NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Clay City, 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
6 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Clay City, Kentucky since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Opal in 1995. Since 1950, 54 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 6 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 6
- Tornadoes
- 54
- EF3 or stronger
- 6
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
20 deaths in all
What the records show for Clay City
None of the 6 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Clay City; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1888, a tropical storm with 52 mph winds when its centre passed 33 miles away. The record near Clay City begins with an unnamed storm in 1888; the most recent system was Opal in 1995, a tropical storm 1 mile away. None of the 6 systems has come since 2000. Clay City has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 52% of the 281 Kentucky cities on this site. The strongest of the 54 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on April 3, 1974; its path came within 14 miles, and it killed 7 people. The deadliest, an EF3 on March 2, 2012, killed 10 people. Of the 54, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 26 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 15. The most recent tornado was on April 2, 2024. Of the 281 Kentucky cities, 70% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Clay City. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 60 times since 1955, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Clay City has more hail reports within 10 miles than 63% of the 281 Kentucky cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Clay City
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | OpalOct 5 | 1 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1979 | FredericSep 14 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 28 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormOct 1 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 13 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 21 | 33 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 Clay City: 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 Clay City
By decade
- 2020s7
- 2010s8(1 EF3+)
- 2000s11(1 EF3+)
- 1990s11
- 1980s4
- 1970s7(2 EF3+)
- 1960s1(1 EF3+)
- 1950s5(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 1974 | F4 | 14 mi | 31.9 mi | 7 / 28 |
| Mar 2, 2012 | EF3 | 18 mi | 84.99 mi | 10 / 118 |
| May 8, 2009 | EF3 | 12 mi | 21.12 mi | 2 / 15 |
| Jun 9, 1961 | F3 | 13 mi | 2.6 mi | 1 / 63 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F3 | 10 mi | 4.9 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Mar 4, 1955 | F3 | 23 mi | 8.9 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 21, 1990 | F2 | 21 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 16, 1982 | F2 | 17 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Mar 16, 1982 | F2 | 3 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Aug 30, 1978 | F2 | 6 mi | 5.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 1, 1977 | F2 | 23 mi | 12.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 3, 1977 | F2 | 10 mi | 2.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 54, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Clay City
The Storm Prediction Center has 60 hail reports within 10 miles of Clay City since 1955, made on 33 separate days. Of these, 37 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on March 2, 2012. The most recent report is from April 30, 2025. May has the most reports, 20.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Clay City
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Stanton 2W, KY, 2 miles northeast of Clay City at 720 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 42°F and 23°F. May and July are the wettest at 5.8 inches of precipitation on average and November the driest at 3.4 inches; the year adds up to 53.2 inches over 94 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 13 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 107 nights a year. Snowfall averages 11.6 inches a year, most of it in January. That 53.2 inches is more than at 74 of the 93 Kentucky stations used on this site (80%). Irvine, 11 miles south, has its own station (Cressy, KY): 50.9 inches a year, 2.3 less than here, and a July average high of 85°F against 84°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 42 | 23 | 3.6 | 7 | 4.3 |
| Feb | 47 | 26 | 3.7 | 8 | 3.1 |
| Mar | 56 | 33 | 5.0 | 8 | 3.0 |
| Apr | 67 | 42 | 4.6 | 8 | 0.2 |
| May | 75 | 52 | 5.8 | 10 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 82 | 61 | 5.1 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 84 | 64 | 5.8 | 10 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 83 | 63 | 4.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 79 | 56 | 4.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 69 | 43 | 3.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 57 | 34 | 3.4 | 6 | 0.3 |
| Dec | 46 | 28 | 4.2 | 8 | 0.7 |
| Year | 66 | 44 | 53.2 | 94 | 11.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Stanton 2W, KY (720 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 Clay City
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 404 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Clay City: 286 thunderstorm wind reports, 51 floods, 49 flash floods, 14 heavy rain events and 4 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $1.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on May 5, 2003. August has had the most flash floods, 16 of 49. Of the 281 Kentucky cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 244 have had fewer than Clay City.
April 28, 2014: lightning strike 2 miles from the centre of Clay City — 1 injured.
NWS: “A county employee was struck by lightning. The person was taken to a hospital but there were no details available on specific injuries.”
June 10, 2008: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Clay City — $500,000 damage.
February 6, 2008: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Clay City — $180,000 damage.
NWS: “Thunderstorm winds destroyed several barns. Six cattle were killed.”
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
Flood insurance policyholders in Clay City's ZIP code 40312 have filed 94 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $1.3 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Heavy rains in 2004: 22 claims (23% of all) and $267,000. 43% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 143 Kentucky cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 100 have fewer than Clay City.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy rains2004 | 22 | $267,000 |
Powell County, which includes Clay City, has been named in 35 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 28 of them major disasters (by incident: 15 severe storms, 8 floods, 4 snowstorms, 3 ice storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes, on May 23, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Powell County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for strong wind; Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding and lightning; Very Low for hurricanes and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $6.7 million a year, the 94th highest of 120 Kentucky counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $4.6 million (68%), 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 Clay City
- Stanton, KY7 mi
- Jeffersonville, KY9 mi
- Irvine, KY11 mi
- Waco, KY13 mi
- Mt Sterling, KY15 mi
- Winchester, KY16 mi
- Frenchburg, KY18 mi
- Richmond, KY20 mi
- Beattyville, KY22 mi
- Owingsville, KY23 mi
- Salt Lick, KY24 mi
- Campton, KY24 mi
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