311
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
2
Direct injuries
$642K
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Breathitt County, Kentucky: 311 recorded events between 1959 and 2026. The strongest on record measured 65. That places the county #416 nationally and #7 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Breathitt County, Kentucky: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Breathitt County is the 2010s, when 113 of the county's 311 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Breathitt County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 54.9% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #416 for this hazard and #7 within Kentucky, putting it in the 86.9 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Breathitt County with 77 recorded events, while Dec is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 30, 2008 | PORTSMOUTH | 52 | 0 | 1 | $1K |
| Apr 28, 2002 | NOCTOR | 0 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 11, 2026 | WOLF COAL | 50 | $0 |
| Mar 11, 2026 | BEECH | 50 | $1K |
| Mar 7, 2026 | QUICKSAND | 52 | $0 |
| Mar 7, 2026 | QUICKSAND | 50 | $1K |
| Feb 19, 2026 | SEWELL | 50 | $1K |
| May 20, 2025 | LAWSON | 50 | $1K |
| May 20, 2025 | BEECH | 50 | $0 |
| May 16, 2025 | WHICK | 50 | $2K |
| May 8, 2025 | CLAYHOLE | 58 | $0 |
| Apr 30, 2025 | MORRIS FORK | 50 | $8K |
Other hazards here
More from Breathitt County
- Hail 91
- Flash Flood 80
- Flood 47
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Strong winds blew portions of a roof off an apartment building. The roof pieces landed in an adjacent parking lot causing damage to a nearby vehicle. An off duty National Weather Service employee had significant water damage inside his apartment as well.
An outbuilding, a fence, and trees were knocked down and damaged along Smith Branch Road, between Ruby Drive and Copperhead Road, due to thunderstorm wind gusts that occurred. The same storm also resulted in large hail around 1.00 inch.
Multiple trees were blown down onto a power line and the ground near the intersection of KY-15 S and KY-30 (between the Shell Gas Station and Hutch Automotive). Power outage led to several hours of traffic disruption due to lack to traffic signals. The report stated that power was still out at the stoplight around 8 am and multiple highway department personel were managing traffic.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Breathitt County, Kentucky?
311 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Breathitt County between 1959 and 2026, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Breathitt County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Breathitt County measured 65.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Breathitt County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Thunderstorm Wind in Breathitt County, Kentucky.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/kentucky/breathitt-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.