Counties with the most tornadoes in Tennessee
It's been a busy year for tornadoes in the U.S. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as many as 1,155 twisters have touched down across the country since the start of the year, above the average for this time of year.
A single day can drive up tornado counts. March 31, 2023, accounted for 163 tornadoes across the Midwest and South. Tornado activity usually peaks in the spring and early summer, and the pace of tornadoes usually slows around late summer. A smaller-scale second tornado season emerges in the fall, mostly in the Gulf Coast states.
Stacker used data from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information to find the counties in Tennessee that have experienced the most tornadoes since 2000. While data is available going back to 1950, tornado tracking by the National Weather Service became more robust and accurate in the 1990s. Since counties can vary in size, they are ranked by the number of tornadoes per 100 square miles. Counties that experienced less than five tornadoes are not included.
The counties that encounter the most tornadoes aren't all in the infamous Tornado Alley. When adjusted for county area, the top 10 counties that experienced the most tornadoes since 2000 are from nine different states, all in the Southeast with the exception of Cleveland County, Oklahoma.
Research has shown that Tornado Alley is shifting due to warming temperatures fueled by climate change. In the future, the Southeast could become the region that receives the bulk of the country's tornadoes. It's a concerning trend as the South is more populated than the Great Plains and has a higher concentration of mobile homes than other parts of the country, making the storms potentially deadlier and costlier.
As of August 2023, 75 people have died from tornadoes this year, and over 60% of those deaths occurred in mobile homes.
The best way to stay protected during tornadoes is to have multiple ways of receiving storm updates including social media, radio, television, and sirens, and to immediately seek shelter in a basement or interior room without windows when a tornado watch escalates to a warning.
Read on to see which counties experience the most tornadoes in Tennessee.
#50. McNairy County
- #1,222 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 3
#49. Henry County
- #1,097 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#48. Blount County
- #1,085 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#47. DeKalb County
- #1,081 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#46. Decatur County
- #987 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#45. Washington County
- #959 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#44. Carroll County
- #947 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1
#43. Monroe County
- #930 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#42. Macon County
- #865 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1
#41. Claiborne County
- #856 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#40. Warren County
- #852 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#39. Perry County
- #780 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#38. Madison County
- #724 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#37. Jefferson County
- #701 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 2
#36. Marion County
- #677 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1
#35. Sequatchie County
- #659 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#34. Henderson County
- #634 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#33. Dyer County
- #622 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#32. Putnam County
- #615 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#31. McMinn County
- #592 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#30. Gibson County
- #579 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#29. Humphreys County
- #577 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#28. Dickson County
- #564 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#27. Smith County
- #563 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#26. Williamson County
- #539 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#25. Obion County
- #530 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#24. Bedford County
- #519 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1
#23. Cheatham County
- #505 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#22. Tipton County
- #479 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 4
#21. Lawrence County
- #469 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 2
#20. Robertson County
- #440 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#19. Montgomery County
- #437 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#18. White County
- #424 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#17. Franklin County
- #400 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1
#16. Hickman County
- #393 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#15. Cannon County
- #352 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1
#14. Houston County
- #327 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#13. Coffee County
- #326 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#12. Lake County
- #299 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#11. Hamilton County
- #285 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1
#10. Lincoln County
- #256 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 2
#9. Lewis County
- #192 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1
#8. Rutherford County
- #176 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 3
#7. Wilson County
- #174 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#6. Sumner County
- #152 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#5. Benton County
- #147 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1
#4. Bradley County
- #117 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#3. Davidson County
- #35 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
#2. Trousdale County
- #11 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1
#1. Moore County
- #7 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0