Meade County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Meade County: 31.
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 (8).

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. Feb 5, 2008Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado caused extensive tree and power line damage near Happy Ridge Road, Wood Dale Road, and Maple Grove Drive. Several businesses were damaged in the Broadway and Lakeview Drive area. A cinder block storage building was toppled. The tornado knocked down the exterior wall of another building. A storage building was lifted up and thrown across Broadway. The Old Brandenburg Telephone Company Office had roof damage. A church was damaged near the intersection of Broadway and Highway 933.

2. Mar 2, 1997Flood, Meade$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Record rainfalls from late Friday evening February 28 through Sunday morning March 2 and additional heavy rainfall on Tuesday March 4 caused the worst flooding on the Ohio River since 1964 and in some spots since 1937. Damage attributed to river flooding alone was at 115 million across Jefferson county Kentucky bringing the total damage across the county to 200 million including the earlier flash flooding and flooding. McAlpine Lock at Louisville climbed over flood stage late Sunday evening March 2 and crested at 38.8 feet on the upper gauge (flood stage is 23 feet) at 5 am est March 7 and on the lower gauge at 70.6 feet (flood stage is 55 feet) at 6 pm est on March 7. At other…

3. May 5, 1996Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F1 tornado estimated at around 100 mph embedded in downburst winds moved from just north of Ekron to 3 miles southeast of Brandenburg. 25 residences received damage. 5 mobile homes were completely destroyed. 10 people were injured, 3 serious enough for hospitalization. The damage path due to the straight-line winds was estimated around 5 miles long and 1 mile wide, although the tornado path appeared to be a mile long and 100 yards wide.

4. Nov 18, 2017Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down just inside the Breckinridge-Meade County line north of Irvington. It pushed a large tobacco barn 15 feet eastward, tore off its roof, and collapsed several walls. Debris from the barn was scattered over a half mile downwind. The tornado moved east-northeast, skipping along a wooded |area where several trees were snapped or uprooted, then hit a mobile home on Fackler Road, rolling the anchored unit several times, destroying the home. The owner sustained only minor injuries as he |rolled over with his house, crawling out of a hole after it settled. A garage on the property was also destroyed. The tornado continued skipping along the northwest side of Sandy…

5. Jan 29, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Six barns were damaged by thunderstorm winds. Out of that number, two were destroyed.

6. Mar 29, 2002Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roofs were destroyed, siding on homes was destroyed, windows were shattered, gutters and vehicles were dented. The ground was covered by golfball size hail.

7. Apr 7, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An NWS team storm survey found that straight line winds of 75 to 80 mph caused damage east of Concordia, including downed trees and structural damage.

8. Jan 30, 2013Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A storm survey revealed that an EF-0 tornado with estimated 80 mph winds and a width of 200 yards struck Meade County around 5.7 miles southeast of Brandenburg. Initially, this tornado touched down in a grove of trees near the end of Kurtz Drive. It then damaged several homes on Kurtz Drive and near the intersection of Thornhill Drive and Gaines Road. One owner of a home east of Gaines Road mentioned that water was evacuated from all 4 toilets as the tornado passed by. Local residents reported a loud roar. Another home along Gaines Road has its front door pulled off. Before lifting right off Tom Cain Road, the tornado damaged a small shed.

9. Jun 10, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Straight line wind damage was reported by spotters and DES. 3 trailers were destroyed and 19 damaged in Flaherty, otherwise, trees and power lines were down.

10. Feb 27, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Two trailers were destroyed, and 4 were damaged. Trees and power lines downed.

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

106°F2 times, most recently Jul 7, 2012

All-time low

−22°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

83°F3 times, most recently Jun 29, 2024

Coldest day

1°FJan 20, 1985

Wettest day

7.22 inMar 1, 1997

Snowiest day

15.5 inJan 17, 1994

Hottest year

2024mean 61.9°F

Coldest year

1960mean 54.5°F

Wettest year

201868.83 in

Driest year

195330.38 in

Snowiest season

50.1 in1977-78

Station Louisville International Airport (USW00093821), 480 ft elevation, 27.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 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 USW00093821.
• 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.