Scott County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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, 2012Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   After exiting Clark County as an EF-4, this one-third mile wide tornado tracked for only six tenths of a mile across extreme southeastern Scott County before entering Jefferson County between the eastern endpoint of County Road 550 South and State Route 362. ||Despite its limited distance in Scott County, however, the tornado proved to be deadly, taking the life of a 72 year old man who was in his frame home residence on State Route 362 east of Kelly Bottom Road, where two other wood frame homes were also severely damaged and 5 mobile homes completely destroyed. This damage proved consistent with 170 mph winds.

2. Mar 1, 2017Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The National Weather Service in conjunction with Scott County Emergency Management, determined an EF-1 Tornado touched down 4 miles south of Scottsburg, on Interstate 65 at approximately mile marker 25.5. After overturning a semi tractor-trailer on the Interstate, the tornado moved east-southeast, collapsed a wall on a large cinder block building, then destroyed two metal outbuildings and flipped an unanchored mobile home on a farmstead 1/4 mile east. It continued skipping east, uprooting and snapping trees and destroying an anchored mobile home on Underwood Road. Three residents were in the home at the time when it rolled over and disintegrated. They received minor injuries. The…

3. Mar 1, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 1-2 mile swath of strong straight-line winds moved across northern Scott County and into western Jefferson County, damaging buildings and toppling trees. |Much of the roof of one home northeast of Austin was blown off, and several others sustained significant siding and roof damage. Local media reported a 5 inch diameter branch fell through a roof home. Numerous metal outbuildings were also damaged or destroyed. ||Between this area and another to the south of Scottsburg which included an EF-1 tornado, the Scott Emergency Manager reported that at least 15 homes were severely damaged by severe thunderstorm winds. Within the county, the winds and tornado resulted in approximately…

4. Mar 1, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 1-2 mile swath of strong straight-line winds estimated at 60-80 mph moved across southern Scott County, downing trees and power lines and causing mainly minor roof damage. An EF-1 tornado was embedded within this area just east of Interstate 65. ||Between this area and another to the northeast of Austin, the Scott Emergency Manager reported that at least 15 homes were severely damaged, including those damaged by the tornado. Within the county, the winds and tornado resulted in approximately 23 minor injuries. There were numerous trees and power lines down which resulted in the closure of seven roadways across the county.

5. Jul 12, 2015Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A public report was received of high water in parts of Austin. An apartment building was partially flooded and rainfall amounts varied from 1 to locally 3 inches across the area.

6. Jan 29, 2008Tornado$70,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF1 tornado touched down just east of Lexington. It snapped and uprooted trees, destroyed a mobile home, and caused roof damage to a number of homes.

7. Jun 26, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two trees were down on homes in Scottsburg, Indiana.

8. Jun 4, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   County official reported barn roof blow off near Sunnyside Lane. Also reported corn silo damaged on County Road 256 near the county line.

9. May 31, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A supercell thunderstorm moved across south central Indiana producing wind damage and large hail as reported by DES, spotters and the public. The National Weather Service survey team noted microburst damage to a home in Austin. Otherwise, trees were reported down scattered across these counties. Additional development took place later across the western part of Louisville's south central Indiana CWA in the early evening.

10. Jul 20, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$15,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Power lines blew down on Willow Shore Drive in Scottsburg.

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°F2 times, most recently Jun 28, 2012

All-time low

−24°FJan 17, 1977

Warmest night

84°FAug 13, 1947

Coldest day

0°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

6.50 inJun 23, 1960

Snowiest day

16.0 inFeb 25, 1961

Hottest year

1954mean 57.5°F

Coldest year

1958mean 52.3°F

Wettest year

194564.52 in

Driest year

198727.11 in

Snowiest season

47.5 in1950-51

Station N Vernon 2 Ese (USC00126435), 719 ft elevation, 22.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1938 to October 27, 2026; 92.9% 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.

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 USC00126435.
• 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.