Lincoln County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (16).

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. Apr 20, 1996Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado embedded in straight-line winds moved through Lincoln county destroying or damaging 20 houses and mobile homes and 6 buildings. DES coordinator Winfred Todd reported the damage path went from near McKinney across the western part of the county to Preachersville across the eastern part of the county near the Garrard county line. Also damaged or destroyed were the Faith Temple Church, two show pavillions at the county fairgrounds 3 miles south of Stanford and a giant 70 by 70 foot screen at the Stanford Drive-In. The Maywood area was perhaps the hardest hit. A home was picked up and slammed down 50 to 100 feet away and shredded. 7 people had minor injuries including a 2…

2. Jul 19, 1996Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Up to 9 inches of rain from the late afternoon through the evening over about a 6 hour period. The flood waters displaced an estimated 40 families, washed out roads and inflicted more than 1 million dollars worth of damage across the county. St. Asaph Creek, which runs through Stanford, overran its banks and inundated many homes and businesses in town with water. Many homes and businesses on main street were filled with at least 5 feet of water. Seven bridges were washed out across the county. Also, several mobile homes were washed from their foundations. The county judge executive declared a disaster emergency for Lincoln county.

3. Jan 2, 2006Tornado$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two people were injured as an F2 tornado swept through western and central Lincoln County. A man received minor injures when a barn he was in collapsed around him. An elderly woman was hospitalized with a broken collar bone and nose. She had been sucked out of her mobile home by strong winds when she tried to open her front door. In all, eight mobile homes were destroyed, with most of the damage being concentrated south of the McKinney area. At one location, the storm survey team found that the tornado had embedded two by six boards firmly into the ground.

4. Jun 26, 2018Flash Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The emergency manager reported that flood waters were at least 6 feet deep, and that oil was leaking into the Green River. There was road and building damage at State Road 78 west of Stanford, State Road 2141, and State Road 1194 west of Stanford. To the south of Junction City at Mount Salem Road a trailer park was flooded. Al Schuler Road was washed out.

5. Apr 28, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roofs were blown off houses. Barns were destroyed. Vehicles were damaged by flying debris. A 45 inch diameter tree was pulled out of the ground.

6. May 26, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several homes and barns were damaged. The major portion of the roof was blown off one of the homes. One barn was completely destroyed, and some farm equipment inside was damaged or destroyed.

7. Apr 10, 2009Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado began in Pulaski County in the Jackson, KY County Warning Area giving a total path length of 6.9 miles. Damage to homes, barns, mobile homes and trees were observed. A rating of EF1 was assigned by NWS Louisville survey teams with wind speeds of 100 to 110 mph and a 100 yard wide path width. Near the end of the tornado's lifespan multiple vorticies were witnessed just before dissipation. This was when the tornado did its greatest damage, moving a conventional home more than ten feet off it's foundation and destroying an unoccupied mobile home.

8. Aug 28, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Lincoln County emergency manager reported that a barn was blown down on Mt. Salem Road due to severe thunderstorm winds. There was also roof damage to multiple other barns in the area. Two metal silos overturned and damaged.

9. Feb 28, 2011Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An NWS storm survey confirmed an EF-1 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 100 mph touched down about a mile southwest of Stanford. It traveled southeast damaging the middle school complex on Highway 27 about a mile south of Stanford. The tornado continued to damage large barns and out buildings as well as snap trees until it lifted about 2.1 miles northwest of Crab Orchard.

10. Jul 5, 2006Flash Flood$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    High water was reported in the Broughtontown, McKinney, Waynesburg, and Crab Orchard areas. A spotter in Crab Orchard reported 3.25 inches of rain over a 24 hour period ending at 215 PM EST, with an inch of that falling between 1 PM and 215 PM. Water was in five homes in the Broughtontown School Road area. Some residents had to be rescued from their homes.

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

105°F2 times, most recently Jun 30, 2012

All-time low

−24°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

79°FJul 12, 2025

Coldest day

0°FJan 18, 1994

Wettest day

4.48 inJan 1, 2022

Snowiest day

12.0 inJan 22, 2016

Hottest year

2007mean 59.7°F

Coldest year

1980mean 53.9°F

Wettest year

201873.40 in

Driest year

200533.78 in

Snowiest season

24.0 in2021-22

Station Crab Orchard 6 N (USC00151890), 1,025 ft elevation, 12.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1979 to September 30, 2026; 89.9% 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 USC00151890.
• 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.