Garrard County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Garrard 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 (7).

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. Jul 19, 1996Flash Flood$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   7 to 9 inches of rain fell over about a 6 hour period across mainly the western half of the county through the late afternoon and evening. 8.5% of the total tobacco crop or 300 acres was destroyed. Also, many cars were swept away, and many homes were severely damaged. County officials estimated 1.07 million dollars of property damage, 420 thousand dollars of road damage and 1.2 million dollars of crop damage. The county judge executive declared a disaster emergency for Garrard county.

2. Feb 6, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Straight line windes did heavy damage to three modular homes, one of the homes was uninhabitable. Two trailers and another home had minor damage. Several barns were damaged. Trees and power lines were downed.

3. Nov 10, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ten boats were overturned on Herrington Lake. Docks were overturned. There was roof damage to homes and garages.

4. Jul 28, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tied down house trailer was rolled about 100 feet into the middle of a road and was destroyed. The adult female and 2 children that were in the home at the time were treated for minor injuries. Also, damage occurred to several homes and barns. Trees were downed. The wind was strong enough to push large rolled bales of hay down a hill.

5. Feb 15, 2003Ice Storm, Garrard$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Light to occasionally moderate freezing rain began on the evening of the 15th, and continued through the evening of the 16th. Reports of ice accumulations of an inch were common along and north of Interstate 64, from Frankfort to Winchester. The hardest hit areas were in and around the cities of Frankfort and Lexington, where up to an inch and a quarter of ice accumulation was observed. A 78 year old male in Lawrenceburg in Anderson County died of injuries sustained when he was struck by a falling, ice covered, tree limb. After the storm, it is estimated that nearly 125,000 residents were without power for up to five days or more. Most of the property damage was reported in the…

6. Jun 23, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Garrard County Emergency Manager reported numerous trees down across the northern part of the county. A large tree fell on a storage building and power lines on Chenault Lane near Herrington Lake. Downed power poles and lines were also blocking a county road in the area.

7. Feb 25, 2018Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A small and brief EF1 tornado touched down near a ridge-top on Gillespie Pike east of Lancaster. The tornado first uprooted a tree, then came to a small shed, which it shifted off its foundation into a fence. The main property for that shed then had a loss of roof covering as well as impact from debris. Another outbuilding was overturned and slid about 10 feet. The tornado then crossed the street, where a brick veneer home lost part of its outer wall, as it was struck by debris, as well as some roof damage. A couple of columns on the porch fell. The adjoining garage lost its roof and doors were bent inward, falling onto the vehicles inside. A barn behind the house collapsed and…

8. Aug 4, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A metal and wooden barn was destroyed along with several greenhouses. Trees and power lines were down near 1295 and Gillespie with damage to a house.

9. Jul 14, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Local media reported several trees and power lines down in Garrard County.

10. May 2, 2010Flash Flood$20,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    There were several houses with water in the basement. Bethel Christian Church had 6 feet of water inside.

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

108°F2 times, most recently Jul 15, 1936

All-time low

−21°FJan 24, 1963

Warmest night

83°FJul 8, 1874

Coldest day

−3°F2 times, most recently Jan 12, 1918

Wettest day

8.04 inAug 2, 1932

Snowiest day

13.4 inJan 26, 1943

Hottest year

2024mean 59.8°F

Coldest year

1917mean 52.3°F

Wettest year

201871.98 in

Driest year

193024.89 in

Snowiest season

55.4 in1916-17

Station Lexington Bluegrass Airport (USW00093820), 962 ft elevation, 26.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1872 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00093820.
• 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.