Live
Active alerts for this county
Extreme Heat Warning
Jefferson; Wayne; Edwards; Wabash; Perry; Franklin; Hamilton; White; Jackson; Williamson; Saline; Gallatin; Union; Johnson; Pope; Hardin; Alexander; Pulaski; Massac; Gibson; Pike; Posey; Vanderburgh; Warrick; Spencer; Fulton; Hickman; Carlisle; Ballard; McCracken; Graves; Livingston; Marshall; Calloway; Crittenden; Lyon; Trigg; Caldwell; Union; Webster; Hopkins; Christian; Henderson; Daviess; McLean; Muhlenberg; Todd; Perry; Bollinger; Cape Girardeau; Wayne; Carter; Ripley; Butler; Stoddard; Scott; Mississippi; New Madrid
Caldwell County, Kentucky severe weather history spans 177 recorded events between 1958 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 38.4% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,571 nationally and #103 in Kentucky.
177
Recorded events
6
Direct deaths
24
Direct injuries
$5.6M
Property damage
The record
What the Caldwell County, Kentucky severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Caldwell County, Kentucky severe weather history averages 2.6 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 53 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 27 events fall before 1990 and 150 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Caldwell County, Kentucky record is tornado, responsible for 4 direct deaths. The costliest is thunderstorm wind, with $2.6M in reported property damage. In total, 8 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Caldwell County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 68 | 0 | $2.6M | 81 | 1968–2025 |
| Hail | 46 | 0 | $0 | 2.75 | 1969–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 21 | 1 | $523K | 0 | 1997–2025 |
| Tornado | 18 | 4 | $1.9M | F4 | 1958–2024 |
| Flood | 11 | 1 | $595K | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Heavy Rain | 7 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2005–2014 |
| Funnel Cloud | 5 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2010–2018 |
| Debris Flow | 1 | 0 | $10K | 0 | 2025–2025 |
Decade by decade
Caldwell County, Kentucky severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
20 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 13 touched down inside it and 7 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-12-10 | EF4 | 57 | 515 | 168.5 mi | Crossed in |
| 1968-04-03 | EF4 | 2 | 30 | 50.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 2024-05-26 | EF3 | 1 | 21 | 34.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 1970-04-24 | EF3 | 0 | 13 | 25.4 mi | Crossed in |
| 2007-10-18 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 8.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2007-10-18 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 1.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 1995-05-13 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1979-04-11 | EF2 | 0 | 5 | 36.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1958-04-24 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2023-07-18 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Caldwell County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 11, 2021 | Tornado | DULANEY | 4 | 11 | $0 |
| Feb 16, 2025 | Flood | FARMERSVILLE | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 29, 2015 | Flash Flood | BLACK HAWK | 1 | 0 | $80K |
| Apr 4, 1968 | Tornado | 0 | 5 | $0 | |
| May 27, 2024 | Tornado | CRIDER | 0 | 4 | $500K |
| Apr 24, 1970 | Tornado | 0 | 3 | $0 | |
| Jul 5, 1987 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Torrential rain caused flash flooding of a creek along the Caldwell/Trigg County border known as Long Pond Branch. Kentucky Highway 276 was washed out where the creek crosses the highway through a culvert. The washout was estimated to be about 20 feet deep and 60 feet wide where it crosses the highway. One vehicle entered the flooded creek and was swept approximately 300 yards downstream into Trigg County. The body of a 61-year-old woman was found inside the submerged and overturned vehicle. The incident was witnessed by a utility crew working on a power outage in the area. The crew watched as the road was washed out from under the car. Farmers in the local area measured about four inches of rain in two hours.
Flash flooding on the 15th transitioned to areal flooding early on the 16th. Portions of several state highways were closed, including Highway 139 south of Farmersville, Highway 91 northwest of White Sulphur, Highway 293 southwest of Princeton, and Highway 126 from Highway 128 to the Trigg County line. The bulk of the flooding ended on the 16th, but the time was extended into the 17th for a fatality that occurred when flood waters washed a man's car off the levee and into the spillway of Lake Beshear.
An NWS damage survey found straight line wind damage associated with winds of 80 to 93 mph impacted Princeton, KY, on the evening of Friday, May 16, 2025. The most severe damage occurred in downtown Princeton, where a business lost its roof and several homes suffered minor to major damage due to trees falling onto homes. Numerous large tree limbs were downed across the city. Emergency management also reported power poles snapped, a tree fell onto a house on U.S. 62 on the west side of Princeton, while another tree falling onto a house on W Green St, destroying it.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
12,618
Population (ACS)
$119K
Median home value
27
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 24, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
| May 23, 2025 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR |
| Apr 24, 2025 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR |
| Apr 3, 2025 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | EM |
| Feb 24, 2025 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR |
| Feb 16, 2025 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, AND LANDSLIDES | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Caldwell County, Kentucky?
177 events are on record between 1958 and 2025, causing 6 direct deaths and $5.6M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Caldwell County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 68 recorded events — 38.4% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Caldwell County?
20 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 13 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Caldwell County?
27 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Caldwell County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Caldwell County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Caldwell County as very low risk, placing it in the 39 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Caldwell County, Kentucky severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Butler County 294
- Calloway County 460
- Bullitt County 312
- Campbell County 252
- Breckinridge County 349
- Carlisle County 215
Cite this page
“Caldwell County, Kentucky.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/kentucky/caldwell-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.