Thunderstorms & Tornadoes

2025

• February 6: EF1 tornado in northern Hart County
• February 15: EF1 tornado in Simpson County and Significant Flooding
• March 15: EF1 tornado in Orange County, IN and up to 2 inch hail along the Ohio River
• March 30-31: Multiple EF1 Tornadoes in Jefferson, Meade, Spencer KY Counties
• April 2-3: Multiple tornadoes across the area, including an EF3 in Louisville
• May 16: EF1 in Logan County and EF3 tornado in Russell County, part of the long-tack EF4
• May 30: Morning EF2 in Washington County and EF1 in Mercer County

• February 10: Scattered pre-dawn wind damage and two brief EF-1 tornadoes
• March 14-15: Hanover-Milton EF2 tornado
• April 2: Ten tornadoes in two waves, including EF2's at Prospect and Buckner
• May 7: EF-0 tornado on the ground for 2100 feet in Clark County, Indiana. Tornado came from an isolated shower that didn't even have any lightning.
• May 26: Widespread damaging winds and several tornadoes, two waves of storms
• July 4: Two brief tornadoes touched down over southern Indiana and the Louisville Metro area
• September 24: Brief EF0 tornado in Clark County, Indiana and multiple strong storms over Central Kentucky
• September 27: Remnants of Hurricane Helene brought winds up to 65mph.

2023

• January 12: Three morning tornadoes
• March 3: Historic windstorm, record low pressure.
• March 31-April 1: EF-1 tornado in Jefferson and Shelby County and scattered wind damage
• April 5: Five EF-1 tornadoes in and around Louisville
• May 7: Louisville area tornadoes
• June 25-26: Large severe weather outbreak with huge hail, widespread damaging winds, and a few tornadoes
• July 2: Spotty damaging winds and brief tornadoes
• August 7: Six squall line tornadoes in southern Indiana
• December 9: Three tornadoes in southern Kentucky; EF-2 damage in Logan County

2022

• January 1: Eight tornadoes, flooding
• March 18: Five small tornadoes within 50 miles of Louisville
• April 13: EF-1 tornado in southern Louisville, total of 9 tornadoes in the region
• May 18: 97 mph microburst in Marion County
• May 26: 85 mph thunderstorm winds in Adair County

2021

• February 28: Major flooding, EF1 tornado in Clinton County
• March 25: Three small tornadoes...hailstorm crossed central Kentucky
• May 3: A brief EF1 tornado in Tompkinsville in Monroe County
• October 15: Two EF-0 tornadoes in southern Indiana
• December 6: Two EF-1 tornadoes northeast of Frankfort
• December 11: Historic Tornado Outbreak, including Bowling Green EF-3

2020

• January 11: Sporadic wind damage
• March 3: EF2 tornado near Alvaton, Kentucky
• April 8-9: EF1 tornado in Nelson County and straight-line winds

2019

• March 14: Widespread wind damage, EF0 tornado
• April 12: EF1 tornado in Oldham County
• June 21: EF1 tornadoes in Simpson and Allen counties
• October 26: Damaging winds from former Tropical Storm Olga

2018

• February 24-25: Tornadoes and flash flooding
• April 3: Severe storms, two tornadoes, hail
• June 25: Tornadoes near Beaver Dam and Bee Springs
• June 26: Louisville EF1 tornado, damaging winds, flooding
• July 20: Tornadoes, straight-line winds, large hail
• September 8: EF0 tornadoes, minor flooding (remnants of Tropical Storm Gordon)
• October 31-November 1: EF1 tornado, minor flooding
• November 5-6: Tornadoes, wind, squall line
• December 31: EF1 Harrison County, IN tornado, wind, squall line

2017

• February 28-March 1: Tornado Outbreak
• March 27: Severe Weather
• April 5: Four tornadoes; wind and hail damage
• April 28: Oldham County tornado
• May 19: Salem Flash Flood Emergency, Crawford County tornado
• May 20: Jefferson County, Indiana tornado
• May 27: Campbellsville/Liberty Flash Flood Emergency
• June 23: Flooding and two EF-1 tornadoes
• July 7: Scattered wind damage, lots of lightning
• November 5: Three tornadoes in Washington County, Indiana
• November 18: Three tornadoes in central Kentucky

2012

• January 17: Tornado outbreak including two EF1's in Louisville
• February 29: EF2 tornadoes strike central Kentucky
• March 2: Tornado Outbreak, including southern Indiana EF4
• March 23: Tornadoes in Louisville and in Shelby County
• April 28: Large hail strikes Louisville

Historic

• August 27, 1854:Louisville Tornado
• May 27, 1873: Downburst Wind Damage
• April 13, 1876: Louisville Tornado
• November 28, 1879: Louisville Tornado
• March 27, 1890: A Scene of Ruin, Story Map on devastating Louisville F4 killer tornado
• March 27, 1890: Tiger of the Air; Louisville's Deadliest Day (Louisville Tornado) (.pdf)
• May 9, 1933: Tompkinsville Tornado
• January 1937: The Great Flood
• April 3, 1974: Super Tornado Outbreak
• May 18, 1995: Nicholasville Tornado
• May 28, 1996: Bullitt County F4
• May 23, 2000: Leitchfield F3
• February 5-6, 2008: Overnight tornado outbreak
• June 22, 2011: Churchill Downs tornado, 5 tornadoes in Louisville area

Flooding

The following summaries cover "significant" or widespread flooding. River and flash flooding can be found in these summaries. If the flooding event accompanied severe thunderstorms or tornado outbreaks, it will likely be included in that event's summary under the "Thunderstorms / Tornadoes" section.

2025

• February 14-16: Significant State-wide Areal and River Flooding
• April 2-6: Historic rainfall and widespread flooding

2024

• No events

2023

• No events

2022

• No events

2021

• February: Significant flooding throughout central Kentucky and southern Indiana

2018

• February: Significant Ohio River flood

2017

• June 23: Remnants of Tropical Storm Cindy

2011

• March 12: River Flooding
• April Record Flooding

2010

• May 1-2: Flood

Historic

• The Great Flood of 1937
• Ohio River Flood of 1945
• Death of Governor Bert T. Combs (1991)
• 1997 Ohio River/Louisville Flood
• Louisville Flash Flood (2009)

Winter Storms

2025

• January 5-6: Snow and ice storm

2024

• No events

2023

• No events

2022

• No events

2019

• January 19-20: Snow, wind, rain

2018

• January 12: Snow and ice
• March 20-21: Deep snow on the first day of spring
• November 14-15: Ice
• December 8-9: Ice

2016

• January 19-20: Snow
• January 22: Heavy Snow and Winter Mix central Kentucky
• February 9-10: Snow
• February 14-15: Valentine's Day Snowstorm
• February 15-16: Snow in the Bluegrass
• February 16-17: Snow Depth

2015

• January 23-24: Narrow band of heavy snow central Kentucky
• March 4-5: Historic Snowstorm and Heavy Rain

2011

• January 20: Snowfall

2010

• January 7: Snowfall
• November 25-26: Snowfall
• December 4-5: Clipper Snowfall

2009

• January 26-28: Ice and Snow Storm

2004

• December 22: Snow and Ice Storm

1917

• December: Historic cold and snow

1894

• May 20: Heavy Snow

Extreme Heat & Cold

The following summaries cover "significant" or widespread high heat or extreme cold. Dangerous wind chills and life threatening heat indices can be found in these summaries. If the extreme temperatures were associated with a summer or winter storm, it may be found under the "Thunderstorms & Tornadoes" or "Winter" sections. These events tend to more "rare" compared to others, and has not been broken into yearly sections. 

• Incredible Cold Front of November 11-12, 1911

Wind

The following summaries cover events that had high wind gusts, not necessarily associated with thunderstorms.

Windstorm of March 3, 2023

Remnants of Hurricane Ike September 14, 2008

Other Events

The following summaries cover events that don't fall under the other categories - such as optical events, special days, etc. Other atmospheric events may be found here.

• Historical Kentucky Derby Weather
• Football Weather
• December 3, 1991: Flooding death of former Governor Bert T. Combs

Top Weather Events

Below are top weather events for southern Indiana and central Kentucky

• Top 25 Weather Events of All-Time in Southern Indiana and Central Kentucky
• Top Ten Lists for Tornadoes, Tornado Outbreaks, Flash Flood, Flood, Hail, Heat, Cold, and Winter
• Top 15 Local Weather Events of 2000-2009
• Top 15 Local Weather Events of 2010-2019