Somerset

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 Pulaski County, the county that contains Somerset.

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 Pulaski County, the county that contains Somerset.

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 Pulaski County.

Mapped by KY GS (29).

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. May 1, 2002Hail$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   During the evening of May 1st, a severe thunderstorm moved southeast across much of Pulaski county. A large swath of golfball to softball size hail pounded much of the county causing considerable damage to numerous homes and automobiles. Downed trees due to strong winds were reported in Eubank.

2. Jan 17, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds damaged many homes throughout the southern and central portion of the county. Especially hard hit was the Parkers Mill area where 50 to 70 homes received structural damage according to the Public Safety Officer of the county. Winds were estimated to be 80 to 100 miles an hour. Also trees and power lines were down througout the county.

3. May 5, 2003Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Over 20 homes and 4 barns were damaged or destroyed. Children were in a mobile home which had blown over on Kentucky Highway 1247, but were able to get out before emergency workers arrived. Damage extended from Kentucky Highway 635 near the northwestern county line to Price and Cave Springs roads, east of Science Hill. The tornado also knocked down numerous trees and power lines.

4. Jul 4, 2001Tornado$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   On the afternoon of July 4th, severe thunderstorms developed over portions of south central and southeastern Kentucky. One of the storms spawned a multi-segmented tornado which first touched down northwest of downtown Somerset. The damage began along Old Salts Road where a mobile home was destroyed. Three barns were severely damaged and one barn was destroyed. Many trees were snapped off at the base. The tornado lifted and touched down again in the Norwood Subdivision. Roof damage to framed homes and snapped trees resulted. The tornado skipped along its east southeast path and produced damage again at Highway 27 where two businesses were damaged. Several homes in the Camelot…

5. May 27, 2004Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A storm survey conducted by the National Weather Service in Jackson, KY confirmed that an F1 tornado touched down near White Oak Gap around 2 am. Maximum wind was determined to be near 100 mph. Five mobile homes were completely destroyed and many were significantly damaged. Four people suffered significant injuries as mobile homes were tossed, and rolled into each other.

6. Aug 14, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees and power lines were blown down mainly in the Somerset area. Areas that received tree and power line damage included Slate Branch Rd south of Somerset, Hwy 1643 east of Somerset, Ferguson, and Bourbon Rd in Oakhill.

7. Mar 4, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several trailers were blown over by thunderstorm wind gusts. A trailer in the Science Hill Area on highway 635 was destroyed. Trees and power lines were also blown down both the southern and southwestern portions of the county.

8. Jul 18, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were blown down in and around the city of Somerset.

9. Apr 3, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and powerlines down. Several trailers overturned. Damage occurred mainly in the western, northern, and eastern ends of the county.

10. Jun 4, 2004Flash Flood$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Trailers and automobiles were inundated with water from flash flooding in Tateville. Four to five feet of water was over Highway 90 near Burnside.

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

105°FJun 29, 2012

All-time low

−25°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

77°FJun 8, 1994

Coldest day

0°FJan 8, 1970

Wettest day

4.78 inOct 1, 1977

Snowiest day

15.0 inMar 9, 1960

Hottest year

2007mean 59.1°F

Coldest year

1960mean 52.5°F

Wettest year

200466.82 in

Driest year

200732.98 in

Snowiest season

63.9 in1959-60

Station London Corbin Airport (USW00003849), 1,181 ft elevation, 29.6 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1954 to October 27, 2026; 99.5% 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 Pulaski 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 USW00003849.
• 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.