Marion County, Tennessee

What hazards hit Marion County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 263 since 1955. The rank column places the county among Tennessee's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Marion County had?

NOAA records 21 tornadoes in Marion County from 1963 to 2023, the strongest rated EF2, with 0 deaths and 23 injuries recorded in the county. That is 45th of 95 Tennessee counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 21 tornadoes whose track touched Marion County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 21, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Tennessee.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Marion County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the January 14, 2024 winter storm (1 death).

A primarily heavy snow event covered Marion County, with periods of sleet, freezing rain, and rain falling during brief mixed precipitation periods during the storm. A COOP observer in Whitwell measured 6 inches of snow, a CoCoRaHS observer outside of Whitwell reported a snow total of 4.2 inches and an unknown amount of freezing rain and sleet resulting in a heavy glaze on top of the snowpack.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1159226)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Marion County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

Records by month in Marion County. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Marion County

FEMA's register lists 25 declarations that include Marion County: 18 major disasters, 5 emergencies and 2 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (9) and flood (6).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Marion County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 29 flood or flash flood records for Marion County from 1998 to 2025, on 25 days, with 3 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Marion County ranks 1221st of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $1.2 million on 117 claims filed in Marion County; the most in one year was 27 in 2003. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Marion County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Marion County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $16.4 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Marion County

1. Jackson County, AL 1,211
2. Hamilton County 868
3. Franklin County 735
4. Marion County 422
5. Dade County, GA 380
6. Grundy County 302
7. Sequatchie County 279

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in TennesseeEvery Tennessee tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in TennesseeThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Tennessee recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Marion CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Marion County's FEMA declarations (CSV)25 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis