Louisville, KY

Weather Forecast Office

Past Weather Event Summaries

Thunderstorms / Tornadoes
Flooding
Winter
Heat / Cold
Winds
Other
Top Weather Events

Thunderstorms & Tornadoes

The following summaries cover "significant" or widespread thunderstorm outbreaks and tornadoes. Tornadoes, hail, wind damage, and flooding impacts can be found in these summaries. If the event was focused mainly on flooding it will be found under the "Flooding" section.

Past Violent Tornadoes in Indiana and Kentucky (F4/EF4/F5/EF5)

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2024

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.

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

The following summaries cover "significant" or widespread winter storms. Heavy snow, sleet, freezing rain, and blizzards can be found in these summaries. If the event focused on wind chills, it will be found under the "Heat / Cold" section.

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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