Harlan County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (237), NASA (9).

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 6, 2020Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A local newspaper and citizens reported a couple of mobile homes being swept into the Cumberland River outside of Harlan as the river overspilled its banks. Approximately 70 homes were reported to have been impacted by flood waters across the county. Various streets, especially northeast of Harlan, were closed due to flood waters, including Kentucky Highway 413 from U.S. Highway 421 to Kentucky Highway 522. Portions of U.S. Highway 119 were also closed around Loyall and Baxter near the Cumberland River as major flood stage was reached. This forced the closure of flood gates in Harlan.

2. Apr 17, 2013Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A foot of water was flowing over May Street. A couple of mudslides and a flooded business were reported in the Middle of Harlan as well. Substantial damage was done to roads across the county, mainly from urban and small stream flooding and from ditches washing out.

3. Apr 3, 2007Tornado$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF0 tornado with estimated winds at 75 mph, a path length of 1 mile and a path width of 50 yards snapped numerous large trees, destroyed an old barn, and damaged a few outbuildings and roofs.

4. Jun 21, 2016Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Law enforcement reported several instances of significant flash flooding between Bledsoe and Baxter. Radar estimates and rain gauges indicated 3 to 6 inches of rain fell across Harlan County, with one cooperative observer 3 miles north of Harlan measuring 6.02 inches of rain. Considerable property damage was incurred, including that to between 75 to 100 homes as well as several fences and yards. Some homes in Bledsoe ended up with 3 to 4 feet of water inside of them. Roads and small bridges along U.S. Highway 421 were washed away as creeks spilled over their banks. Roads were further hampered by a rock/mud slide at U.S. Highway 119 and Sukey Ridge Rd outside of Baxter. The…

5. Feb 10, 2018Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads in Cranks, Evarts, and Harlan and elsewhere around the county were closed or impassable due to flooding. A written state of emergency was declared for Harlan County during the height of the flooding.

6. Feb 16, 2003Flood, Harlan$366,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 0900 EST, February 16, the Cumberland River crested at 20.0 feet at Baxter, which is 4.0 feet above flood stage.

7. Apr 17, 2013Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Clusters of thunderstorms formed over central Kentucky and then pushed eastward into east Kentucky during the morning hours of April 17th. The thunderstorms produced isolated wind damage early in the morning in Letcher County, but the bigger impacts were from flash flooding later in the morning. Flash flooding was reported in Estill, Owsley, Bell, and Harlan Counties, but the worst of it occurred in Clay and Knox Counties. Several people had to be rescued from the rising waters in the Brightshade area of Clay County and along Highway 223 near Scalf in Knox County.

8. Oct 17, 2006High Wind, Harlan$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roofs off of several homes and businesses. Windows blown in in Cumberland. Hundreds of trees blown down. Power lines down all over. Several people had to be rescued from homes.

9. May 11, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous reports were received of downed trees and power lines. The State Police reported that at least 50 trees had fallen across roads as a result of thunderstorm wind gusts.

10. Mar 17, 2002Flash Flood$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rains that fell on March 17 and March 18 caused several evacuations as well as numerous road closures across much of Harlan County. 12 hour rainfall amounts exceeded three 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

103°F2 times, most recently Jul 1, 2012

All-time low

−24°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

73°F4 times, most recently Jul 20, 2025

Coldest day

−2°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

6.32 inApr 17, 1998

Snowiest day

10.0 in2 times, most recently Feb 12, 1985

Hottest year

2024mean 57.6°F

Coldest year

1976mean 50.9°F

Wettest year

201172.14 in

Driest year

198837.04 in

Snowiest season

40.2 in1977-78

Station Tazewell (USC00408868), 1,365 ft elevation, 33.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1966 to October 22, 2026; 99.4% 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 USC00408868.
• 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.