Perry County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Perry County: 2.
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.

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Mar 2, 1997Flood, Perry$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ohio River flooding. See narrative for north central Kentucky counties.

2. Apr 28, 2002Tornado$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Five homes were destroyed. Five mobile homes were destroyed. Four other homes had damage. The roof was torn off a church. Numerous trees were uprooted and many outbuildings were destroyed.

3. Apr 30, 1997Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F1 tornado cut a 15 mile path across north central Perry county. The hardest hit areas were Apalona and Branchville. 2 mobile homes were destroyed in Apalona, and numerous roofs were lifted off houses in Branchville. Also, numerous trees were blown down with twisting evident on photographs sent by local DES.

4. May 30, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds caused extensive roof damage to two multi story warehouses. Flying debris caused additional damage to nearby buildings. Trees were blown on to homes and other buildings. Numerous trees were downed in the city. About 800 city residents were without power for up to four hours.

5. Jan 29, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds blew the roof off a home in Leopold. In the Ashland Road area, winds destroyed a farm building housing several tractors and other farm equipment. Winds also downed numerous trees.

6. Jun 26, 2013Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A circulation embedded within a strong line of storms spawned an EF-1 tornado that touched down to the northwest of Tell City, in Perry County, Indiana. It moved southeast for just over 5 miles across Tell City, lifting just south of the intersection of State Highway 237 and Scotch Pine Road. Several large trees were felled along the entire tornado's path, and several homes in Tell City received damage to their roofs. Numerous outbuildings were destroyed. A carnival site at the intersection of 10th and Watt Streets was damaged. A few rides were displaced and a semi-trailer was overturned. Many tree branches were snapped southeast of Tell City before the tornado lifted.

7. May 8, 2003Tornado$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous adult trees were uprooted in the Hoosier National Forest. A large tree fell on top of a mobile home which had been knocked over. There was extensive damage to a large homestead, and several outbuildings were leveled. Part of a large barn was demolished. The tin roof of another large barn was blown into some nearby trees. A piece of the porch from a large solid foundation house was thrown one quarter mile into a pond. The seam between the roof and walls of a cement foundation barn was separated.

8. Sep 8, 2018Tornado$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down on Main Street in Tell City, midway between Steuben and Winkeireid Streets, doing minor damage to one roof and bending an amateur radio antenna tower. Moving east-northeast, the tornado damaged roofs and snapped several large tree limbs, as well as toppling a large but rotting tree that crushed the roof of a garage. A small shed was lofted out of its yard and became entangled in utility lines 30 yards to the northeast. As it crossed Winkeireid Street between 10th and 11th Streets, it buckled in a large overhead door and caused minor damage to the roof of the Indiana Southern Power building. Continuing to the northeast, a large metal carport was lifted and…

9. Oct 24, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees and power lines were downed over much of South Central Indiana. Some were blown on to vehicles at Elizabeth in Harrison County. Also in Elizabeth, a church office was destroyed. A double wide mobile home was destroyed 4 miles northeast of Tell City, and several nearby brick homes had roof damage.

10. Dec 22, 2004Heavy Snow, Perry$75,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A winter storm brought heavy snow to south central Indiana. Storm total amounts of 20 to 30 inches were reported over the area. High winds developed later in the day on the 23rd, creating drifts of snow up to four or five feet. Most roadways were dangerous or impassable, and sections of Interstate 64 were closed for a time due to accidents. The roofs on several business warehouses and storage buildings collapsed due to the weight of the snow in Jasper (Dubois County) and Paoli (Orange County). At least 11 turkey houses in Dubois County collapsed due to the snow. Hundreds of birds were killed or injured (this agricultural loss is reflected in the crop damage figure quoted above).…

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°FSep 7, 1954

All-time low

−17°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

80°F4 times, most recently Aug 5, 2010

Coldest day

−6°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

6.24 inAug 1, 1950

Snowiest day

12.0 inJan 17, 1978

Hottest year

1941mean 60.7°F

Coldest year

1979mean 53.9°F

Wettest year

195073.85 in

Driest year

195328.83 in

Station Tell City (USC00128698), 390 ft elevation, 5.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1939 to October 27, 2026; 96.6% 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 USC00128698.
• 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.