McCreary County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within McCreary County: 2.
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.

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 (14), NASA (1).

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. Sep 6, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dispatch reported a couple of very large storage buildings, composed of metal siding and wood framing, were destroyed as severe thunderstorm winds moved through south of Whitley City.

2. Dec 18, 2009Winter Storm, Mccreary$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The McCreary county emergency manager reported that 37,000 customers state wide were without power as of 2pm on the 19th. The southern Kentucky RECC reported that 3500 customers in McCreary county alone were without power. The Cumberland Valley RECC reported that 250-300 customers were without power in McCreary county as broken or damaged power lines were being replaced or repaired.

3. Nov 10, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Straight line wind caused significant damage to the Pine Knot area. During a church service, the roof of a church was torn apart, along with terrible structural damage. The steeple was completely blown off and destroyed. The church was declared a total loss. The picnic shelter next door was completely flattened. Miraculously, nobody sustained injuries, omitting a couple of scrapes and bruises. Several outbuildings were damaged and blown off of foundations. Several trailer homes suffered roof damage and were blown off of their foundations. Numerous large trees in the area were blown down and several motor vehicles sustained damage.

4. Jun 5, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were roofs and porches blown off of homes. Trees and power lines were down across the county. Nearly every tree in one hollow was blown down.

5. Mar 12, 2020Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A supercell thunderstorm tracked across McCreary County during the late evening hours of March 12th. A National Weather Service Jackson survey team found intermittent damage along the entire path. There were three distinct areas of damage where the tornado touched down. On Chitwood Ridge Rd, several hardwood trees were snapped off. There was also a house with some roof damage.||The next area of tornado damage was on the northern side of Whitley City along north Highway 1651, where more hardwood trees were snapped off along with some damage to a few two-story buildings.||Finally, the third area of tornado damage was northeast of Whitley City on Stephens Farm Rd. A tree landed on a…

6. Dec 9, 2008Strong Wind, Mccreary$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds downed numerous trees and power lines in and around Whitley City.

7. Feb 5, 2020Flood$70,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency Management observed portions of Yamacraw Boat Dock Rd west of Stearns along with a concrete boat ramp washed out due to flood waters. The road bed under the road and boat ramp washed down the hill side causing everything to crack and break loose, sliding down the hillside.

8. Apr 12, 2020Strong Wind, Mccreary$65,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong storm system and associated cold front approached eastern Kentucky on Easter Sunday, with rainfall beginning during the afternoon. As the low pressure system intensified and moved into the Ohio Valley during the evening of the 12th, wind speeds began to drastically increase across eastern Kentucky. The Kentucky Mesonet station in Dorton, (positioned at 2774 feet elevation) recorded a 79 mph wind gust.||Several other gusts of 40+ mph occurred, leading to numerous instances of damage across eastern Kentucky. This includes downed trees, power lines, and structural damage, causing several roadways to be blocked for a period of time into the morning of the 13th. As many as…

9. Mar 12, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$55,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Fire Rescue officials reported homes damaged in the Williamsburg St/Trooper Island area east of Whitley City. Power lines were also downed.

10. Feb 5, 2008Strong Wind, Mccreary$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous trees were blown down county wide between 9 pm and midnight. The worst damaged appeared to have occurred in the western portion of the county.

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 2, 2012

All-time low

−26°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

73°FJun 30, 2024

Coldest day

0°FDec 24, 2022

Wettest day

5.00 inJan 30, 2010

Snowiest day

10.0 inJan 30, 1966

Hottest year

1999mean 56.9°F

Coldest year

1976mean 51.4°F

Wettest year

201182.48 in

Driest year

200041.07 in

Snowiest season

25.6 in1983-84

Station Oneida (USC00406829), 1,440 ft elevation, 15.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1959 to October 22, 2026; 94.4% 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 USC00406829.
• 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.