Clay County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Jul 2, 2015Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major flash flooding affected Clay County from the evening hours on July 2 into the morning hours on July 3. Numerous roads throughout the county were flooded and closed, including many in Celina such as Mitchell Street and others in Arcot. Several water rescues were also performed by emergency personnel, including one on Arcot Road. Homes and businesses were also flooded, mainly in and around Celina. A trailer home on Knob Creek Road was swept off its foundation and washed downstream in Knob Creek around 3 miles west of Celina. A CoCoRaHS observer 0.3 miles NNE of Celina measured 5.32 inches of rain over the 24 hour period ending at 8am on July 3.

2. Dec 11, 2021Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This EF-1 tornado touched down in Hermitage Springs just south of Highway 52 where it uprooted trees. Moving along and just north of Highway 52, the tornado continued to blow down trees and causing shingle damage to multiple homes. The worst damage occurred along Old Clementsville Road where four large agricultural buildings were destroyed. The tornado continued northeast, damaging the roof of a home on Clementsville Road. Scattered tree damage was noted as the path continued into Monroe County, Kentucky, where it caused EF-0 damage to a barn and trees along Beech Groves Boles Road. The tornado continued to weaken as it moved northeast damaging a few trees before lifting near…

3. Mar 28, 2021Flash Flood$239,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads were flooded across Clay County, including Wet Mill Creek Road, Pitcock Lane, Kyle Street at West Lake Avenue, Williamson Street, Poor House Road, Free Hill River Road, Arcott Road, Turkey Creek Road, New Hope Road, Finus Cherry Road, Trace Creek Road, Leonard Road, Luther Pedigo Road, and Mack Bean Road.

4. May 3, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$124,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across Clay County.

5. Feb 20, 2015Winter Storm, Clay$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snow and sleet accumulations up to 1.0 fell during the late afternoon on February 20, followed by freezing rain with ice accumulations ranging from 0.25 to 0.75 from the evening on February 20 into the early morning hours on February 21. A CoCoRaHS observer measured 1.0 of snow 6.7 miles NNE of Red Boiling Springs, with an unknown amount of sleet and ice. Several trees and power lines were knocked down. Clay County was declared a Presidential disaster area on April 2, 2015.

6. Mar 3, 2023High Wind, Clay$72,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several hours of non-thunderstorm high winds led to numerous reports of damage across Clay County, including downed trees and limbs, downed powerlines, and roof damage. Damages are estimated.

7. Apr 4, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees and power lines were blown down in Celina and across much of Clay County. Roofs were blown off and other structures were damaged across the county also. Specific details concerning these roofs and structures damaged across the county were unknown.

8. Dec 9, 2023Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A brief EF-1 tornado touched down just south of the Kentucky border in Clay County where it blew down a few trees on Barber Shop Road. The tornado intensified to an EF-1 as it moved northeast into Kentucky.

9. Jun 25, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorm winds downed several trees and power lines across Clay County with power outages also reported, especially in the Hermitage Springs area. Damages are a rough estimate.

10. Jan 30, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    State Highway 53 near mile marker 3 was closed due to trees down across the road. Trees and power lines were also downed across the following roads across the county: Union Hill, Mosey Purcel, Bakerton Pea Ridge, Firetower, Mccormick Ridge, and Commerce Street. Other trees and power lines were downed elsewhere in the county with damage to barn roofs and silos.

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

111°FAug 8, 1930

All-time low

−17°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

88°FJul 26, 1893

Coldest day

−1°F2 times, most recently Feb 13, 1899

Wettest day

8.35 inAug 3, 1893

Snowiest day

15.0 inFeb 25, 1894

Hottest year

1933mean 63.3°F

Coldest year

1969mean 56.0°F

Wettest year

199869.10 in

Driest year

200729.82 in

Snowiest season

20.5 in1966-67

Station Carthage (USC00401480), 515 ft elevation, 30.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1890 to October 21, 2026; 97.2% 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 USC00401480.
• 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.