Larue County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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 (4).

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 28, 1997Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 40 year old man was killed as an F3 tornado with winds estimated at 175 mph touched down near Bonnieville in Hart county and moved northeast 9 miles to the town of Magnolia in Larue county before lifting. The deceased man was killed in his house in Hammonville as the house was blown 50 yards away from its foundation. A few other poorly secured homes were lifted clean off their foundations as well. Most of the injured were hurt when the tornado crossed I-65 at exit 71 causing several accidents. In Hart county, 14 people were injured in addition to the 1 death. 32 houses and 8 mobile homes were heavily damaged or destroyed most in Bonnieville. DES officials estimate total damage…

2. Jan 2, 2006Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down near Talley in southwest Larue County, and was intermittently on the ground until lifting just east of Tanner. Near Talley, the tornado lifted the roof off a home. A home on Upton-Talley Road had the front porch and much of the roof removed. The tornado also did moderate damage to barns and destroyed several outbuildings, and moved a 2700 pound motorboat a distance of 220 feet. In the Oak Hill area, two barns and some outbuildings were destroyed. Another barn and a home were damaged.

3. Jun 26, 2013Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   During the late evening hours, a bowing segment embedded within a lengthy line of storms parallel to and south of the Ohio River began to surge southeast. On the northeast section of this segment, a reflectivity notch became apparent. A circulation developed and quickly spawned an EF-2 tornado across northern LaRue County. ||The tornado touched down near the Hardin-LaRue county line between Routes 210 and 61 just northeast of Tonieville. On Castleman Road, just northeast of the Castleman-Carter Brother's Road intersection, a metal shop had its metal sheeting roof removed and thrown downwind around 100 yards. Its garage door was bent and insulation was scattered about. Several…

4. Mar 1, 1997Flood, Larue$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   4 to 9 inches of rain fell in less than 24 hours causing widespread flooding and/or flash flooding resulting in numerous water covered and closed roads, evacuations and rescues. Most of these counties were declared disaster areas and given federal assistance. The exceptions were Clinton, Cumberland, Garrard, Green, Lincoln, Madison and Marion. Many homes and businesses were effected during the flooding and flash flooding. Damage amounts include flooding and flash flooding totals over the 2 day period.

5. Feb 29, 2012Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down near Kyle Street around 2 miles west of Hodgenville. It began as a very narrow 80 yard tornado that did minor roof and shingle damage. It uprooted some cedar trees and damaged some fencing. This tornado then crossed Tanner Road and briefly lifted just west of downtown Hodgenville after staying on the ground for just less than one mile. The tornado then touched down again on the east side of Main Street near the State Farm Insurance Company and Citizen's Union Bank. At this point the tornado strengthened to an EF-2. Two cars were rotated and one was flipped onto the other in the State Farm parking lot. On Wobegone Way, the tornado widened to 200 yards and…

6. Apr 3, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two miles SW on Hodgenville on Old Sonora Road a large 36x30 foot well built metal barn sustained significant structural damage when the barn broke free from the foundation. Portions of the trusses and 6x6 poles were found 100 yards to the east. Several large pieces of metal roofing and siding were blown eastward up to 1/2 mile and several splintered sections of the roof were impaled in the ground nearby. There was sporadic wind damage eastward from this point and then a concentrated area of damage at Larue County Middle School. Wind gusts lifted a section of the cafeteria roof and threw it about 25 feet downwind to the east. About 100 yards further east from the school, a small…

7. Jan 29, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds blew a tree on to a home. Other homes in the Buffalo area had shingle damage. Several trees were downed in the area.

8. Jul 13, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees and power lines were blown down. Unspecified structural damage was reported.

9. Jun 23, 2017Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado first downed a large tree on McDowell Rd 2.8 miles south of Hodgenville. It damaged tree tops at the Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park as it moved northeast. At the end of Earl Jones Road, the tornado destroyed one cinder block and wood barn and damaged the roof of another, scattering debris several hundred yards. The tornado then skipped intermittently over primarily open farmland for several miles before uprooting and snapping several trees along Leafdale Road west of Highway 470.

10. Mar 28, 1997Tornado$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A second tornado formed on the southern flank of the supercell that produced the tornado from Bonnieville to Magnolia. This second tornado formed as the first one dissipated. This second tornado touched down in Creal and did some damage there including a barn that was thrown across Highway 61. County road 2762 was also blocked by downed trees. Then the tornado proceeded northeastward and crossed Highway 210 into southern Larue county where again several trees and some power lines blocked the road there. There were 5 mobile homes and 4 barns destroyed and a church damaged in Pleasant Ridge. From there, the tornado moved northeastward into Marion county and dissipated 3 miles west…

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

111°F2 times, most recently Jul 6, 2012

All-time low

−20°FJan 18, 1982

Warmest night

85°FAug 9, 2002

Coldest day

−6°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

8.50 inJun 28, 2026

Snowiest day

6.5 inJan 30, 2010

Hottest year

2012mean 60.9°F

Coldest year

1976mean 53.0°F

Wettest year

197972.32 in

Driest year

200637.61 in

Station Nolin Rvr Lake (USC00155834), 623 ft elevation, 34.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1964 to October 27, 2026; 96.9% 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 USC00155834.
• 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.