Morgan County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Morgan County: 6.
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 (824).

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. Mar 2, 2012Tornado$75.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A storm damage survey team from the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Jackson, Kentucky confirmed that an EF-3 tornado tracked from Menifee County into Morgan County on March 2, 2012. The tornado entered Morgan County at around 546 pm EST, just to the northwest of Ezel, and tracked east-northeast making a direct hit on downtown West Liberty at around 558 pm EST. The tornado caused extensive damage to nearly every structure in town, including the 105 year old courthouse, the depression-era WPA building that houses the community center and the 100 year old West Liberty United Methodist and Christian churches. The tornado continued northeast from West Liberty through the…

2. Jun 1, 2004Flood, Morgan$2.0 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. May 31, 2004Flood, Morgan$2.0 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…

4. Mar 1, 1997Flash Flood$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads were closed across the county. Some people in the Crockett area had to be evacuated.

5. Sep 12, 2020Flash Flood$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Morgan County Dispatch reported that Cow Branch Road was closed near the community of Lenox due to water over the road, making it impassable. The EM then reported that cars had been washed down the creek, and houses had been inundated from the high water.

6. Jul 14, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$110,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Straight line wind damage associated with a severe thunderstorm produced a path of damage approximately 9 miles long and 4 miles wide. Massive amounts of tree damage occurred all of which was lying in a southeastward direction. One mobile home received roof damage when a large pine tree fell onto the home. Barns and out buildings also received minor damage to the roof tin. Several cars received major damage as trees fell upon them.

7. Apr 9, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm wind gusts uprooted trees and downed power lines in Ezel. Approximately 500 residents of the city were without power and phone service until around 930 pm that evening.

8. Apr 20, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A house trailer was destroyed, and a school was damaged. Numerous trees were also blown down.

9. Sep 12, 2020Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Law enforcement reported portions of Prestonsburg Street and Spaws Creek Road had been closed due to flood waters over the road after two rounds of heavy rain moved through the location. Spaws Creek Road was especially hard hit, as the EM reported Spaws Creek rose out of it banks and took out bridges and caused damage to nearby properties.

10. Sep 12, 2020Flash Flood$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Emergency Management reported extensive flash flooding and damage along War Creek Road as War Creek quickly swelled out of its banks. This led to damages to cars and houses along the road.

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°FAug 19, 1936

All-time low

−28°FJan 28, 1963

Warmest night

87°FJul 29, 1930

Coldest day

−8°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

6.85 inMay 3, 2010

Snowiest day

12.0 in3 times, most recently Jan 23, 2016

Hottest year

2024mean 58.4°F

Coldest year

1978mean 52.0°F

Wettest year

201874.48 in

Driest year

194133.01 in

Snowiest season

45.9 in1959-60

Station Cave Run Lake (USC00152791), 840 ft elevation, 20.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1904 to October 27, 2026; 98.5% 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 USC00152791.
• 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.