Clinton County, Kentucky

What hazards hit Clinton County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 111 since 1971. The rank column places the county among Kentucky'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 Clinton County had?

NOAA records 18 tornadoes in Clinton County from 1974 to 2026, the strongest rated F4, with 9 deaths and 65 injuries recorded in the county. That is 14th of 118 Kentucky 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 17 tornadoes whose track touched Clinton County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 18: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 11 people, 9 of them in Clinton County.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Kentucky.

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 Clinton County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the October 6, 2014 tornado ($3,740 in damage in 2025 dollars).

The tornado touched down and skipped through a wooded area, snapping and uprooting many trees along an west to east path roughly along State Highway 127. The only non-tree damage surveyed was to several power poles along the west side of the road. After tracking for just over 2 miles, the tornado finally lifted right over State Highway 127 on the shore of Lake Cumberland 2 miles southwest of Wolf Creek Dam.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 538978)

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

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 Clinton 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?

Records by month in Clinton County. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Clinton County

FEMA's register lists 19 declarations that include Clinton County: 13 major disasters, 6 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (9) and snowstorm (3).

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 Clinton County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 19 flood or flash flood records for Clinton County from 1997 to 2026, on 16 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Clinton County ranks 2830th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $134,000 on 1 claim filed in Clinton County; the most in one year was 1 in 2026. 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 Clinton County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Clinton County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $5.7 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 Clinton County

1. Wayne County 406
2. Clay County, TN 270
3. Russell County 227
4. Clinton County 203
5. Pickett County, TN 197
6. Cumberland County 180

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 KentuckyEvery Kentucky tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in KentuckyThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Kentucky recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Clinton CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Clinton County's FEMA declarations (CSV)19 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis