Simpson County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Mar 1, 1997Flood, Simpson$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flooding and/or flash flooding occurred as a result of 4 to 8 inches of rainfall in less than 24 hours. Numerous roads were water covered and closed across these counties and many homes and businesses were effected. All of these counties were declared federal disaster areas eligible for financial aid. Damage estimates include flash flooding from early March 1 through early March 2.

2. Nov 15, 2005Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A supercell thunderstorm developed over northern Tennessee and moved into south central Kentucky during the early evening hours of November 15. It produced multiple, short-lived tornado touchdowns along its path, which stretched for nearly 25 miles across three counties. The second touchdown from this supercell was in Simpson County near Pilot Knob. The weak F2 tornado damaged trailers and downed many trees along a path of roughly a mile.

3. Jan 21, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Three houses were damaged in the 800 block of West Cedar. The roof was blown off one, while the other two sustained shingle damage. Several businesses had minor damage in the 500 block of West Madison, and an old warehouse building was destroyed in the 10000 block of West Cedar.

4. Jul 19, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two large grain bins were damaged near the intersection of Rapids and Hickory Flat Roads. Several trees also fell in the area, one damaged a mobile home.

5. Mar 1, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Simpson County emergency manager reported power outages to the city of Franklin. Power lines and poles were down.

6. Jun 23, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several Trees were down across the county along with 4 broken power poles on WRECC lines.

7. Jan 17, 2012Tornado$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This long tracked EF-2 tornado had a path length of over 8 miles, touching down in Simpson County and continuing through a portion of Allen County. The twister moved from west to east, traveling 3 miles in Simpson County and 5 1/4 miles in Allen County. This tornado touched down near Hickory Flat Road just south of its intersection with Hickory Flat-Rapids Road. A dozen trees were uprooted near its touchdown. The most significant damage occurred near the intersection of McKendree Church Road and Highway 100 where a well constructed brick house completely lost its roof. Multiple barns, garages, and outbuildings were destroyed here as well. Nearby, a complete roof of one outbuilding…

8. Mar 1, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Simpson County emergency manager reported multiple power poles down along Tyree Chapel Road at Hendricks Road.

9. Jun 21, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Social media reported that a roof had been blown off a home on Blackjack Road near Whiteside Ford Road.

10. Feb 24, 2018Tornado$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The National Weather Service conducted a storm survey across Simpson County. The tornado began just southwest of Lake Spring Road where a couple of trees were snapped or uprooted and a large 24 x 36 barn experienced extensive roof panel damage. Maximum winds were estimated at 80 mph with a width between 75 and 100 yards.||The tornado contnued to cross farmland before striking another barn near the 31W intersection. The tornado threw metal sheeting from the barn in various directions with much of it suspended up in the trees. There were a couple twisted trees on both sides of Highway 31W. Maximum winds at this location were 75 mph with a width of 75 yards. The tornado lifted on the…

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

113°FJul 28, 1930

All-time low

−21°F2 times, most recently Jan 24, 1963

Warmest night

81°F4 times, most recently Jul 6, 2022

Coldest day

−1°FFeb 9, 1899

Wettest day

6.15 inDec 7, 1924

Snowiest day

18.0 inMar 9, 1960

Hottest year

1921mean 63.0°F

Coldest year

1958mean 55.1°F

Wettest year

197976.56 in

Driest year

193030.50 in

Snowiest season

48.0 in1959-60

Station Bowling Green Warren County Airport (USW00093808), 523 ft elevation, 18.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 26, 2026; 99.8% 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 USW00093808.
• 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.
• 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.