Grayson County, Kentucky

What hazards hit Grayson County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 157 since 1958. 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 Grayson County had?

NOAA records 20 tornadoes in Grayson County from 1959 to 2026, the strongest rated F4, with 3 deaths and 23 injuries recorded in the county. 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 14 tornadoes whose track touched Grayson County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 20: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 3 people.

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 Grayson County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the January 24, 2026 winter storm (1 death).

Grayson County received a combination of heavy snow and sleet totaling 4 inches. Grayson County also reported ice accumulation ranging from 0.10 to 0.25 inches.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1315851)

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 Grayson 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).

Winter storms in the 2010s: 18 records against 6 in the decade before, 18 of them forecast-zone records. Cells marked z rose mostly through zone records. The local National Weather Service office files these once per forecast zone, so a change in how it draws its zones or splits a storm into records moves this count as much as the weather does; read it beside the Grayson County days with a record above.

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 Grayson County. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Grayson County

FEMA's register lists 30 declarations that include Grayson County: 23 major disasters, 7 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (17) and tornado (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 Grayson County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 49 flood or flash flood records for Grayson County from 1996 to 2026, on 34 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Grayson County ranks 2523rd of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $156,000 on 6 claims filed in Grayson County; the most in one year was 4 in 2025. 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 Grayson County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Grayson County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $11.4 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 Grayson County

1. Hardin County 543
2. Breckinridge County 403
3. Ohio County 402
4. Butler County 367
5. Grayson County 361
6. Hart County 342
7. Edmonson County 259

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 Grayson CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Grayson County's FEMA declarations (CSV)30 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis