Shelby County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (4).

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 1, 1997Flash Flood$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   1 to 2 inches of rain fell on top of 24 hour totals from 6 to 10 inches resulting in widespread flash flooding with many roads water covered and closed and homes damaged. A 13 year old boy was killed as he drowned trying to clean out his culvert.

2. Feb 6, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Straight line winds destroyed several large barns and uprooted several trees on Mt. Eden Road south of Interstate 64.

3. Feb 6, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Straight line winds destroyed several large barns uprooted trees on Hebron Road near Scott Station and Harrington Mill Roads.

4. Feb 6, 2008Tornado$175,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Most of the damage caused by this tornado was concentrated in the Flood Road area, as it intensified while moving to the northeast. The tornado destroyed a large, well built barn, and threw the structure 50 yards. It moved an 18 thousand pound trailer four feet, and flipped it. Another barn was destroyed, and every shingle was blown off a well constructed roof top. Several other homes suffered some degree of roof damage. Besides the structural damage, around 40 large hardwood trees were uprooted along the path.

5. May 27, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two houses were heavily damaged by thunderstorm winds.

6. May 2, 2010Flood$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Four to six inches of rain across Shelby county May 1-2 led to areal flooding in spots across the county on the 2nd.

7. Feb 6, 2008Tornado$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado destroyed a large barn. Sheet metal from the barn was thrown over 300 yards, and some metal from the barn was 50 yards to the west.

8. Jun 5, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An upper level disturbance interacted with unstable air over the Ohio Valley, setting off severe storms over central Kentucky.

9. May 11, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds damaged the fire station in Bagdad. Trees and power lines were downed between Bagdad and Cropper.

10. Oct 4, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Trees were downed in Shelbyville. A truck was blown on to a liquid propane tank.

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, 27.2 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.