Rockcastle County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Rockcastle County: 1.
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 (62).

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 1, 2002Hail$4.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The same severe thunderstorm that moved through Pulaski county, traveled southeast across much of Rockcastle county. A large swath of hail ranging in size from quarters to golfballs pounded much of the county, including the towns of Brodhead, Level Green, Spiro, and Ottawa. Over 400 homes in Rockcastle county were damaged along with over 900 automobiles.

2. Jan 1, 2022Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency Management reported flash flooding in the community of Rockcastle. Ten streets are completely blocked with water; West Street, Chestnut Grove Rd., State Hwy 1505, West and South Main Street, Church Street, Silver Street, Albright Street, Owen Street, and Burton Lane. Eight businesses, 1 church, and an apartment complex are all inundated with water.

3. Jun 18, 2011Lightning$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck the pumping equipment at the Mt. Vernon water plant early Saturday morning, causing a slow down of the water pumping capability around the county. Around 1 pm, the County Judge Executive declared a state of emergency around the county. The Health Dept decided around 630 pm to shut down all of the restaurants, car washes, and laundromats in the county due to concerns over the safety of the water and to conserve water. None of these businesses were reopened until Sunday morning.

4. Apr 8, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Brodhead City and Rockcastle County Emergency Management conducted a survey on the morning of April 9th. In coordination with NWS staff, it was determined that microburst wind damage occurred in and just outside of Brodhead, given damage fanned out in all directions. Straight-line wind damage was also confirmed from a portion of the squall line of thunderstorms that moved through. A couple of 100+ year old oak trees were uprooted, while power poles were blown over. Structural damage was also sustained to nearly 30 homes and outbuildings/barns along with the roof of a local mall.

5. Jun 6, 2019Flash Flood$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Brodhead Emergency Manager reported numerous roads covered by flowing water throughout Brodhead, including Chestnut Grove Road, six other city streets, two county roads, and three state highways. One street had blacktop washed off of it. A swift water rescue was performed at a kennel on Kentucky Highway 1505 as water entered several residences, six businesses, one church, and city hall. A trailer park had water flowing up to about 10 trailers, while two storage buildings were washed off of their foundation.

6. Jun 11, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several trees were blown down in and around Mt. Vernon, including two trees down on homes and another one down on a vehicle.

7. Apr 5, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A barn was blown down and onto Hwy 618. Another barn was blown down on Ridge Farm Road. A roof was blown off a house on Hwy 1505. Trees were down in all locations including Brodhead.

8. May 8, 2025Lightning$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning was reported to have struck a residence located at the 490 block of Ottawa Church Road (KY-1650) in the community of Broadhead.

9. Jun 25, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$35,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees were blown down across 5 or 6 main roads county wide. Power outages also occurred.

10. Jan 11, 2020Strong Wind, Rockcastle$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Strong environmental winds, and winds associated with intense rain showers immediately along a cold front, damaged structures, downed trees, and caused power outages all across eastern Kentucky on January 11, 2020. The first bout of winds and damage occurred from late morning through late afternoon as gusty winds developed ahead of a strong low pressure system, while the second episode of winds and damage occurred between roughly 9 pm and midnight as a line of showers and the cold front moved through eastern Kentucky.||In Rockcastle County, a tobacco barn was destroyed in the town of Hiatt due to strong gusty winds, while a mobile home was blown over. In Pulaski County, near…

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

105°FJun 29, 2012

All-time low

−25°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

77°FJun 8, 1994

Coldest day

0°FJan 8, 1970

Wettest day

4.78 inOct 1, 1977

Snowiest day

15.0 inMar 9, 1960

Hottest year

2007mean 59.1°F

Coldest year

1960mean 52.5°F

Wettest year

200466.82 in

Driest year

200732.98 in

Snowiest season

63.9 in1959-60

Station London Corbin Airport (USW00003849), 1,181 ft elevation, 25.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1954 to October 26, 2026; 99.5% 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 USW00003849.
• 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.