Storms in Kentucky in 1997

1,037 events in 651 episodes

Every storm the National Weather Service filed in Kentucky in 1997, with each episode’s narrative and every event in it. From 1996 the record holds 48 kinds of event with each office’s narrative; before that, tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind only, and before 1955 tornadoes alone.

Kentucky in 1997 on the map

Every episode with a place to put it, colored by kind of event.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over Kentucky

The year

Events: 1,037
Deaths: 21
Injuries: 50
Damage: $463 million
Episodes: 651

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

By kind of event

Kind of event	Events	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
Thunderstorm Wind	269	2	5	$2.1 million
Flash Flood	252	7	2	$82 million
Flood	142	9	0	$362 million
Hail	99	0	0	$728,000
Cold/Wind Chill	46	0	0	$8,000
Dense Fog	44	0	0
Tornado	39	3	36	$16 million
Heat	30	0	0
Ice Storm	25	0	0
Winter Storm	24	0	0
High Wind	23	0	3	$60,000
Frost/Freeze	22	0	0
Heavy Snow	11	0	0	$10,000
Winter Weather	6	0	0
Lightning	4	0	4	$1,000
Funnel Cloud	1	0	0

Every episode, month by month

January 1997

February 1997

March 1997

April 1997

May 1997

June 1997

July 1997

August 1997

September 1997

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24.