Martin County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (569), WV GS (29), NASA (3).

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. May 31, 2004Flood, Martin$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   On the afternoon of May 30th, a warm front was draped across eastern Kentucky. With extremely moist and unstable air, this boundary helped spark the beginning of a most unusual event for eastern Kentucky, and for that matter, for the country. Countless supercell thunderstorms developed along this boundary for hours on end, causing widespread tree damage and damage to structures. Flash flooding was also occurring with these storms which contained torrential rain. Unfortunately for eastern Kentucky, this was not the end to the severe weather or the flooding. Later in the night, mostly in the early hours of May 31st, a potent cold front burst through, bringing destruction to most if…

2. Jun 1, 2004Flood, Martin$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This event is actually a continuation of a flooding event which started on May 31st. Many roads were washed out, homes destroyed, and automobiles ruined. Some people were stranded in their own homes and had to be rescued.

3. Mar 2, 2012Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The storm damage survey team from the Jackson Weather Office determined that a tornado exited Johnson County and entered Martin County at about 725 pm EST, 4 miles west of Davisport. The tornado had weakened to EF-2 strength by the time it entered Martin County. The tornado tracked east-northeast across Martin County and exited the county and state of Kentucky just east of Warfield at around 738 pm EST. A two story brick building and several huge trees were blown down in the town of Davella as the tornado passed by just to the north. The tornado then caused damage to the second story of a home in Debord at 732 pm EST. The tornado also caused significant damage in eastern Martin…

4. Jun 22, 2000Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Slow moving thunderstorms brought a tremendous amount of rain to the area. A bridge was washed out on County Route 2032 at Little Rockcastle Road. A residence in the area also received damage. A residence was flooded on State Route 3 along Rockcastle Creek. Three bridges were also under water in this area. Another bridge was washed out on County Route 1224 on Rockhouse Road. County Route 908, Little Black Log Road, was closed due to high water. Water flowing over State Route 40 closed roads at Black Log and Tomahawk. Water was over the road up to 2 feet deep, these roads were closed for approximately 6 hours.

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

   Numerous trees were blown down or shredded by thunderstorm wind gusts. Hall Branch Road was partially blocked by a mudslide and cable lines were down.

6. Jun 17, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across all of Martin County. Inez was particularly hard hit, with trees and power lines blown down across the city, including at the following locations: Main Street, Route 908 and Turkey Creek Road, New Route 3, Route 645, Old Middlefork Road, Wickerfield Road, Buffalo Horn Road, Rockcastle Road, and Little Rockcastle Road. A tree fell onto and severely damaged a trailer at the Robinson Trailer Park in Inez. A man became trapped in his home in due to downed power lines surrounding the residence, and was still trapped as of that evening. All of the storm damage occurred roughly between 140 pm and 215 pm EDT. However, as of 6:30 pm…

7. Apr 2, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Martin County dispatch relayed a report of a tree through a roof near the 2000 block of Tomahawk Road northwest of Inez.

8. Jul 26, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Martin County 911 center reports trees and power lines down county wide.

9. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several trees blown down and power outages.

10. Jun 10, 1998Flash Flood$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A trailer court was flooded just south of Inez near Davis Branch. Numerous roads flooded.

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

100°F3 times, most recently Aug 18, 1988

All-time low

−20°FJan 20, 1994

Warmest night

77°FJul 22, 1978

Coldest day

1°FDec 25, 1983

Wettest day

4.17 inNov 28, 1973

Snowiest day

13.5 inJan 23, 2016

Hottest year

2025mean 57.9°F

Coldest year

1986mean 52.1°F

Wettest year

201862.34 in

Driest year

198130.21 in

Snowiest season

42.9 in1977-78

Station Dunlow 1 Sw (USC00462522), 1,113 ft elevation, 10.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1971 to September 30, 2026; 96.7% 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 USC00462522.
• 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.