Clay County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Clay County: 0.
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.

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.

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

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.

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 4, 2008Flood$45.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding occurred along the Eel River in Clay County, including near Bowling Green, due to heavy rainfall.

2. Jun 29, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous reports of downed trees with structural damage caused by thunderstorm wind gusts. Over 10000 power outages reported across the county with the extensive damage to both vegetation and power poles.

3. Jun 17, 2026Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-1 tornado with path length of 6.64 miles and a path width of 300 yards began in eastern Vigo County before moving into Clay county. Within Clay county the peak width was 300 yards, path length of 4.5 miles and peak winds of 110 mph. Damage within Clay county included significant damage to a 100 year old brick barn and several homesteads in western Clay county along 200S.

4. May 8, 1996Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A weak tornado touched down near Perth and traveled east producing most damage near Carbon. One home and two mobile homes were destroyed. Three other homes suffered significant damage. Several grain bins were moved or blown over. Numerous telephone poles were snapped and numerous trees were blown down.

5. Jun 25, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and powerlines snapped or damaged by thunderstorm wind gusts.

6. Apr 5, 2025Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads closed across the county with several cars stranded in Brazil. Total rainfall ranged from 2.5 to 4.1 inches.

7. Jun 25, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong thunderstorm wind gusts knocked over corn crop and snapped large old growth trees over plus several large limbs of others landing on power lines with enough force to snap the cables. 1 tree landed across a lane of in sr 246.

8. May 26, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several trees uprooted, a couple snapped, some power lines down from trees, and a little structural damage mainly from trees falling on homes caused by thunderstorm wind gusts.

9. Jun 7, 2008Flash Flood$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Homes, vehicles, and bridges have been destroyed due to heavy rain that caused flash flooding. There was a 100 foot section of the road missing on County Road 200 South. Sixty percent of the roads in the county have sustained some form of damage with thirty percent suffering severe damage, meaning being totally washed out. The streets in Brazil also have experienced some damage.

10. May 8, 2002Flash Flood$75,000

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

106°F5 times, most recently Jul 7, 2012

All-time low

−17°FJan 31, 2004

Warmest night

81°F2 times, most recently Jun 14, 2022

Coldest day

2°FJan 1, 2018

Wettest day

5.71 inMay 12, 2002

Hottest year

2012mean 57.4°F

Coldest year

2014mean 50.7°F

Wettest year

201151.63 in

Driest year

201228.45 in

Station Terre Haute Hulman Regional Airport (USW00003868), 567 ft elevation, 10.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1961 to October 23, 2026; 94.8% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USW00003868.
• 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.
• 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.