Hart County, Kentucky

What hazards hit Hart County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 166 since 1968. 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 Hart County had?

NOAA records 19 tornadoes in Hart County from 1969 to 2026, the strongest rated F3, with 1 death and 23 injuries recorded in the county. That is 51st 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 18 tornadoes whose track touched Hart County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 19: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 1 person.

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 Hart County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the January 24, 2026 winter storm (2 deaths and 1 injury).

Hart County received significant ice accumulation of 0.25 to 0.50 inches, in addition to 3 to 4 inches of snow and sleet. The wintry precipitation caused very slick and hazardous travel conditions on Interstate 65. A large truck pulling a trailer slid into and through a guardrail and went over an embankment. This crash resulted in one injury. A large SUV also slid 40 feet off Interstate 65 North, resulting in the closure of the far right lane.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1315856)

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 Hart 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 Hart County. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Hart County

FEMA's register lists 27 declarations that include Hart County: 20 major disasters, 7 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (13) and snowstorm (4).

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 Hart County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 50 flood or flash flood records for Hart County from 1997 to 2026, on 43 days, with 2 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Hart County ranks 2321st of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $222,000 on 11 claims filed in Hart County; the most in one year was 4 in 2010. 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 Hart County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Hart County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $9.7 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 Hart County

1. Hardin County 543
2. Barren County 381
3. Grayson County 361
4. Hart County 342
5. Green County 260
6. Edmonson County 259
7. Larue County 250
8. Metcalfe County 217

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 Hart CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Hart County's FEMA declarations (CSV)27 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis