Memphis Odor Cause Remains Unidentified

Residents across Shelby County reported a foul smell on Sunday night and Monday, and city workers are still investigating its source.

Updated on Nov. 10, 2026 in Severe Weather

Photograph of an empty dusk street in a low-rise neighborhood, oak trees and parked cars under a faint ground-level haze. — Residents across Memphis and Shelby County reported a foul odor Sunday night and Monday, and city workers are still searching for its source. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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A foul odor was reported across the Memphis metro on Sunday night, November 8, and throughout Monday, November 9, 2026, reaching areas from Downtown and Midtown to Germantown and Millington. City workers are investigating the cause, which has not yet been identified.

Why it matters

The odor affected a wide area of Shelby County, and officials have not yet pinpointed its source. Both of the city's wastewater treatment plants appear to have been ruled out as a cause.

The odor was reported across Shelby County on November 8 and 9, 2026, with no quantitative measurements available in the reporting. The source remains unidentified, and the Action News 5 First Alert Weather team has suggested a temperature inversion as a possible explanation, which has not been confirmed.

The players

Paul Young

Paul Young is the Mayor of Memphis, who said city workers are investigating all possible causes of the odor.

Joyce Peterson

Joyce Peterson is a reporter for Action News 5 who smelled the odor in East Memphis on Sunday night.

Action News 5

Action News 5 is a Memphis television station whose First Alert Weather team suggested the odor could be due to a temperature inversion.

The details

Action News 5 reporter Joyce Peterson smelled the odor in East Memphis on Sunday night. Memphis Mayor Paul Young said city workers are investigating all possible causes, and the T.E. Maxson and M.C. Stiles wastewater plants appear ruled out.

March 2024: A citywide odor was reported, and one city official attributed it to Bradford pear trees.
2019: Action News 5 investigated a countywide smell, but its cause was never identified.
November 8, 2026: The odor was first reported across the Memphis metro on Sunday night.
November 9, 2026: The odor was reported throughout the day Monday.

Seasonal Patterns

The Memphis odor follows a pattern of unexplained countywide smells, including a 2019 event investigated by Action News 5 whose cause was never identified. The current odor is being examined alongside a possible temperature inversion, a weather condition that traps smells near the surface.

Residents who notice an unusual odor should note the time and location and report it to city officials so workers can track patterns. Those with respiratory sensitivities may want to keep windows closed until the source is identified and any public guidance is issued.

The takeaway

Unexplained odors can persist for years without a clear cause, as the 2019 countywide smell in Shelby County shows, so it helps to track when and where you notice them.