Preble County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Sep 14, 2008High Wind, Preble$5.0 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. A husband and wife were killed by a falling tree while riding a motorcycle in Hueston Woods State Park.

2. Nov 7, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roofs were blown off homes. Camper blown off the owner's property. Farm machinery blown over. Abandoned school house completely destroyed. Numerous trees downed. Two tractor-trailers were blown over. Nine electricity poles downed causing thousands of residents to lose power.

3. Jun 15, 2003Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two bridges washed out, one of which was completely destroyed, on Fairhaven-College Corner Road and Buck Paxton Road. Little Four Mile Creek came out of its banks along both roads.

4. Jan 6, 1996Winter Storm, Preble$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. May 19, 2019Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The beginning of the observed damage was at the northeast corner of Leon Drive, where one tree was downed. Damage became more significant in a park on Dorsey Akers Drive, where numerous large trees were completely uprooted. Minor damage was observed in a residential area in the southeast quadrant of West Alexandria, with a few trees downed and one outbuilding losing a portion of its roof.||Damage was more significant at an industrial facility just south of U.S. 35 on the east side of West Alexandria. An old masonry building suffered partial roof loss and the collapse of most of the east-facing wall. Numerous trees were also downed at this property, with minor roofing and facade…

6. May 19, 2019Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The beginning of the observed damage was at a property on the east side of Toby Road. Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted at this location, with facade damage to a house, likely caused at least in part by impact from the falling trees. Minor tree damage was also observed northeast of this location along Miller Williams Road.||Extensive tree damage was noted at a property on Washington Jackson Road, about a half mile west of U.S. 35. The most significant structural damage at this location was the complete removal of the west-facing portion of the roof over the smaller section of the house. There was also significant damage to siding on the east-facing side of the same house,…

7. Feb 7, 2000Dense Fog, Preble$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An area of dense fog formed along Interstate 70 during the late evening hours. The dense fog was the cause of a pileup of vehicles, which led to 1 death and 14 injuries.

8. Mar 31, 2023Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The first sign of tornadic damage appeared near the intersection of Hawley Mills Road and New Paris Twins Road, where uprooted trees and a significant loss of roof panels from a barn occurred. The tornado continued to uproot trees off of New Paris Twins Road and caused some walls of an older barn building to collapse before traveling further northeastward through some open fields.||The next points of damage were observed near the intersection of New Paris Twins Road and Rawley Road. Here, multiple barns had an observed loss of metal roof panels, with one barn in particular showing more extensive damage with some bent/collapsed barn doors. One of the residential homes also…

9. Mar 14, 2016Tornado$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damage was first observed northwest of Wheatville along State Route 122 between Quaker Trace Road and Yost Road. This is believed to be where the tornado first touched down. A section of wood and metal roofing material measuring approximately 55 feet by 15 feet was lifted from the northeast side of a barn and strewn for approximately 100 feet to the northeast, and a lesser distance to the northwest. A utility pole was also snapped at this location. Eyewitness accounts from the residents indicated the damage resulted from a visible circulation that passed through the property. The residents also pointed out a section of metal roofing material from this location that was carried…

10. Mar 20, 2020Flash Flood$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    High water from Sevenmile Creek forced the evacuation of a trailer park.

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

102°F6 times, most recently Jul 8, 2012

All-time low

−33°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

76°F4 times, most recently Jul 25, 2005

Coldest day

−12°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

4.28 inMay 18, 1991

Snowiest day

12.0 inJan 15, 1918

Hottest year

2012mean 54.3°F

Coldest year

1978mean 47.7°F

Wettest year

201156.21 in

Driest year

193423.99 in

Station Eaton (USC00332485), 1,002 ft elevation, 0.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1956 to October 27, 2026; 98.0% 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 USC00332485.
• 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.