NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Booneville, KY
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
7 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Booneville, Kentucky since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Opal in 1995. Since 1950, 26 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 7
- Tornadoes
- 26
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
3 deaths in all
What the records show for Booneville
None of the 7 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Booneville; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1888, a tropical storm with 52 mph winds when its centre passed 66 miles away. The record near Booneville begins with an unnamed storm in 1888; the most recent system was Opal in 1995, a tropical storm 28 miles away. None of the 7 systems has come since 2000. Booneville has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 74% of the 281 Kentucky cities on this site. The strongest of the 26 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on June 9, 1961; its path came within 17 miles, and it killed 1 person. The deadliest, an F1 on February 22, 2003, killed 2 people. Of the 26, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 13 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 7. The most recent tornado was on February 6, 2025. Of the 281 Kentucky cities, 88% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Booneville. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 56 times since 1991, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Booneville has more hail reports within 10 miles than 54% of the 281 Kentucky cities.
Compare Booneville's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Booneville
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | OpalOct 5 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1979 | FredericSep 14 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 28 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormOct 18 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormOct 1 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 13 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 21 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Booneville: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Booneville
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2000s12
- 1990s5
- 1980s3
- 1970s3
- 1960s1(1 EF3+)
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 9, 1961 | F3 | 17 mi | 2.6 mi | 1 / 63 |
| May 18, 1995 | F2 | 16 mi | 24 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 1, 1977 | F2 | 5 mi | 12.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 3, 1977 | F2 | 22 mi | 2.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F2 | 20 mi | 19.8 mi | 0 / 22 |
| Jun 1, 1954 | F2 | 13 mi | 16.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 22, 2003 | F1 | 11 mi | 0.5 mi | 2 / 7 |
| Feb 6, 2025 | EF1 | 7 mi | 1.51 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 9, 2009 | EF1 | 21 mi | 0.25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 9, 2009 | EF1 | 21 mi | 3.75 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 14, 2000 | F1 | 18 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 20, 1996 | F1 | 20 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 26, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Booneville
The Storm Prediction Center has 56 hail reports within 10 miles of Booneville since 1991, made on 41 separate days. Of these, 21 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on June 16, 2008. The most recent report is from May 2, 2025. May has the most reports, 19.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Booneville
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Heidelberg, KY, 10 miles northwest of Booneville at 665 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 44°F and 25°F. May is the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and November the driest at 3.0 inches; the year adds up to 49.7 inches over 89 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 26 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 110 nights a year. Snowfall averages 18.2 inches a year, most of it in January. That 49.7 inches is more than at 36 of the 93 Kentucky stations used on this site (39%). Beattyville, 10 miles north, has its own station (Beattyville 4N, KY): 50.9 inches a year, 1.2 more than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 86°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 44 | 25 | 4.0 | 8 | 6.7 |
| Feb | 48 | 27 | 4.1 | 7 | 5.3 |
| Mar | 58 | 33 | 4.4 | 8 | 2.9 |
| Apr | 69 | 42 | 4.5 | 8 | 0.1 |
| May | 76 | 52 | 5.2 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 83 | 61 | 5.0 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 86 | 65 | 4.3 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 85 | 64 | 3.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 81 | 56 | 3.5 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 70 | 44 | 3.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 58 | 34 | 3.0 | 7 | 0.4 |
| Dec | 47 | 28 | 4.5 | 8 | 2.8 |
| Year | 67 | 44 | 49.7 | 89 | 18.2 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Heidelberg, KY (665 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Booneville
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 221 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Booneville: 174 thunderstorm wind reports, 19 flash floods, 15 floods and 13 heavy rain events. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $845,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on May 8, 2003. May has had the most flash floods, 6 of 19. Of the 281 Kentucky cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 96 have had fewer than Booneville.
June 20, 2011: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Booneville — $500,000 damage.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Owsley County, which includes Booneville, has been named in 49 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1970, 42 of them major disasters (by incident: 24 severe storms, 12 floods, 3 ice storms, 3 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on September 1, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Owsley County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for strong wind; Very Low for hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $2.4 million a year, the 119th highest of 120 Kentucky counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $1.7 million (74%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. 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).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets 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).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Booneville
- Beattyville, KY10 mi
- Tyner, KY11 mi
- Jackson, KY19 mi
- Manchester, KY19 mi
- Annville, KY19 mi
- Mc Kee, KY20 mi
- Campton, KY21 mi
- Irvine, KY25 mi
- Hazard, KY28 mi
- East Bernstadt, KY29 mi
- Stanton, KY29 mi
- London, KY32 mi
All Kentucky cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Booneville with another place →