Butler County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Butler County: 1.
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 (20).

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. Mar 1, 1997Flood, Butler$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Green River crested at 30.7 feet at Rochester at 1000 am est on March 7 (flood stage is 17 feet). This is the second biggest flood next to January 1950. Many homes were flooded out in Rochester and Woodberry along the river. In Woodberry, the river crested at 48.9 feet (flood stage is 33 feet) at 11 am est March 5. At Brownsville, the river crested at 33.8 feet (flood stage is 18 feet) at 4 pm est on March 5. This caused mainly bottomland flooding. At Munfordville, the river crested at 43.9 feet at 10 pm est March 3 (flood stage is 28 feet). This caused significant bottomland flooding. 25 families were cut off by the water there. These three counties received federal disaster aid.

2. Nov 17, 2013Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-1 tornado with maximum winds of 105 mph first touched down just west of Huntsville, located in Butler County. Damage was first surveyed on Blaine Road where several trees were uprooted. While moving across Huntsville along Huntsville-Quality road, it damaged a few homes and uprooted additional trees. Along Silver City-Huntsville road, additional homes and outbuildings were damaged. A man was injured within a double wide mobile home when its roof and a wall were lifted from the structure. This injury occurred just west of the intersection of Panther Creek and Silver City-Huntsville Road. Finally, farther east along Muddy Creek Road, the tornado damaged several additional…

3. Jul 12, 2020Lightning$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A residence on Huntsville-Quality Road was struck by lightning and caught on fire.

4. Dec 22, 2004Winter Storm, Butler$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A winter storm dropped about three to six inches of sleet and snow over the area. Some structural damage was reported, mainly to outbuildings and service station canopies. About 3300 residents were without power for some period of time.

5. May 2, 2010Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Green River at Woodbury crested at 49.5 feet around 2 PM EST on May 5. Flood stage at Woodbury is 33 feet. Major flooding occurs at this level. Woodbury was nearly cut off, and parts of the town were flooded. U.S. Highway 231 near the William Natcher Parkway was flooded and Morgantown High School was cut off.

6. May 2, 2010Flood$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Green River at Rochester Ferry crested at 28.6 feet around 6 AM EST on May 7. Flood stage at Rochester is 17 feet. Moderate flooding occurs at this level, with water in basements of some homes in Rochester. Sections of Kentucky Highway 70 and Highway 1117 were closed by high water.

7. Dec 23, 2015Flash Flood$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Butler County emergency manager reported heavy flooding at Oak Ridge Rd and Indian Camp Creek. Water rose over the bridge and roadway, washing out a portion of the road.

8. Mar 1, 2017Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The National Weather Service in conjunction with WxorNot Bowling Green Meteorologist Landon Hampton determined a low end EF-1 tornado touched down in southwestern Butler County. The tornado touched down south of D&G archery in far western Butler County. The overwhelming majority of the damage was snapped, twisted & uprooted trees. The only exception was a building damaged right near the initial point where it touched down near a pond. The tornado was in an extremely rugged area except where it crossed Hwy 70. The tornado ended about 3/4 mile northeast of Hwy 70 in rugged countryside.

9. Mar 1, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Butler County Emergency Manager reported structural damage to a boat dock on a pond. Also the severe thunderstorm winds resulted in large diameter trees snapped and uprooted along Highway 70 and Witaker Road.

10. Nov 6, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorms damaged the roof of two homes and a storage shed in Woodbury.

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

113°FJul 28, 1930

All-time low

−21°F2 times, most recently Jan 24, 1963

Warmest night

81°F4 times, most recently Jul 6, 2022

Coldest day

−1°FFeb 9, 1899

Wettest day

6.15 inDec 7, 1924

Snowiest day

18.0 inMar 9, 1960

Hottest year

1921mean 63.0°F

Coldest year

1958mean 55.1°F

Wettest year

197976.56 in

Driest year

193030.50 in

Snowiest season

48.0 in1959-60

Station Bowling Green Warren County Airport (USW00093808), 523 ft elevation, 22.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 26, 2026; 99.8% 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 USW00093808.
• 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.