Hancock County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Hancock 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 (2).

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Mar 2, 1997Flood, Hancock$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Record rainfalls from late Friday evening February 28 through Sunday morning March 2 and additional heavy rainfall on Tuesday March 4 caused the worst flooding on the Ohio River since 1964 and in some spots since 1937. Damage attributed to river flooding alone was at 115 million across Jefferson county Kentucky bringing the total damage across the county to 200 million including the earlier flash flooding and flooding. McAlpine Lock at Louisville climbed over flood stage late Sunday evening March 2 and crested at 38.8 feet on the upper gauge (flood stage is 23 feet) at 5 am est March 7 and on the lower gauge at 70.6 feet (flood stage is 55 feet) at 6 pm est on March 7. At other…

2. Oct 18, 2007Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado crossed into Hancock County from Daviess County, KY, near Highway 1389. It continued northeast, with intermittent touchdowns, until it lifted in the southwest outskirts of Hawesville. A mobile home was destroyed along Highway 1389. Several barns and sheds were blown down near the intersection of highways 271 and 1389. Most of the damage, however, was in the form of large trees being uprooted or snapped. The parent thunderstorm crossed into Perry County, IN, where it later produced another tornado to the northeast of Cannelton.

3. Jun 26, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were downed and several barns and other industrial buildings were damaged in a 1 1/2 mile wide swath that stretched for about 6 miles just west-southwest of Lockport. Evidence of both cyclonic and anti-cyclonic rotation of downed trees and debris was observed by the NWS damage surveyor at the eastern end of the area, where the greatest damage occurred, including the destruction of a large, well-built metal barn and another, smaller industrial outbuilding. Interior damage of walls occurred to living quarters attached to the metal barn. Farther west, a wooden barn was pushed eastward 3 feet off its foundation.

4. Mar 2, 2012Tornado$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado had intermittent touchdowns along a long track that began 7 miles west of Cloverport. It traveled in Hancock County for 6 miles before entering Breckinridge County 1 mile west of Cloverport. The tornado first touched down along Route 2181. Vinyl siding was removed from a home and small outbuildings were damaged. It then continued eastward, intermittently touching down and crossing Route 69. Four miles west of Cloverport, additional minor damage was surveyed to a group of homes along Route 2169. This tornado brought EF-1 damage to Hancock County.

5. Apr 26, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A Hancock County official reported several trees down in the area, one of which fell on a truck. The majority of the storm damage was reported in the Lewisport area.

6. Jul 21, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Shingles were blown off of roofs. A trained spotter estimated an 80 mph wind gust.

7. Jul 7, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   State officials reported several trees down in the area due to severe thunderstorm winds. One tree fell onto a house.

8. Jan 17, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$22,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Four trees down on a house, mobile home blown off foundation

9. Jul 7, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 3 foot diameter tree fell onto a mobile home.

10. Dec 21, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A reporter from the Hawesville newspaper provided information about a home on Goering Road that was badly damaged by winds estimated at 70 mph. The home lost its front porch and a section of an attached roof. A nearby barn was destroyed. The house's attached garage had its door blown in, with a section of the garage's back wall bowed out.

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°FSep 7, 1954

All-time low

−17°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

80°F4 times, most recently Aug 5, 2010

Coldest day

−6°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

6.24 inAug 1, 1950

Snowiest day

12.0 inJan 17, 1978

Hottest year

1941mean 60.7°F

Coldest year

1979mean 53.9°F

Wettest year

195073.85 in

Driest year

195328.83 in

Station Tell City (USC00128698), 390 ft elevation, 6.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1939 to October 27, 2026; 96.6% 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 USC00128698.
• 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.