NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Brooksville, 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
5 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Brooksville, Kentucky since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Opal in 1995. Since 1950, 63 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 5
- Tornadoes
- 63
- EF3 or stronger
- 7
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
13 deaths in all
What the records show for Brooksville
None of the 5 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Brooksville; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1888, a tropical storm with 52 mph winds when its centre passed 23 miles away. The record near Brooksville begins with an unnamed storm in 1888; the most recent system was Opal in 1995, a tropical storm 34 miles away. None of the 5 systems has come since 2000. Of the 281 Kentucky cities on this site, 48% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Brooksville. The highest rating among the 63 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on March 2, 2012, came within 22 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on April 23, 1968, killed 6 people. Of the 63, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 32 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 18. The most recent tornado was on September 22, 2025. Of the 281 Kentucky cities, 62% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Brooksville. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 20 times since 1965, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Of the 281 Kentucky cities, 96% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Brooksville.
Compare Brooksville's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Brooksville
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | OpalOct 5 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1979 | FredericSep 14 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 28 | 60 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 13 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 21 | 23 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 Brooksville: 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 Brooksville
By decade
- 2020s11
- 2010s16(2 EF3+)
- 2000s5(1 EF3+)
- 1990s6(1 EF3+)
- 1980s8
- 1970s8(1 EF3+)
- 1960s7(2 EF3+)
- 1950s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 23, 1968 | F4 | 2 mi | 78.7 mi | 6 / 364 |
| Mar 2, 2012 | EF4 | 22 mi | 9.85 mi | 4 / 8 |
| Mar 2, 2012 | EF3 | 14 mi | 20.41 mi | 3 / 13 |
| May 10, 2003 | F3 | 21 mi | 25 mi | 0 / 17 |
| Jul 2, 1997 | F3 | 10 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F3 | 11 mi | 19.3 mi | 0 / 27 |
| May 7, 1967 | F3 | 22 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 6, 2008 | EF2 | 24 mi | 3.49 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 8, 1996 | F2 | 16 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jun 2, 1990 | F2 | 14 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 10, 1986 | F2 | 15 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 16, 1982 | F2 | 25 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 63, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Brooksville
The Storm Prediction Center has 20 hail reports within 10 miles of Brooksville since 1965, made on 18 separate days. Of these, 10 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on May 13, 1998. The most recent report is from May 19, 2022. May has the most reports, 8.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Brooksville
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Chilo Meldahl Locks & Dam, OH, 9 miles northwest of Brooksville at 480 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 41°F and 23°F. May is the wettest at 4.6 inches of precipitation on average and October the driest at 2.7 inches; the year adds up to 42.2 inches over 75 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 24 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 104 nights a year. That 42.2 inches is more than at 0 of the 93 Kentucky stations used on this site (0%). Mount Olivet, 12 miles south, has its own station (Cynthiana, KY): 47.7 inches a year, 5.5 more than here, and the same July average high, 87°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 41 | 23 | 3.0 | 6 |
| Feb | 46 | 25 | 3.3 | 6 |
| Mar | 55 | 32 | 4.3 | 8 |
| Apr | 66 | 41 | 4.1 | 7 |
| May | 75 | 52 | 4.6 | 9 |
| Jun | 83 | 61 | 4.0 | 7 |
| Jul | 87 | 65 | 4.1 | 7 |
| Aug | 86 | 64 | 3.2 | 5 |
| Sep | 81 | 57 | 2.8 | 4 |
| Oct | 69 | 45 | 2.7 | 5 |
| Nov | 56 | 35 | 2.8 | 6 |
| Dec | 45 | 28 | 3.3 | 6 |
| Year | 66 | 44 | 42.2 | 75 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Chilo Meldahl Locks & Dam, OH (480 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 Brooksville
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 180 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Brooksville: 142 thunderstorm wind reports, 24 floods and 14 flash floods. They killed 5 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $2.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 85 mph, on June 3, 2008. Of the 281 Kentucky cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 51 have had fewer than Brooksville.
July 8, 2001: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Brooksville — 2 killed, 3 injured, $100,000 damage.
NWS: “Thunderstorm winds blew over a mobile home killing 2 and injuring 3 people. Another mobile home was damaged and trees were knocked down.”
June 9, 2010: flood 9 miles from the centre of Brooksville — 2 killed, $3,000 damage.
July 22, 2017: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Brooksville — 1 killed, $250,000 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
Bracken County, which includes Brooksville, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1968, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 severe storms, 3 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on April 24, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Bracken County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for strong wind; Relatively Low for tornadoes and lightning; Very Low for hurricanes, hail, inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $5.5 million a year, the 107th highest of 120 Kentucky counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $3.2 million (58%), 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 Brooksville
- Augusta, KY8 mi
- Felicity, OH10 mi
- Mount Olivet, KY12 mi
- Falmouth, KY13 mi
- Moscow, OH15 mi
- Butler, KY16 mi
- Ripley, OH17 mi
- Hamersville, OH17 mi
- Georgetown, OH17 mi
- Maysville, KY18 mi
- Berry, KY19 mi
- California, KY19 mi
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