Pike County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NASA (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. Sep 14, 2008High Wind, Pike$3.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds of 40 to 50 miles per hour were sustained for several hours. Wind 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.

2. Mar 2, 1997Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Persistent heavy rainfall caused area creeks and streams to rise out of their banks. Numerous roads were closed due to high water. Breaks occurred in Crooked Creek's earthen levee destroying houses, cars, and several restaurants and businesses in Waverly. A total of 224 homes were flooded and 70 evacuations occurred. An elderly man drowned as Sunfish creek flooded his home. He had been advised to evacuate but decided to stay.

3. Jul 10, 2003Flash Flood$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several homes were flooded along State Route 32 with two people evacuated in Jackson Township. Numerous roads were flooded and closed across the southern part of the county.

4. Jan 6, 1996Winter Storm, Pike$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…

5. Jun 18, 2026Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The first evidence of tornadic damage occurred on Union Hill Road, about six tenths of a mile north of Appalachian Highway, where a few hardwood trees were snapped and multiple limbs were broken off of trees. The tornado then moved through a heavily forested area towards the intersection of Lansing Road and Chenoweth Fork Road where more tree damage was noted. Tree damage continued in a concentrated path to the east-northeast along Chenoweth Fork Road before crossing Appalachian Highway and causing a fair amount of tree damage at a rest station on Meads Road. The damage noted in the first third of the tornado's path consisted of broken branches, snapped trunks, and uprooted mature…

6. Jun 13, 2022Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado initially touched down south of the Latham area along Dry Bone Road, State Route 124, and Grassy Fork Road. A path of enhanced tree damage from west of Dry Bone Road to east of Grassy Fork Road was indicative of a weak tornado. This corridor of damage was embedded within a much larger field of wind damage that affected large swaths of Pike County in general.||The more concentrated corridor of damage had a convergent nature to the felled trees, rather defined lateral bounds, and episodes of debris thrown upwind. Most notably, a garage that was heavily damaged on Grassy Fork Road had some of its debris thrown upwind of the storm motion. Several corridors of extensive…

7. Sep 27, 2024Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Lake White high pool flooded nearby homes and roads when the flood gate could not be opened due to a power outage.

8. Jul 11, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The National Weather Service confirmed straight-line wind damage off of State Route 772 in Buchanan. Three mobile homes were knocked off their foundation, picked up, lifted 20 yards, and were completely destroyed. The roof of one mobile home was carried approximately 50 yards in the same direction. Two additional mobile homes remained on their foundation and sustained minor damage. Approximately five trees were also uprooted. Damage in this case was determined to be straight-line because there were indications that all of the structures were blown consistently to the southeast. The mobile homes were subject to high winds because they were located at the summit of a hill in an open…

9. Oct 4, 2006Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A bridge was damaged along State Route 551. Several docks were heavily damaged at Lake White and some evacuations took place. Several roads in and around Waverly were closed.

10. Jun 24, 2019Tornado$75,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The tornado first touched down on the south side of Beaver Pike just east of Bumgardner Road, knocking down a few trees.||More extensive damage was observed along Straight Creek Road just north of Beaver Pike, in a valley area between two southwest-to-northeast ridges. At one property, several trees were downed on top of vehicles, leaving the vehicles heavily damaged. Slightly further north, structural damage was observed at two properties. One house had several shingles removed from the southwest-facing segment of the roof, while also having siding removed from the northeast-facing wall. A barn at an adjacent property was collapsed and moved eastward from its original position,…

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

107°FJul 28, 1930

All-time low

−31°FJan 18, 1994

Warmest night

83°FJul 8, 1897

Coldest day

−5°F2 times, most recently Jan 18, 1994

Wettest day

4.71 inSep 10, 2026

Snowiest day

14.0 inJan 6, 1910

Hottest year

1931mean 57.5°F

Coldest year

1960mean 49.8°F

Wettest year

201861.60 in

Driest year

198723.62 in

Snowiest season

43.3 in1917-18

Station Waverly (USC00338830), 572 ft elevation, 3.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 96.8% 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 USC00338830.
• 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.