Licking County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Oct 4, 2006Hail$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail to golf ball size fell for an extended period of time across the far western portion of the county, causing widespread significant damage. Thirty to forty mobile homes and numerous vehicles were severely damaged. A few subdivisions in the Pataskala area had homes that sustained extensive roof and siding damage.

2. Sep 14, 2008High Wind, Licking$18.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds of 40 to 50 miles per hour were sustained for several hours. Gusts over 60 mph were common. Widespread damage occurred across the region, from trees being blown down on powerlines, to significant crop losses and structural damage.

3. Jul 26, 1997Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An estimated 8 inches of rain fell across the county in less than 6 hours. Numerous roads were closed, including Interstate 71,and many houses and businesses were flooded. The county was declared a disaster area by the state of Ohio.

4. Sep 20, 2000Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado tracked out of Delaware county across the northwestern part of the county and then continued into Knox county. The storm lifted briefly in spots but maintained a 25 mile track across the three counties, mainly in rural areas. Eleven homes received major damage and 4 received minor damage. Several barns and outbuildings were also destroyed. Twelve buildings at the Buckeye Egg Company were destroyed, trapping one million chickens inside.

5. Mar 20, 2020Flash Flood$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A portion State Route 79 was was completely washed out. An unoccupied vehicle was swept into the flood waters.

6. Mar 14, 2024Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado developed at 2001EST, about 3 miles south of Delaware, and moved east southeast across Delaware County. It entered Licking County at 2021EST, about 4 miles west-southwest of Hartford, where the damage path remained quite wide and was likely a complex mix of straight-line winds on the immediate southern flank of the tornadic circulation. However, the damage was very consistent with wind speeds ranging from 90 to 100 mph across most of Licking County. Along this entire stretch of the damage path, the damage was a combination of partial roofs removed on some homes, barns completely destroyed or heavily damaged, widespread trees uprooted and snapped, and power poles…

7. Jan 6, 1996Winter Storm, Licking$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Blizzard of '96 developed near the Gulf Coast and moved up the East Coast. This massive system produced the greatest total and 24 hour snowfall at Greater Cincinnati\Northern Kentucky airport. This one storm brought 14.3 inches of snowfall to the airport which normally receives 23 inches for an entire season. The heaviest snow fell near the Ohio river in the extreme south. The worst blizzard conditions occurred over West Central areas as dry and powdery snow was blown around by high winds causing whiteouts. Some areas had more than 30 continuous hours of snowfall, and many people in Southern Ohio felt this was the worst winter storm since the Blizzard of '78. In Fayette…

8. Aug 25, 1998Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado knocked down numerous trees, destroyed 2 barns, and caused significant damage to 4 homes.

9. Feb 28, 2024Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado began in Franklin County at 0549EST in the Havens Corners area. It moved east-northeast and entered Licking County near the intersection of Dixon and McOwen Roads at 0553EST. The tornado caused a wide swath of tree and structural damage along its path across Graham Road SW and the Jersey area. Structural damage was mainly in the form of windows blown out, destroyed barns, and minor roof removal. The tornado slowly weakened as it moved east-northeast toward the southwest side of Granville where it dissipated. Along this stretch, mainly tree and very minor structural damage was noted.

10. Aug 4, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$110,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A microburst hit an egg facility causing the collapse of three large barns and damaging another. This resulted in the fatalities of two men working in one of the collapsed structures. A large rooftop air conditioning unit was also pushed off the roof of an adjacent administrative building. Around the area there were several trees down and numerous broken limbs. In addition to the fatalities, four injuries were also reported.

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°FJul 14, 1936

All-time low

−26°FFeb 3, 1951

Warmest night

79°FAug 22, 1966

Coldest day

−6°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

4.16 inSep 14, 1979

Snowiest day

13.0 inJan 14, 1968

Hottest year

1991mean 54.4°F

Coldest year

1996mean 48.9°F

Wettest year

201857.06 in

Driest year

196326.86 in

Snowiest season

45.1 in1935-36

Station Newark Wtr Wks (USC00335747), 835 ft elevation, 6.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1934 to October 20, 2026; 98.5% 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 USC00335747.
• 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.