Barren County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Barren County: 3.
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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by KY GS (3).

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. Apr 16, 1998Tornado$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A series of three tornadoes cut a long path of destruction across south central Kentucky during the late afternoon and early evening of April 16. Three people were killed, two in Barren county and one in Metcalfe, as the tornadoes moved through. A 78 year old man was killed by fallen debris from his house in Wisdom accounting for the Metcalfe county death. In Glasgow of Barren county, a 67 year old man was killed in his mobile home and a 47 year old man was killed by flying debris off his greenhouse. The Glasgow area of Barren county and the Pellyton area of Adair county were hardest hit sustaining F3 damage. In Glasgow, 1 house was destroyed and 45 were badly damaged. 35 mobile…

2. Jan 24, 1997Tornado$1.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F2 tornado swept a 500-600 yard 7 mile path from just south of Glaskow to the small town of Wisdom, 5 miles west of Edmonton. The tornado damaged over 40 homes and several mobile homes. 2 people were injured including one seriously in a mobile home 1 mile southeast of Glaskow along Highway 90. One $275,000 home had its middle section completely destroyed. In addition, many large trees were downed in a convergent pattern. Residents and county DES said quarter to half a dollar size hail preceded the tornado by only seconds. Total damage was estimated at 2 million dollars.

3. Aug 4, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The dock at the Barren River State Resort Park marina suffered severe structural damage. Several large sections of the dock, along with the boats moored within them, were blown out of position. Anchor cables holding the docks in place were snapped or large anchors were blown out of position. Two boats were sunk and several boat motors were lost in the storm. Most of the other boats at the marina sustained some type of minor damage. Elsewhere in the park, buildings were damaged and more than 500 trees were downed.

4. Apr 7, 2006Tornado$1.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Fifteen to 20 homes were destroyed, mainly in the Temple Hill area. Another dozen or so homes, along with barns and outbuildings, sustained heavy damage. Four people in the area were treated for minor injuries. The tornado formed about a mile northeast of Temple Hill just south of Barbour Road. Numerous trees were topped, and several homes were damaged. Most of the structural damage occurred along Moore Road, where several mobile homes were moved considerable distances and destroyed. A large RV was flipped over, a large tractor was moved about five feet, and a horse trailer was thrown over 75 yards. The tornado reached its peak intensity near the intersection of Moore Road and…

5. Jan 10, 2008Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado first touched down along Millstown Road southwest of Park City. It uprooted and snapped the trunks of several large trees, and did some minor roof damage to a nearby home. The tornado was on the ground intermittently along its path to the south and east of Park City, destroying eight barns and uprooting or snapping numerous trees. Right before it lifted, it tore the front porch off a home and destroyed a barn. A path of straight line wind damage continued for around a mile and a half after the tornado lifted.

6. Nov 10, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$467,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Forty-seven homes had some damage, 6 had major damage, 2 homes were destroyed. Sixteen barns were destroyed. Two businesses and 2 garages had major damage. The damage area was estimated to be 2 miles long and one half mile wide.

7. Jan 10, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A path of straight line wind damage occurred along and after the path of an associated tornado southeast of Park city. The most significant damage was to a mobile home that was destroyed when thunderstorm winds blew in the back wall and ripped the roof off of it on Gateway Court. Three occupants were covered by a collapsing wall, but were unhurt. Four barns were destroyed or severely damaged in the area.

8. Jan 29, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds blew down two walls at an apartment complex in the Cave City area. Winds blew the roof off a home in the Capitol Hill communitiy near Glasgow.

9. Apr 5, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Over 160 structures were damaged in a 2-3 mile wide swath extending 15 miles from near Hiseville in Barren County northeast across Metcalfe into Green County. Three EF-1 tornadoes, with maximum winds of 100-110 mph were embedded within this area. Outside of the tornadoes, maximum winds were estimated at 70-90 mph. In Barren County, the most significant damage was in and near Hiseville, where a commercial radio tower collapsed in the high winds, and multiple barns and other outbuildings were flattened.

10. May 5, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A survey by a National Weather Service employee found a path of straight line damage associated with a series of microbursts that began just east of Cave City, and ended 5 miles southeast of Glasgow. Numerous trees were downed along a path roughly 14 miles long. A lumber warehouse shed was destroyed by estimated 70 mph winds along State Highway 31E in Glasgow. ||In addition, local media reported several 25 to 30 foot trees downed in the Green Valley subdivision of Glasgow along Burkesville Road. A tree was downed on Rosewood Road. Local emergency management reported at least 75 trees were downed from central Barren County eastwards. A house's siding was damaged nearby on Davis…

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

109°FJul 18, 1986

All-time low

−19°F2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Warmest night

81°FJun 13, 2022

Coldest day

−6°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

6.15 inAug 30, 2005

Snowiest day

11.0 inMar 23, 1968

Hottest year

1998mean 61.0°F

Coldest year

1976mean 55.0°F

Wettest year

201969.90 in

Driest year

200735.88 in

Snowiest season

24.4 in1967-68

Station Barren Rvr Lake (USC00150422), 615 ft elevation, 12.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1963 to October 23, 2026; 96.8% 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 USC00150422.
• 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.