Ashland

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Boyd County, the county that contains Ashland.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Boyd County, the county that contains Ashland.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Boyd County, the county that contains Ashland.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Mapped landslides

Landslides mapped in Boyd County.

Mapped by KY GS (50), NASA (2).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jul 31, 1996Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall of 2 to 4 inches fell in less than 6 hours duringthe late night and predawn hours across northern Carter,Greenup, and Boyd Counties. Greenup Lock and Dam measured 3 inches, while Ashland had 3.9 inches. An unofficialreport of 6 inches was received from Argillite. The worstflooding was in the populated area from Westwood of BoydCounty on west, to the Bellefonte, Russell, Flatwoods region ofGreenup County. Hood, Little Hood, and Culp Creeks weresome of the streams involved. In Boyd County, 19 single familyhomes had major damage, while 13 homes were destroyed. Threemobile homes were destroyed. In Greenup County, 21 businesseswere damaged, 3 homes destroyed, and 3 homes with…

2. May 10, 2011Flash Flood$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Serious urban flooding occurred in and around the city of Ashland. Water was up to the windshields on several stalled vehicles. Lexington Ave and Route 60 were a few of the flooded streets. Basement flooding was common. One house had its foundation weakened. Some roads along rural streams were flooded, but damage was worst in the urban areas.

3. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large trees and branches fell in scattered locations throughout the county.

4. Mar 20, 2002Flood, Boyd$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Light rain moved into northeast Kentucky during the predawn hours of the 19th. Light to moderate rainfall fell during the 19th, as a warm front tired to lift north from the Tennessee Valley. The heaviest rains occurred from 0100 to 0800E on the 20th, ahead of the low pressure wave on the strong frontal boundary. Rains then diminished during the morning of the 20th. Rain totals from the 30 hour event were 2.5 to 4.5 inches, with roughly 60% of the total occurring in about 6 hours on the 20th. The axis of the heaviest rain was generally along the Interstate 64 corridor, from Olive Hill to Ashland. Rain totals included 4.5 inches from Ashland, 4.3 inches from Carter Caves, 4.2 inches…

5. Mar 2, 1997Flood, Boyd$1.0 million
6. Mar 1, 1997Flash Flood$750,000
7. Feb 18, 2000Flash Flood$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rains of 2.5 to 4 inches hit Carter, Greenup, and Boyd Counties in about an 18 hour period on the 18th. A frontal zone pushed north of northeast Kentucky during the early monring hours. Another round of rain developed by early afternoon as low pressure moved up the Ohio River Valley. Southerly winds in Tennessee and Kentucky pulled moisture north. Surface dew points were in the 55 to 60degree range. Thunderstorms occurred during the late afternoon and evening hours. Rains totals from cooperative observers included 3.8 inches from Warnock of Greenup County, 3.0 inches at Ashland, 2.8 inches at Olive HIll, and 2.5 inches at Grayson.A state of emergency was declared in Boyd and…

8. May 2, 2010Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   In Boyd County, the flooding damaged 28 homes, 11 were major damage. About 25 people were rescued from various locations in the county. Roads such as Tarpin Ridge and Marsh Hill received significant damage. The county high school baseball, softball, and football fields were completely submerged. Equipment for the fields and the concession stand was damaged.

9. Jan 27, 2014Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Boyd$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Arctic air poured into northeast Kentucky on the 27th. A clear night with diminishing winds resulted in temperatures on either side of the zero mark at dawn on the 28th.||The coldest dawn temperatures occurred on the 29th. Preliminary data indicated the coldest temperature from the official cooperative observers network was 9 below zero at Olive Hill.| |Some of the other minimum temperature readings around dawn on the 29th from cooperative observers included 7 below zero at Warnock and 6 below zero west of Louisa. Ashland observed a minimum temperature of 5 below zero. | |The cold wave lasted one more night, with readings of zero to 5 below zero around dawn on the 30th. For…

10. Aug 22, 2014Flash Flood$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Both urban and rural flash flooding occurred during the early evening hours of a Friday night. Numerous streets in Ashland were flooded with several vehicles flooded. Water even pooled on their high school football field from the overwhelmed drainage system, causing the first game of the season to be canceled. ||Vehicles were also flooded on roads around Summit and Ironville. In Ironville, some people were trapped in houses surrounded by water. In the Cannonsburg vicinity, streams along Route 3 such as Laurel Creek and Lower Chadwick Creek flooded. One house had its first floor flooded, and its residents were rescued from the second floor.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

104°FJul 7, 2012

All-time low

−21°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

78°F4 times, most recently Jul 27, 2023

Coldest day

3°FJan 8, 1970

Wettest day

3.89 inSep 17, 2004

Snowiest day

21.1 inMar 13, 1993

Hottest year

2024mean 60.2°F

Coldest year

1963mean 53.3°F

Wettest year

201162.44 in

Driest year

196329.99 in

Snowiest season

55.7 in1977-78

Station Huntington Tri-state Airport (USW00003860), 824 ft elevation, 8.1 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1961 to October 27, 2026; 99.9% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Boyd County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00003860.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.