NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Stanton, 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 Stanton, Kentucky since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Opal in 1995. Since 1950, 47 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 6
- Tornadoes
- 47
- EF3 or stronger
- 5
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
22 deaths in all
What the records show for Stanton
None of the 6 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Stanton; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1888, a tropical storm with 52 mph winds when its centre passed 37 miles away. The record near Stanton begins with an unnamed storm in 1888; the most recent system was Opal in 1995, a tropical storm 8 miles away. None of the 6 systems has come since 2000. Stanton has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 52% of the 281 Kentucky cities on this site. The strongest of the 47 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on April 3, 1974; its path came within 19 miles, and it killed 7 people. The deadliest, an EF3 on March 2, 2012, killed 10 people. Of the 47, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 25 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 9. The most recent tornado was on April 2, 2024. Of the 281 Kentucky cities, 75% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Stanton. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 61 times since 1955, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Stanton has more hail reports within 10 miles than 65% of the 281 Kentucky cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Stanton
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | OpalOct 5 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1979 | FredericSep 14 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 28 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormOct 1 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 13 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 21 | 37 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 Stanton: 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 Stanton
By decade
- 2020s5
- 2010s8(1 EF3+)
- 2000s12(1 EF3+)
- 1990s8
- 1980s5
- 1970s6(2 EF3+)
- 1960s1(1 EF3+)
- 1950s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 1974 | F4 | 19 mi | 31.9 mi | 7 / 28 |
| Mar 2, 2012 | EF3 | 12 mi | 84.99 mi | 10 / 118 |
| May 8, 2009 | EF3 | 17 mi | 21.12 mi | 2 / 15 |
| Jun 9, 1961 | F3 | 12 mi | 2.6 mi | 1 / 63 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F3 | 11 mi | 4.9 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Feb 29, 2012 | EF2 | 24 mi | 6.32 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 16, 1982 | F2 | 21 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Mar 16, 1982 | F2 | 8 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Aug 30, 1978 | F2 | 2 mi | 5.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 1, 1977 | F2 | 22 mi | 12.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 3, 1977 | F2 | 10 mi | 2.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 22, 2003 | F1 | 24 mi | 0.5 mi | 2 / 7 |
The strongest 12 of 47, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Stanton
The Storm Prediction Center has 61 hail reports within 10 miles of Stanton since 1955, made on 37 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, 19.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Stanton
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Stanton 2W, KY, 5 miles west of Stanton 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%). Frenchburg, 12 miles northeast, has its own station (Cave Run Lake, KY): 50.9 inches a year, 2.3 less than here, and a July average high of 86°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 Stanton
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 382 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Stanton: 257 thunderstorm wind reports, 55 flash floods, 55 floods, 12 heavy rain events and 3 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $2.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 86 mph, on May 30, 2004. August has had the most flash floods, 17 of 55. Of the 281 Kentucky cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 253 have had fewer than Stanton.
April 3, 2015: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Stanton — 1 killed, 1 injured.
NWS: “A dead tree fell onto a tent at a campsite at the Middlefork campground, killing one person inside the tent and critically injuring a second person. No other tree damage was noted by first responders except for the dead tree.”
April 28, 2014: lightning strike 6 miles from the centre of Stanton — 1 injured.
June 10, 2008: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Stanton — $500,000 damage.
NWS: “A National Weather Service storm survey team concluded that a microburst downed 20 to 30 trees and snapped off a radio tower near Furnace.”
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 Stanton's ZIP code 40380 have filed 29 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $416,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 34% 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, 60 have fewer than Stanton.
Powell County, which includes Stanton, 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 Stanton
- Clay City, KY7 mi
- Jeffersonville, KY9 mi
- Frenchburg, KY12 mi
- Irvine, KY14 mi
- Mt Sterling, KY17 mi
- Campton, KY18 mi
- Waco, KY18 mi
- Beattyville, KY19 mi
- Salt Lick, KY20 mi
- Owingsville, KY22 mi
- Winchester, KY22 mi
- Sharpsburg, KY26 mi
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