Lexington

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.

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 Fayette County, the county that contains Lexington.

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.

The drought index is for Fayette County, the county that contains Lexington.

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 Fayette County.

Mapped by KY GS (2), NASA (1).

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. Feb 15, 2003Ice Storm, Fayette$18.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Light to occasionally moderate freezing rain began on the evening of the 15th, and continued through the evening of the 16th. Reports of ice accumulations of an inch were common along and north of Interstate 64, from Frankfort to Winchester. The hardest hit areas were in and around the cities of Frankfort and Lexington, where up to an inch and a quarter of ice accumulation was observed. A 78 year old male in Lawrenceburg in Anderson County died of injuries sustained when he was struck by a falling, ice covered, tree limb. After the storm, it is estimated that nearly 125,000 residents were without power for up to five days or more. Most of the property damage was reported in the…

2. May 27, 2004Tornado$7.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado first touched down just east of Masterson Station Park on the subdivision road of Buck Lane. It continued east through the subdivision, causing F2 damage. The tornado then crossed an open field and creek, entering another subdivision. It appeared that the tornado reached its maximum F3 intensity in this section of the path. The tornado was on the ground intermittently as it moved to the east northeast. It struck a single house on State Road 1978, doing F2 damage. It crossed Georgetown Road and struck another subdivision near Citation Boulevard, doing F1 to F2 damage. It continued for a short distance into a field, and then lifted. There was straight line wind damage to…

3. Mar 1, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$4.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS Storm Survey team in conjunction with the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Food and Environment determined that 70 to 80 mph straight line winds across the Spindletop area of northern Fayette County. Very strong winds 50 feet off the ground hit over 10 agricultural barns causing significant damage to roofs and side panels. The debris pattern was spread downwind and eastward at least 1/2 mile. Several power poles were knocked over and several trees snapped and uprooted. The majority of the damage orginated on the southwest corners of the barns and pushed out to the northeast. The overall damage path extended 3 miles and had a maximum width of 1/2 mile. The…

4. Dec 18, 2016Lightning$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A lightning strike caused a fire of a horse barn at the Mercury Equine Center. Twenty-three racing horses perished and the barn was a total loss.

5. Mar 1, 1997Flash Flood$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Over 2 inches of rain fell on top of 3 to 7 inch 24 hour totals resulting in widespread flash flooding with many roads water covered and closed. Fayette county was declared a disaster area. Damage totals include all flooding and flash flooding from March 1-March 2.

6. May 27, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were downed. Two truck loading stations were damaged on Jaggie Fox Way near Georgetown Road. Several horse barns were damaged or destroyed north of Interstate 64 between Newtown Pike and Russell Cave Road, but no animals were injured.

7. Mar 1, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Fayette County officials reported that outbuildings belonging to the University of Kentucky were damaged at Newtown Pike and Interstate 75.

8. Feb 6, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A concentrated area of straight line winds in downtown Lexington showed evidence of wind speeds up to 75 mph. Winds knocked down two brick walls of a new tire store. A nearby restaurant had windows blown out. Aluminum siding was blown in at a loading dock. A business had roof material blown off on to another nearby building. The orientation of the wind damage all indicated west to east straight line winds.

9. Jul 20, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Eight structures had trees on their roofs. There were many widespread power outages across the county.

10. May 2, 2010Flood$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Six to seven inches of rain across Fayette county May 1-2 led to areal flooding in spots across the county on the 2nd.

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

108°F2 times, most recently Jul 15, 1936

All-time low

−21°FJan 24, 1963

Warmest night

83°FJul 8, 1874

Coldest day

−3°F2 times, most recently Jan 12, 1918

Wettest day

8.04 inAug 2, 1932

Snowiest day

13.4 inJan 26, 1943

Hottest year

2024mean 59.8°F

Coldest year

1917mean 52.3°F

Wettest year

201871.98 in

Driest year

193024.89 in

Snowiest season

55.4 in1916-17

Station Lexington Bluegrass Airport (USW00093820), 962 ft elevation, 8.3 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1872 to October 27, 2026; 100.0% 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 Fayette 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 USW00093820.
• 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.