Owsley County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

River crests

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 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 (353).

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. Feb 16, 2003Flood, Owsley$1.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 0700 EST, February 17, the South Fork of the Kentucky River crested at 38.64 feet in Booneville. This is 11.64 feet above flood stage.

2. May 28, 1996Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads were flooded or washed out across the county.

3. Sep 17, 2004Flood, Owsley$136,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Four to 5 inches of water flowing across Highway 1350.

4. Apr 18, 1998Flash Flood$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   From April 18 to 19, most of southeast Kentucky received 1 to 3 inches of rain, but some spots received 3 to 5 inches. The heavy rain resulted in widespread flash flooding, small stream flooding, and eventually river flooding. Numerous roads were flooded, or blocked by mud and rock slides. Flooding was especially severe along the Right and Left Forks of Beaver Creek in Floyd County. Approximately 229 homes were affected by the flash flooding in Floyd County, and numerous residents had to be evacuated.

5. Jun 24, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$70,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency Management reported a tree blew down onto a house in Island City. This tree also brought powerlines down onto the home, adding to the damage. Additionally, several more trees were downed along Kentucky Highway 11 south of Booneville.

6. Apr 16, 1998Flash Flood$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms on the evening of April 16 produced wind damage, hail, and tornadoes. At Windy in Wayne County, a barn was damaged by thunderstorm winds, and a spotter south of Brodhead in Rockcastle County estimated wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph. East of Hazel Patch, in Laurel County, a trailer was damaged by thunderstorm winds. Two tornadoes also touched down, one in Rockcastle County, and another that moved from Wayne into McCreary County. The thunderstorms also brought extremely heavy rain, and this resulted in widespread flash flooding from the 16th to the 17th. Numerous roads were flooded, and some roads and bridges were washed out. There were also several massive mud and…

7. Mar 31, 2022High Wind, Owsley$53,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The local utility company reported that a large tree had been blown down onto and damaged a double circuit adjacent to the substation, located 1/2 miles west of city of Booneville, causing a major power outage across much of the county. Two other power poles, one up the left hand fork of Cow Creek and the other near Vincent, were snapped due to large trees falling onto the power lines. Otherwise, the emergency manager reported a number of small power outages around the county due to fallen trees. The extensive damage required the electric company to call in additional assistance from outside the area.

8. May 27, 2004Flood, Owsley$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The South Fork of the Kentucky River at Booneville rose to 30.11 feet, which was 3.11 feet above flood stage.

9. Feb 16, 2003Flood, Owsley$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lower Island Creek Bridge on Highway 1350 and 846 was under up to 6 feet of water.

10. Feb 19, 2012Winter Weather, Owsley$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous trees, downed by heavy wet snow, were blocking roads all over 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

104°FJun 29, 2012

All-time low

−18°F3 times, most recently Jan 19, 1994

Warmest night

76°F3 times, most recently Jul 27, 2023

Coldest day

4°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

4.29 inApr 3, 2015

Snowiest day

19.8 inMar 13, 1993

Hottest year

2024mean 59.8°F

Coldest year

1996mean 54.7°F

Wettest year

201867.98 in

Driest year

200134.37 in

Snowiest season

62.7 in1995-96

Station Jackson (USW00003889), 1,461 ft elevation, 22.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1981 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00003889.
• 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.