NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Liberty, 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 Liberty, Kentucky since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Helene in 2024. Since 1950, 76 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 7
- Tornadoes
- 76
- EF3 or stronger
- 8
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
30 deaths in all
What the records show for Liberty
None of the 7 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Liberty; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1888, a tropical storm with 53 mph winds when its centre passed 41 miles away. The record near Liberty begins with an unnamed storm in 1888; the most recent system was Helene in 2024, a tropical storm 23 miles away. Of the 7 systems, one has come since 2000. Liberty has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 74% of the 281 Kentucky cities on this site. The highest rating among the 76 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 4 times; the most recent, on May 16, 2025, came within 20 miles. Of the 76, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 42 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 19. The most recent tornado was on May 30, 2025. Liberty has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 50% of the 281 Kentucky cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 44 times since 1971, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 281 Kentucky cities, 64% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Liberty.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Liberty
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | HeleneSep 27 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1995 | OpalOct 5 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1979 | FredericSep 14 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 28 | 9 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormOct 1 | 47 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 13 | 12 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 21 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (53 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Liberty: 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 Liberty
By decade
- 2020s15(2 EF3+)
- 2010s11
- 2000s16
- 1990s10(1 EF3+)
- 1980s9
- 1970s9(5 EF3+)
- 1960s5
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 2025 | EF4 | 20 mi | 60.08 mi | 18 / 0 |
| Apr 27, 1971 | F4 | 19 mi | 14.1 mi | 6 / 58 |
| Apr 27, 1971 | F4 | 16 mi | 13 mi | 2 / 72 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F4 | 13 mi | 20.2 mi | 0 / 56 |
| Dec 11, 2021 | EF3 | 19 mi | 14.54 mi | 1 / 31 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F3 | 9 mi | 21.1 mi | 1 / 98 |
| Apr 16, 1998 | F3 | 9 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F3 | 19 mi | 28.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 30, 2025 | EF2 | 25 mi | 5.51 mi | 1 / 14 |
| Mar 28, 1997 | F2 | 9 mi | 10 mi | 1 / 6 |
| Dec 11, 2021 | EF2 | 21 mi | 0.63 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 29, 2012 | EF2 | 13 mi | 7.18 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 76, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Liberty
The Storm Prediction Center has 44 hail reports within 10 miles of Liberty since 1971, made on 30 separate days. Of these, 34 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on May 1, 2002. The most recent report is from July 18, 2023. April has the most reports, 12.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Liberty
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Bradfordsville, KY, 17 miles northwest of Liberty at 660 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 44°F and 24°F. July is the wettest at 5.3 inches of precipitation on average and October the driest at 3.0 inches; the year adds up to 52.6 inches over 83 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 35 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 112 nights a year. Snowfall averages 14.5 inches a year, most of it in January and February. That 52.6 inches is more than at 69 of the 93 Kentucky stations used on this site (74%). Dunnville, 10 miles southwest, has its own station (Jamestown Wwtp, KY): 57.0 inches a year, 4.4 more than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 88°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 44 | 24 | 4.1 | 8 | 5.0 |
| Feb | 49 | 26 | 4.3 | 6 | 5.0 |
| Mar | 58 | 32 | 4.9 | 8 | 1.6 |
| Apr | 69 | 41 | 4.9 | 8 | 0.0 |
| May | 77 | 52 | 5.0 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 85 | 60 | 5.0 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 88 | 65 | 5.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 87 | 62 | 3.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 82 | 55 | 4.2 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 71 | 43 | 3.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 58 | 33 | 3.3 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Dec | 48 | 28 | 4.7 | 8 | 2.8 |
| Year | 68 | 43 | 52.6 | 83 | 14.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Bradfordsville, KY (660 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 Liberty
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 158 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Liberty: 124 thunderstorm wind reports, 19 flash floods, 13 floods, 1 heavy rain event and 1 lightning strike. They killed 1 person and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $6.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 96 mph, on February 6, 2008. Of the 281 Kentucky cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 96 have had fewer than Liberty.
April 5, 2025: lightning strike 3 miles from the centre of Liberty — 1 killed.
NWS: “A man was sitting on his porch on the 2600 block of State Road 1547 when he was struck and killed by lightning.”
April 20, 1996: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Liberty — 1 injured, $15,000 damage.
April 16, 1998: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Liberty — $5.0 million 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Liberty's ZIP code 42539 have filed 24 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 2010, and were paid $3.0 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2010, with 12. 4% 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, 51 have fewer than Liberty.
Casey County, which includes Liberty, has been named in 34 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1970, 27 of them major disasters (by incident: 15 severe storms, 7 floods, 3 ice storms, 3 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm, on May 29, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Casey 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 $7.9 million a year, the 81st highest of 120 Kentucky counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $4.3 million (54%), 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 Liberty
- Dunnville, KY10 mi
- Hustonville, KY11 mi
- Waynesburg, KY18 mi
- Science Hill, KY18 mi
- Eubank, KY18 mi
- Russell Springs, KY19 mi
- Nancy, KY20 mi
- Junction City, KY21 mi
- Stanford, KY21 mi
- Columbia, KY22 mi
- Campbellsville, KY23 mi
- Lebanon, KY25 mi
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