiApril 3, 1956
- EF4, Smith, Jasper, Clarke, Choctaw, Sumter, Marengo and Perry counties, Mississippi and AlabamaApril 27, 2011
- F4, Jefferson, Copiah, Simpson and Rankin counties, MississippiJanuary 23, 1969
- F2, Simpson, Lincoln, Rankin and Copiah counties, MississippiApril 12, 1955
- F1, Simpson, Smith, Jasper and Newton counties, MississippiMarch 22, 1953
- F2, Jefferson, Claiborne, Copiah and Hinds counties, MississippiApril 24, 1953
- F1, Smith, Newton, Neshoba and Kemper counties, MississippiFebruary 26, 1958
- EF3, Lawrence, Jefferson Davis, Covington and Jones counties, MississippiApril 12, 2020
The costliest
- F1, Leake and Neshoba counties, MississippiApril 6, 2005
- EF2, DeSoto and Shelby counties, Mississippi and TennesseeFebruary 5, 2008
- EF4, Leake, Attala, Neshoba and Winston counties, MississippiApril 28, 2014
- EF1, Lee County, MississippiApril 1, 2023
- EF4, Issaquena, Sharkey, Humphreys and Holmes counties, MississippiMarch 24, 2023
- EF3, Chickasaw, Monroe and Itawamba counties, MississippiMarch 24, 2023
- EF4, Jefferson Davis, Covington, Jones and Jasper counties, MississippiApril 12, 2020
- F3, Lowndes and Lamar counties, Mississippi and AlabamaNovember 10, 2002
- F3, Rankin County, MississippiApril 24, 2003
- EF2, Hinds, Rankin and Madison counties, MississippiApril 4, 2008
- EF4, Lamar, Forrest and Perry counties, MississippiFebruary 10, 2013
- EF3, Lafayette County, MississippiFebruary 5, 2008
The biggest days in Mississippi
Every year
| Year | Tornadoes | Deaths | Injuries | F4 and above |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 77 | 5 | 32 | |
| 2024 | 77 | 4 | ||
| 2023 | 63 | 24 | 263 | 1 |
| 2022 | 136 | 9 | ||
| 2021 | 75 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 88 | 12 | 117 | 3 |
| 2019 | 120 | 2 | 39 | |
| 2018 | 62 | 4 | ||
| 2017 | 73 | 5 | 60 | |
| 2016 | 45 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2015 | 46 | 11 | 64 | 1 |
| 2014 | 40 | 16 | 209 | 1 |
| 2013 | 30 | 2 | 86 | 1 |
| 2012 | 51 | 31 | ||
| 2011 | 94 | 42 | 298 | 3 |
| 2010 | 40 | 4 | 42 | |
| 2009 | 44 | 1 | 32 | |
| 2008 | 109 | 3 | 88 | |
| 2007 | 33 | 13 | ||
| 2006 | 31 | 8 | ||
| 2005 | 105 | 1 | 22 | |
| 2004 | 54 | 1 | 6 | |
| 2003 | 50 | 24 | ||
| 2002 | 29 | 1 | 56 | |
| 2001 | 59 | 12 | 204 | 2 |
| 2000 | 27 | 17 | ||
| 1999 | 43 | 1 | 36 | |
| 1998 | 14 | 1 | ||
| 1997 | 34 | 1 | 33 | |
| 1996 | 27 | 25 | ||
| 1995 | 45 | 1 | 5 | |
| 1994 | 34 | 4 | 27 | |
| 1993 | 12 | 3 | ||
| 1992 | 54 | 18 | 353 | 3 |
| 1991 | 12 | 18 | ||
| 1990 | 23 | 3 | 28 | |
| 1989 | 36 | 10 | ||
| 1988 | 62 | 2 | 28 | 1 |
| 1987 | 42 | 6 | 366 | 1 |
| 1986 | 35 | 16 | 1 | |
| 1985 | 21 | 1 | ||
| 1984 | 16 | 15 | 103 | |
| 1983 | 22 | 21 | ||
| 1982 | 17 | 4 | 106 | |
| 1981 | 7 | 5 | ||
| 1980 | 32 | 2 | 54 | |
| 1979 | 6 | |||
| 1978 | 11 | 5 | 58 | 2 |
| 1977 | 35 | 2 | 21 | 1 |
| 1976 | 34 | 5 | 294 | 3 |
| 1975 | 34 | 9 | 230 | 1 |
| 1974 | 34 | 27 | ||
| 1973 | 44 | 2 | 185 | |
| 1972 | 31 | 96 | ||
| 1971 | 40 | 82 | 998 | 2 |
| 1970 | 27 | 4 | 123 | 1 |
| 1969 | 27 | 32 | 261 | 1 |
| 1968 | 21 | 1 | 47 | |
| 1967 | 22 | 7 | 39 | 1 |
| 1966 | 36 | 59 | 546 | 1 |
| 1965 | 20 | 16 | ||
| 1964 | 4 | |||
| 1963 | 8 | 10 | 45 | 2 |
| 1962 | 13 | 1 | 14 | |
| 1961 | 18 | 24 | ||
| 1960 | 8 | 2 | ||
| 1959 | 21 | 1 | 2 | |
| 1958 | 11 | 13 | 92 | |
| 1957 | 26 | 6 | 114 | |
| 1956 | 6 | 1 | 63 | |
| 1955 | 6 | 1 | ||
| 1954 | 15 | 63 | ||
| 1953 | 21 | 39 | 310 | 1 |
| 1952 | 7 | 16 | 78 | 1 |
| 1951 | 8 | 3 | 17 | |
| 1950 | 14 | 6 | 23 |
Every county in Mississippi
A tornado is counted once for every county its path crossed, so these add up to more than 2,854. Each county has a page of its own: every tornado that crossed it, year by year.
Nearby
Warnings in force in MississippiForecast for your townThe live radar over Mississippi
What this means
Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.