Hattiesburg, MS Tornado History — 165 Tornadoes Since 1950
How many tornadoes has Hattiesburg, MS had?
Hattiesburg has had 165 tornadoes on record within 25 miles since 1950, including 17 violent (EF3+) tornadoes.
When was the most recent tornado near Hattiesburg?
The most recent tornado within 25 miles of Hattiesburg was an EF2 on April 6, 2025.
When is tornado season in Hattiesburg?
March is historically the peak month for tornadoes near Hattiesburg, with 32 on record. Spring through early summer (April–June) generally sees the highest activity across most of the central and southern United States.
At a Glance
Recent Tornado Activity Near Hattiesburg
The last 20 years of confirmed tornadoes within 25 miles — 74 total, averaging 3.7 per year over this window.
Preliminary tornado reports near Hattiesburg since December 29, 2025
These are 6 preliminary reports, not confirmed tornadoes. They have not yet been through an NWS damage survey, and are not counted in the confirmed totals above.
Preliminary reports are revised, merged, and sometimes withdrawn — historically about 23% are consolidated downward once surveys complete. Ratings are omitted until a survey assigns one.
Confirmed records above are complete through December 29, 2025. NOAA publishes the confirmed archive annually, so tornadoes after that date appear here first and move into the totals above once finalized.
Within 25 miles of Hattiesburg. Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center preliminary storm reports, updated daily.
Tornadoes by Decade
Tornadoes by Enhanced Fujita Rating
F0–F5 ratings (pre-2007) are grouped with their EF equivalents. The Enhanced Fujita scale replaced the original Fujita scale in February 2007.
Tornadoes by Month
Casualties on Record Near Hattiesburg
30 fatalities have been recorded within 25 miles of Hattiesburg since 1950, across 10 events. 812 injuries have been reported across all events. 2020 was the deadliest year on record.
The deadliest single event was an EF4 on April 12, 2020, which caused 7 fatalities along a 67.4-mile track.
Notable Tornadoes Near Hattiesburg
About Tornadoes in Hattiesburg
This overview was written August 10, 2026. The tornado counts and notable-event figures elsewhere on this page reflect the latest data and may differ from this summary.
Tornado season comes early to Hattiesburg — often in the dead of winter, when jet-stream disturbances sweep across southern Mississippi while the Gulf keeps low-level air warm and humid. The violent entries in the local record cluster in that cool-season window. An F4 tore a 35-mile path through the area on February 28, 1987, leaving 6 people dead and 350 injured. On February 10, 2013, an EF4 plowed through the city and injured 71 people. An EF3 killed 3 residents on December 23, 2014, and January 21, 2017 brought another EF3 that killed 4 and injured 57. April 2020 was harsher still: an EF4 on the 12th killed 7 people and injured 98, and a second EF4 crossed the region on the 20th.
Geography explains the pattern. Moist air off the Gulf of Mexico reaches the Pine Belt in nearly every season, and during winter and early spring a southward-dipping jet stream supplies the wind shear that lets thunderstorms rotate — frequently at night, and frequently inside fast-moving squall lines. Cool-season outbreaks are therefore a recurring feature of life here, alongside the springtime storm systems familiar across the Deep South. The event list elsewhere on this page, built from the NOAA Storm Prediction Center's database, traces that activity decade by decade from the 1950s onward.