Ashland County, Ohio

What hazards hit Ashland County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 229 since 1959. 52% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1959 fell in June and July. The rank column places the county among Ohio's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Ashland County had?

NOAA records 20 tornadoes in Ashland County from 1970 to 2023, the strongest rated F2, with 0 deaths and 16 injuries recorded in the county. That is 25th of 88 Ohio counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 20 tornadoes whose track touched Ashland County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 20, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Ohio.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Ashland County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the August 23, 2023 flash flood (2 injuries and $387,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

Widespread flash flooding with localized significant impacts across much of northwest and central Ashland County. More than one dozen reported road closures due to flooding of creeks, streams and rivers, with several inches to several feet of flowing water across roadways. Some major roadways closed by flooding include several portions of US-250, US-42, OH-56, OH-302, in addition to several township and county roadways. Four water rescues were reported across this area due to vehicles driving into flooded roadways. Township Road 1275 near the intersection of OH-89 in Perry Township was washed out due to flooding. A vehicle drove into the washed out culvert and two occupants needed to be rescued, and were transported to a local hospital with minor injuries. Radar estimated 2.75 to 3.5 inches of rainfall in a 3 hour period, with a bulk of the rain falling in a 90 minute or less period.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1146577)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Ashland County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

52% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1959 fell in June and July. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Ashland County

FEMA's register lists 12 declarations that include Ashland County: 6 major disasters, 6 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (5) and biological (2).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Ashland County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 53 flood or flash flood records for Ashland County from 1996 to 2023, on 45 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Ashland County ranks 1596th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $762,000 on 58 claims filed in Ashland County; the most in one year was 15 in 2011. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Ashland County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Ashland County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $14.7 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Ashland County

1. Lorain County 940
2. Richland County 685
3. Medina County 655
4. Huron County 602
5. Wayne County 596
6. Ashland County 544
7. Holmes County 469
8. Knox County 459

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in OhioEvery Ohio tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in OhioThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Ohio recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Ashland CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Ashland County's FEMA declarations (CSV)12 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis