Breathitt County

Every recorded tornado

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

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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 (2,273), NASA (4).

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. Jun 1, 2004Flood, Breathitt$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This event is actually a continuation of a flooding event which started on May 31st. Many roads were washed out, homes destroyed, and automobiles ruined. Some people were stranded in their own homes and had to be rescued.

2. May 31, 2004Flood, Breathitt$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…

3. Feb 16, 2003Flood, Breathitt$1.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 0900 EST, February 17, the North Fork of the Kentucky River crested at 37.32 feet in Jackson. This is 8.32 feet above flood stage.

4. May 9, 2009Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flood water was up to the top of the lockers in Rousseau Elementary School. Water was also in homes near the school as well as a grocery store. The Breathitt County Office of Emergency Management reported that both the school and grocery store were total losses.

5. Apr 30, 2005Flash Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding destroyed several roads. Peg Fork, Walnut Fork, and Hunting Creek were hardest hit. Roads in the Highway 1098 area were impassable due to high water. Numerous culverts were washed out across the county.

6. Feb 22, 2003Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large swath of downburst winds, nearly 450 yards wide, swept through the damaged area. Embedded in these winds was an F1 tornado, with winds between 100 and 112 mile per hour. At least five trailer homes were completely destroyed along with several other structures including tobacco barns and outbuildings. Twelve cars were also destroyed in a car lot. Numerous trees were down or uprooted. Two people died as a result of injuries from their mobile homes being tossed off of the ground.

7. Mar 3, 1997Flood, Breathitt$180,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding occurred along the Kentucky River, and the South and North Fork of the Kentucky River. Some businesses and homes in Hazard were affected.

8. Sep 4, 2003Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several trailer homes had water flooded in them at Low Hollow, along Kentucky Highway 30, about 2 miles southwest of Jackson. Several people were left temporarily homeless. Water was over the road at Caney Fork. The rushing floodwaters washed out bridge supports, shifted wooden bridges, and submerged several vehicles as water and mud fell from hillsides. An access tunnel road cut under railroad tracks was submerged along Kentucky Highway 52. Also along Kentucky Highway 52, a portion of a hillside fell onto the road near Chenowee, and closed both lanes. Along Kentucky Highway 30, a driver of a delivery truck drove through high water, and drove off the side of the road into a…

9. Jun 10, 1998Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Highway 30 near Cane Creek 3 miles west of Jackson was water covered. Water covered a nearby trailer park which residents had to evacuate due to the high water. More than forty homes and trailers sustained water damage.

10. May 9, 2009Flash Flood$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Six to seven feet of water was covering Ky Hwy 30. Two single wide trailers were seen floating by. One double wide was in the middle of the flood waters and rescuers were having difficulty reaching the occupants. Highway 30 W was closed near the detention center.

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 Aug 17, 1988

All-time low

−26°FJan 18, 1994

Warmest night

79°FAug 12, 1985

Coldest day

−6°FJan 20, 1985

Wettest day

5.10 inNov 28, 1973

Snowiest day

14.5 in2 times, most recently Jan 23, 2016

Hottest year

2024mean 57.0°F

Coldest year

2014mean 53.1°F

Wettest year

195063.06 in

Driest year

196331.19 in

Snowiest season

34.6 in1963-64

Station Paintsville 1E (USC00156136), 630 ft elevation, 38.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1972 to September 29, 2026; 88.6% 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 USC00156136.
• 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.