165
Recorded events
2
Direct deaths
3
Direct injuries
$429K
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Harlan County, Kentucky: 165 recorded events between 1969 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 78. That places the county #1,377 nationally and #47 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Harlan County, Kentucky: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Harlan County is the 2010s, when 53 of the county's 165 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 Harlan County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 56.1% of all recorded severe weather across 7 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #1,377 for this hazard and #47 within Kentucky, putting it in the 56.2 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Harlan County with 41 recorded events, while Oct 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 1997 | AGES | 0 | 2 | 0 | $10K |
| Apr 28, 2014 | DRESSEN | 78 | 0 | 3 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 2025 | CLOVER | 53 | $0 |
| May 2, 2025 | EVARTS | 50 | $0 |
| May 2, 2025 | EVARTS | 50 | $10K |
| Apr 15, 2025 | BAXTER | 50 | $0 |
| May 27, 2024 | BARWICK | 50 | $0 |
| May 26, 2024 | KENVIR | 50 | $1K |
| May 26, 2024 | GRAYS KNOB | 50 | $1K |
| May 26, 2024 | PATHFORK | 50 | $0 |
| May 26, 2024 | HARLAN | 50 | $0 |
| Apr 2, 2024 | DIONE | 50 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Harlan County
- Hail 65
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A trained spotter reported that several 3 to 5 inch diameter limbs were blown from trees in Evarts. Some shingles were also blown off of his home as the storm passed. The spotter also reported seeing a wall cloud on the southwest flanks of the storm.
NWS storm survey showed straightline winds with damage consistent with approximately 65 to 70 mph wind gusts. There were a few felled trees (some partially uprooted) and other trees with large branches broken off. Winds followed the direction of the valley floor along KY-568. One resident stated that the winds lasted only a few minutes.
A Storm Survey Team comprised of officials from the National Weather Service and Harlan County Emergency Management determined that the wind damage that occurred on Monday April 28th in the Harlan and Evarts Communities of Harlan County was caused by straight-line winds of up to 90 mph. The thunderstorm which caused the damaging winds moved from Tennessee across southeast Whitley County, Bell County and Harlan County producing sporadic wind damage along it's path. The damage in Harlan County included several large hardwood and softwood trees either uprooted or snapped at the base, and damage to at least three structures. Three minor injuries were reported as well.||While a couple witnesses stated that a funnel cloud was observed, all damage surveyed was blown in a northeasterly direction, consistent with straight line wind damage. Either the funnel cloud didn't touch down, or only did so very briefly and the touchdown location was indistinguishable from the straight-line wind damage.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Harlan County, Kentucky?
165 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Harlan County between 1969 and 2025, causing 2 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Harlan County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Harlan County measured 78.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Harlan 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 Harlan County, Kentucky.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/kentucky/harlan-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.