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Owsley County, Kentucky severe weather history spans 193 recorded events between 1977 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 54.9% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,479 nationally and #96 in Kentucky.
193
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$872K
Property damage
The record
What the Owsley County, Kentucky severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Owsley County, Kentucky severe weather history averages 4.0 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 83 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 3 events fall before 1990 and 190 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is flash flood, with $406K in reported property damage. In total, 6 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Owsley County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 106 | 0 | $211K | 80 | 1985–2025 |
| Hail | 41 | 0 | $0 | 2.5 | 1991–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 23 | 0 | $406K | 0 | 1996–2022 |
| Flood | 12 | 0 | $5K | 0 | 2000–2021 |
| Heavy Rain | 9 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2009–2022 |
| Tornado | 2 | 0 | $250K | F2 | 1977–2004 |
Decade by decade
Owsley County, Kentucky severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
3 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 2 touched down inside it and 1 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977-10-01 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 12.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 2025-02-06 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2004-05-31 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Emergency Management reported a tree blew down onto a house in Island City. This tree also brought powerlines down onto the home, adding to the damage. Additionally, several more trees were downed along Kentucky Highway 11 south of Booneville.
People on a small farm near Booneville experienced an extraordinary flash flood event. Rainfall was estimated to have fallen at a rate of at least 2 and a half inches in about 15 minutes. Lightning was intense, with one person describing the event "like the night Frozen Creek washed away". The land was in a steep, bowl-shaped hillside with pastures behind a farmhouse. A tiny stream ran through these pastures, which was overwhelmed rapidly from the torrential rainfall. A "wall of water" came through the narrow area at the foot of the pasture. By the time it reached the farmhouse, the water carried so much force that it jumped a concrete wall above a basement stairwell, and poured down the stairs, building pressure as it progressed. The steel basement door was bent and ripped off of its hinges. Water poured into the 70 foot long basement, carrying large logs, limbs, big clumps of sod, and an "unbelievable amount of mud". The residents lived there since 1962, and said that they had never seen anything like this.
Dispatch and local media sent in reports of water flowing over Highway 11 and around buildings in and south of Pebworth. Road closures were reported for Spivey Road, Jug Road, Marcum Ridge Road, Highway 11 north at Pebworth, and the right hand fork of Buffalo.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
3,971
Population (ACS)
$80K
Median home value
48
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 29, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR |
| 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 |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Owsley County, Kentucky?
193 events are on record between 1977 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $872K in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Owsley County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 106 recorded events — 54.9% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Owsley County?
3 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 2 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Owsley County?
48 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Owsley County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Owsley County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Owsley County as very low risk, placing it in the 6 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Owsley 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
- Owen County 238
- Pendleton County 218
- Oldham County 326
- Perry County 387
- Ohio County 339
- Pike County 741
Cite this page
“Owsley County, Kentucky.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/kentucky/owsley-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.