Wolfe County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (655), USGS Conterminous (1).

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, 2012Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Baseball to apple size hail fell along a swath from Campton eastward to near Gilmore. Extensive damage was done to structures in downtown Campton, including roof damage to the high school.

2. Jun 16, 1997Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Three to five inches of rain within a 1 to 3 hour period resulted in extensive flash flooding. In Powell County about 50 homes and a dozen businesses sustained flood damage, and numerous roads had to be closed. The gift shops along Mill Creek at Natural Bridge suffered heavy flood damage. A car was swept off the road on Steam Shovel Hill, and the driver suffered a broken ankle. In Wolfe county almost all the roads except the Mountain Parkway had to be closed for a time, and two mobile homes were washed away. Several businesses in Campton were flooded. About 44 vehicles were heavily damaged at a car dealership. In Estill County the flooding was mostly confined to the northern part…

3. Aug 19, 2021Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple pictures and reports of flash flooding were posted on social media from along Hwy-15 in the Bethany area. Water had surrounded and entered in numerous homes and businesses in the area.

4. Aug 19, 2021Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding impacted the community of Bethany, including Bethany Christian School. Multiple social media reports with pictures came in of flood waters inside of the school.

5. Feb 28, 2011Tornado$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-1 tornado was confirmed to have touched down 1 mile north of Gilmore. The tornados track was one quarter of a mile long and 100 yards wide. Numerous trees were snapped and scattered along the tornados path. One mobile home had its roof blow off and was also pushed about 5 feet off of its foundation. One barn was destroyed. Two other mobile homes had roof and siding damage. One outbuilding used as a sawmill was also destroyed.

6. May 16, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Pictures on social media showed multiple trees blown down, including onto residences and vehicles along Fallen Road, in the Insko community. Minor wind damage was also sustained to the siding and roofing of a single wide trailer.

7. Feb 23, 2019Flash Flood$65,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public and an NWS employee reported numerous buildings in Campton being inundated with water. This includes the Chevrolet Dealership as well as a funeral home. Kentucky Highway 191 between Campton and Hazel Green was closed due to water running over the road.

8. May 1, 2017Strong Wind, Wolfe$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A media outlet reported a tree fell onto a trailer in Hazel Green, completely destroying it.

9. Dec 11, 2008Heavy Snow, Wolfe$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Seven inches of snow was measured in Rogers. Most of the snow fell in a 3 hour period. Hundreds of trees were downed across the county by the heavy snow. Power was out at many locations through December 12th due to downed power lines.

10. Aug 19, 2021Flash Flood$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Pictures and video on social media showed Stillwater Creek flash flooding around at least one barn and home between Malaga and Landsaw.

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, 14.9 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.