Bath County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by KY GS (16).

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. Feb 3, 1998Heavy Snow, Bath$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major snowstorm affected eastern Kentucky from the evening of February 3 into the morning of February 6. Snowfall totals for the storm ranged from around 4 inches in valley locations near the Virginia border to as much as 2 feet in areas from Whitley City to Flemingsburg. The greatest snowfalls during the storm occurred in two distinct periods. The first round of heavy snow, which affected nearly all of eastern Kentucky, began during the evening of February 3, and extended into February 4. Heavy snow tapered off during the night of February 4-5, but redeveloped again during the afternoon of February 5 and extended into the early morning of February 6. This second round of heavy…

2. Mar 1, 1997Flood, Bath$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding that began early in the day developed into widespread small stream and river flooding. The Licking River below Cave Run Lake, and along the Fleming-Bath County line reached its highest level in history. Sherburne was especially hard hit.

3. May 31, 2004Flood, Bath$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   On the afternoon of May 30th, a warm front was draped across eastern Kentucky. With extremely moist and unstable air, this boundary helped spark the beginning of a most unusual event for eastern Kentucky, and for that matter, for the country. Countless supercell thunderstorms developed along this boundary for hours on end, causing widespread tree damage and damage to structures. Flash flooding was also occurring with these storms which contained torrential rain. Unfortunately for eastern Kentucky, this was not the end to the severe weather or the flooding. Later in the night, mostly in the early hours of May 31st, a potent cold front burst through, bringing destruction to most if…

4. Mar 2, 2012Tornado$775,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A storm damage survey team from the National Weather Service Office in Jackson, Kentucky confirmed that an EF-1 tornado occurred in Bath County on March 2, 2012. The tornado touched down near the Bath County High School west southwest of Owingsville at 608 pm EST. The tornado had an intermittent path to the east northeast of approximately 7.5 miles in length. The tornado crossed Hwy 36 a mile or two south of Owingsville and then I-64 and Hwy 60 east of Owingsville causing damage to numerous trees, barn roofs, and residential structures along the way. The tornado lifted for the final time approximately 2.5 miles northwest of Salt Lick, Kentucky.

5. Feb 6, 2008Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF1 tornado touched down on Stepstone Road and continued east northeast for 8.7 miles. The tornado had a maximum path width of 250 yards with maximum wind speeds of around 105 mph. Two modile homes were almost completely destroyed along with several barns and outbuildings.

6. Apr 2, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A historic brick house built in 1820 sustained substantial straight-line wind damage. The house is situated on an elevated knob with a large open area to the west, unable to break the wind before hitting the house. Owner describes seeing strong straight-line winds heading towards his house from west to east. When the winds hit the house, they knocked out one of the chimneys and roof apex on the west facing side of the house, causing a large amount of damage both outside and inside of the historic home. Several very large pine trees also fell, including one that hit a window on the house where the owner was standing. In addition to the house, winds destroyed a barn located to the…

7. Mar 1, 1997Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several roads were flooded.

8. Apr 2, 2024Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A quick spin up occurred as winds descended to the ground in NW Bath County, hitting a house on top of a ridge off of Springfield Road (south of Sharpsburg), along with trees and a barn in the adjacent holler to the east. From this point forward, the event became more straight-line wind dominated and continued to be so throughout much of the county. The house sustained substantial damage. A large section of roofing was removed, including a large hole into the master closet. All windows around entire house had been bowed in, bending the frames and cracking the molding around them. Grass, dirt, insulation, and other small debris was also plastered to windows, doors, and siding on…

9. Sep 17, 2004Flood, Bath$132,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Cannel City, Sour Springs, and McCarty roads closed due to high water. Highway 211 South in Salt Lick closed due to high water. Water also reported over Pistol Road and Pinegrove Road near Olympia.

10. Mar 1, 1997Flash Flood$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rain fell in the morning of March 1, the afternoon of March 1, and again during the overnight of March 1 to 2. This resulted in repeated episodes of flash flooding. Homes were flooded near Preston, Olympia, State Valley, and Wyoming. 24 Hour rainfall amounts in Bath County exceeded 9 inches.

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°FAug 19, 1936

All-time low

−28°FJan 28, 1963

Warmest night

87°FJul 29, 1930

Coldest day

−8°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

6.85 inMay 3, 2010

Snowiest day

12.0 in3 times, most recently Jan 23, 2016

Hottest year

2024mean 58.4°F

Coldest year

1978mean 52.0°F

Wettest year

201874.48 in

Driest year

194133.01 in

Snowiest season

45.9 in1959-60

Station Cave Run Lake (USC00152791), 840 ft elevation, 11.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1904 to October 27, 2026; 98.5% 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.

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 USC00152791.
• 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.