Harrison County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Mar 1, 1997Flood, Harrison$4.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Record flooding occurred all along the Licking River basin as 24 hour rainfall amounts beginning early March 1 totaled from 6 to 10 inches. Stoner Creek at Paris crested at a record 30.0 feet (flood stage is 18 feet) at 5 am est on March 2. The Licking River at Cynthiana crested at a record 28.0 feet (flood stage is 20 feet) at 530 pm est on March 2. The Licking River at Blue Licks Spring crested at a record 47.6 feet (flood stage is 25 feet) at 7 pm est on March 2. The towns of Blue Licks Spring, Cynthiana and Paris all received major flooding with many homes and businesses under water. All of these counties were declared federal disaster areas and received federal aid. A 66 year…

2. Jun 28, 2005Lightning$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck the Benson United Methodist Church. The building caught fire and was a total loss.

3. Feb 6, 2008Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down near 812 Mt. Vernon Road, damaging a home and a barn at that location. Along Connersville Road, the tornado lifted the roofs off three homes and damaged three others. It also destroyed several barns and outbuildings, and snapped numerous hardwood trees. It damaged a few more barns and trees before lifting about a half mile southwest of Cynthiana. Several businesses in the city of Cynthiana had sign damage from 70 mph straight line winds.

4. Mar 1, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Harrison County emergency manager reported a mobile home was destroyed due to severe thunderstorm winds. This resulted in 2 minor injuries. Another mobile home and a barn had its roofs blown off. There were numerous trees and utility poles down in the area.

5. Oct 7, 2014Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado first touched down about a half mile north of Connersville Pike and a half mile west of Ammerman Pike, where parts of a corn field were flattened. The tornado then continued southeast, where it crossed Connersville Pike and snapped several hardwood trees.||After moving along Sea Biscuit Way, the tornado then veered in a more easterly direction, crossing US-62 and U.S. 27, south of their intersection. Two small outbuildings and a barn were destroyed along Sea Biscuit Way. Eyewitnesses reported two narrow tornadoes in proximity at the same time here. A farm just east|of Highway 62 had two large barns damaged. Two outbuildings and two sheds were also destroyed. The two…

6. Mar 1, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The NWS in conjunction with Harrison County Emergency Management determined the area northeast of Cynthiana along Salem Pike had 70 to 80 mph wind damage. Besides trees being split and uprooted, a double-wide trailer was picked up off blocks and thrown 75 yards. A large deck structure on the front of the double-wide was thrown 40 to 50 yards to the east. There was 1 minor injury. Further east from the trailer was a large metal outbuilding that had roof and doors blown off. Several more trees were uprooted or split. One home had roof and siding damage. Another residence had their garage blown in, and a power pole was split and bent severely towards the east. A single family…

7. Sep 23, 2018Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Pendleton County Emergency Manager reported that a Mexican restaurant in Cynthiana had 4 feet of water in it. Several other restaurants in the area were also flooded.

8. Feb 15, 2003Ice Storm, Harrison$100,000
   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…

9. Dec 21, 2013Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A storm survey confirmed that an EF-1 tornado damaged numerous barns, garages and outbuildings along Dutch Chapel Road. Two homes along this road had significant roof damage. This area of concentrated damage was embedded in a much wider area of lighter damage caused by straight line winds across northern Harrison County. Residents along Dutch Chapel Road reported popping ears and a roaring noise embedded within driving rain and gusty winds associated with a squall line.

10. Jul 22, 2001Flash Flood$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Up to 8 inches of rain fell over Harrison County over about a 3 and a half hour period. Water covered Highway 36 in northwest Harrison County. Eight homes were damaged by flood waters near Gray's Run and Lee's Lick. Flooding was reported in Leesburg at 1000 EST. A few roads were closed around Leesburg at 1030 EST.

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, 30.8 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.