Residents of the Ohio and Tennessee valleys are well aware that central Kentucky and southern Indiana experience some of the most extreme weather conditions on Earth. This region endures powerful tornadoes with winds exceeding 200 mph, catastrophic floods that can overwhelm entire communities, severe ice and snow storms, intense summer heat, and biting cold snaps.
To honor, remember, and acknowledge our remarkable weather, the Louisville National Weather Service Forecast Office has compiled a list of the twenty most significant weather events in this area’s recorded history. While this list is not without debate regarding which events are more or less significant, we have considered factors such as fatalities, the extent of the affected area, the monetary damage, and the uniqueness of each event. We welcome any feedback or personal stories you wish to share; please email us at w-lmk.webmaster@noaa.gov if you would like us to include your comments or experiences on this page.
- The Great Flood January – February 1937 Louisville Underwater
The Great Ohio River Flood of January-February 1937 exceeded all previous floods in the Ohio River Valley over the past 175 years. It surpassed the major floods of 1884 and 1773, and geological evidence suggests it was the most severe flood on record. Seventy percent of Louisville was submerged, displacing 175,000 residents. Jeffersonville, Indiana, was 90 percent flooded. Damage estimates at the time were $250,000,000 (in 1937 dollars), equivalent to over $3.3 billion today.
The 1937 flood crest remains ten feet higher than the next highest recorded flood level (1945). At McAlpine Lock, the 1937 flood reached 85.4 feet, compared to a flood stage of 55 feet. Louisville experienced 15 inches of rain in just 12 days from January 13 to 24, with over 19 inches falling in the entire month, which remains the city’s wettest month ever recorded. No measurable snow was recorded that month. The Weather Bureau office at the time was located in the Lincoln Building at Fourth and Market.
Photo: Courier-Journal
- Whirling Tiger of the Air March 27, 1890 Louisville 1890 Tornado
On March 27, 1890, a major tornado outbreak affected the Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee valleys, with at least two dozen tornadoes of F2 strength or higher. One particularly devastating F4 tornado struck the west side of Louisville. It may have touched down as far west as Harrison County, Indiana, but it was most destructive from the intersection of Algonquin Parkway and Thirty-Fourth Street northeastward through California and Russell into Louisville’s Central Business District. The tornado crossed the Ohio River, hit downtown Jeffersonville, and returned to Louisville, damaging the water tower at the end of today’s Zorn Avenue.
The worst disaster occurred at Falls City Hall, located at 1124 West Market Street, where a lodge meeting was happening on the second floor, and children were taking dance lessons on the main floor. The tornado caused the building to collapse, resulting in the deaths of about 44 people, making it one of the deadliest single-building incidents in the nation.
The next day’s newspaper described the storm as a “whirling tiger of the air.”
On the same day, at least four other tornadoes struck central Kentucky, including a massive F4 tornado that traveled 60 miles from Ohio County to Hardin County, holding records for both the widest and longest tornado track in the area. A total of 92 people died in central Kentucky on March 27, 1890, with 76 of those fatalities occurring in Louisville.