NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Winchester, 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 Winchester, Kentucky since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Opal in 1995. Since 1950, 61 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 6
- Tornadoes
- 61
- EF3 or stronger
- 5
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
9 deaths in all
What the records show for Winchester
None of the 6 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Winchester; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1888, a tropical storm with 52 mph winds when its centre passed 20 miles away. The record near Winchester begins with an unnamed storm in 1888; the most recent system was Opal in 1995, a tropical storm 14 miles away. None of the 6 systems has come since 2000. Winchester has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 52% of the 281 Kentucky cities on this site. The strongest of the 61 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on April 3, 1974; its path came within 1 mile, and it killed 7 people. Of the 61, 3 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 October 19, 2025. Of the 281 Kentucky cities, 63% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Winchester. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 23 times since 1982, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 281 Kentucky cities, 93% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Winchester.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Winchester
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | OpalOct 5 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1979 | FredericSep 14 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 28 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormOct 1 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1892 | Unnamed 1892 stormSep 13 | 35 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 21 | 20 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 Winchester: 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 Winchester
By decade
- 2020s11
- 2010s7
- 2000s8(2 EF3+)
- 1990s10
- 1980s7
- 1970s8(2 EF3+)
- 1960s4
- 1950s6(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 1974 | F4 | 1 mi | 31.9 mi | 7 / 28 |
| May 8, 2009 | EF3 | 17 mi | 21.12 mi | 2 / 15 |
| May 27, 2004 | F3 | 19 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F3 | 16 mi | 4.9 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Mar 4, 1955 | F3 | 23 mi | 8.9 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 21, 1990 | F2 | 18 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Mar 10, 1986 | F2 | 16 mi | 3.5 mi | 0 / 20 |
| Jun 16, 1982 | F2 | 2 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Mar 16, 1982 | F2 | 8 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Aug 30, 1978 | F2 | 21 mi | 5.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 3, 1977 | F2 | 24 mi | 2.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 3, 1974 | F2 | 13 mi | 4.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 61, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Winchester
The Storm Prediction Center has 23 hail reports within 10 miles of Winchester since 1982, made on 20 separate days. Of these, 10 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on March 2, 2012. The most recent report is from February 28, 2024. April has the most reports, 7.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Winchester
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Cressy, KY, 13 miles southeast of Winchester at 720 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 43°F and 23°F. May and July are the wettest at 5.4 inches of precipitation on average and November the driest at 3.3 inches; the year adds up to 50.9 inches. Highs reach 90°F on about 18 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 116 nights a year. That 50.9 inches is more than at 47 of the 93 Kentucky stations used on this site (51%). Mt Sterling, 14 miles northeast, has its own station (Mt Sterling, KY): 48.6 inches a year, 2.3 less than here, and a July average high of 87°F against 85°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 43 | 23 | 3.6 |
| Feb | 48 | 25 | 3.7 |
| Mar | 57 | 32 | 4.7 |
| Apr | 68 | 41 | 4.6 |
| May | 76 | 52 | 5.4 |
| Jun | 83 | 61 | 4.9 |
| Jul | 85 | 65 | 5.4 |
| Aug | 85 | 62 | 3.7 |
| Sep | 79 | 55 | 3.9 |
| Oct | 69 | 42 | 3.5 |
| Nov | 57 | 32 | 3.3 |
| Dec | 47 | 28 | 4.2 |
| Year | 66 | 43 | 50.9 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Cressy, 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 Winchester
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 148 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Winchester: 120 thunderstorm wind reports, 23 flash floods, 4 floods and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 1 person and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $1.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 98 mph, on January 11, 2020. May has had the most flash floods, 5 of 23. Of the 281 Kentucky cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 138 have had fewer than Winchester.
June 29, 2012: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Winchester — 1 killed.
NWS: “A fatality occurred near the Bourbon - Clark County line. A man was killed after stopping to remove debris from a county road.”
June 6, 2001: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Winchester — 1 injured, $25,000 damage.
NWS: “One large tree was blown on to a resident's truck, sport utility vehicle, and motor boat. A person in one of the vehicles was injured.”
April 2, 2015: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Winchester — $1.0 million damage.
NWS: “Law enforcement reported several trees down in the county. The Clark County KY Mesonet observation recorded a 53 mph wind gust.”
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 Winchester's ZIP code 40391 have filed 280 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $6.0 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1989: 50 claims (18% of all) and $332,000, then Central U.S. April Flooding in 2025 with 18 and Not a named storm in 1978 with 14. The year with the most claims was 2010, with 52. 35% 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, 126 have fewer than Winchester.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1989 | 50 | $332,000 |
| Central U.S. April Flooding2025 | 18 | $790,000 |
| Not a named storm1978 | 14 | $350,000 |
| February Kentucky Flooding2025 | 11 | $217,000 |
Clark County, which includes Winchester, has been named in 27 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1974, 20 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 severe storms, 4 floods, 4 snowstorms, 3 ice storms). 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 Clark County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and strong wind; Relatively Low for hail, inland flooding, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $13.6 million a year, the 44th highest of 120 Kentucky counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $6.9 million (51%), 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 Winchester
- Mt Sterling, KY14 mi
- Clay City, KY16 mi
- Paris, KY16 mi
- Richmond, KY17 mi
- Lexington, KY18 mi
- Jeffersonville, KY18 mi
- Waco, KY18 mi
- Sharpsburg, KY20 mi
- Stanton, KY22 mi
- Irvine, KY22 mi
- Nicholasville, KY23 mi
- Carlisle, KY25 mi
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