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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Greenville, KY

Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.

3 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Greenville, Kentucky since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Helene in 2024. Since 1950, 84 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 16 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
3

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
84

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
16

64 deaths in all

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Greenville

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Greenville, Kentucky, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2024HeleneSep 2839 miTropical storm (39 mph)Category 4
1957AudreyJun 2873 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 3
1888Unnamed 1888 stormAug 2119 miTropical storm (56 mph)Category 3

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Greenville: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Greenville

By decade

  • 2020s12(4 EF3+)
  • 2010s32(1 EF3+)
  • 2000s21(6 EF3+)
  • 1990s5
  • 1980s2
  • 1970s5(2 EF3+)
  • 1960s3(3 EF3+)
  • 1950s4
Strongest tornadoes near Greenville, Kentucky
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Dec 10, 2021EF49 mi168.53 mi57 / 515
Apr 3, 1968F425 mi50.6 mi2 / 30
Nov 15, 2005F418 mi15 mi0 / 40
Feb 5, 2008EF32 mi18.05 mi3 / 24
May 26, 2024EF318 mi34.14 mi1 / 21
Apr 27, 1971F313 mi27.4 mi1 / 0
Dec 11, 2021EF323 mi28.02 mi0 / 1
Dec 10, 2021EF325 mi122.62 mi0 / 38
Nov 17, 2013EF39 mi8.23 mi0 / 1
Apr 10, 2009EF315 mi2.02 mi0 / 2
Apr 2, 2006F317 mi29.7 mi0 / 28
May 11, 2003F318 mi1.8 mi0 / 2

The strongest 12 of 84, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

How to read this page

A storm is listed when the centre of its track passed within 75 miles of Greenville while it was at least a tropical storm, which is the reach of damaging wind and rain for a typical hurricane. Being on the list does not mean the city took a direct hit; the "closest" column says how near the centre came. Tornadoes are counted when any part of the path came within 25 miles.

Tornado records before the 1990s are thinner, because weak tornadoes in open country often went unreported before Doppler radar and mobile phones. A rise in the decade counts is mostly better reporting, not a change in the weather.

Tracks come from the National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database, tornadoes from the Storm Prediction Center's database. Both are the official federal records and both are revised as old storms are re-analysed.

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