Leslie County Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes
The chance of earthquake damage in Leslie County is about the same as Kentucky average and is much lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Leslie County is much lower than Kentucky average and is much lower than the national average.
Earthquake Index, #54
| Leslie County | 0.06 |
| Kentucky | 0.24 |
| U.S. | 1.81 |
The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.
Volcano Index, #1
| Leslie County | 0.0000 |
| Kentucky | 0.0000 |
| U.S. | 0.0023 |
The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.
Tornado Index, #97
| Leslie County | 39.21 |
| Kentucky | 136.89 |
| U.S. | 136.45 |
The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.
Other Weather Extremes Events
A total of 13,715 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Leslie County were recorded from 1950 to 2010. The following is a break down of these events:
| Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count |
| Avalanche: | 0 | Blizzard: | 2 | Cold: | 88 | Dense Fog: | 32 | Drought: | 57 |
| Dust Storm: | 0 | Flood: | 1,883 | Hail: | 2,876 | Heat: | 65 | Heavy Snow: | 191 |
| High Surf: | 0 | Hurricane: | 0 | Ice Storm: | 36 | Landslide: | 3 | Strong Wind: | 94 |
| Thunderstorm Winds: | 7,724 | Tropical Storm: | 0 | Wildfire: | 17 | Winter Storm: | 91 | Winter Weather: | 110 |
| Other: | 446 | ||||||||
Volcanos Nearby
No volcano is found in or near Leslie County.
Historical Earthquake Events
A total of 1 historical earthquake event that had a recorded magnitude of 3.5 or above found in or near Leslie County.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Depth (km) | Latitude | Longitude |
| 28.3 | 1976-01-19 | 4 | 5 | 36.88 | -83.83 |
Historical Tornado Events
A total of 16 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Leslie County.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Start Lat/Log | End Lat/Log | Length | Width | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage | Crop Damage | Affected County |
| 31.0 | 1974-04-03 | 2 | 37°11'N / 83°57'W | 37°13'N / 83°55'W | 2.30 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Clay |
| 33.7 | 1977-10-01 | 2 | 37°31'N / 83°53'W | 37°23'N / 83°43'W | 12.80 Miles | 400 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Owsley |
| 35.5 | 1974-04-03 | 2 | 36°58'N / 84°07'W | 37°11'N / 83°57'W | 17.50 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 22 | 2.5M | 0 | Laurel |
| 36.7 | 1984-05-06 | 2 | 37°08'N / 84°05'W | 37°10'N / 84°01'W | 5.00 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 8 | 2.5M | 0 | Laurel |
| 37.8 | 1988-05-09 | 3 | 36°36'N / 83°45'W | 36°36'N / 83°39'W | 5.00 Miles | 500 Yards | 1 | 15 | 25.0M | 0 | Bell |
| 38.4 | 1973-06-29 | 3 | 37°08'N / 84°05'W | 0.50 Mile | 100 Yards | 0 | 2 | 250K | 0 | Laurel | |
| 38.4 | 2001-06-02 | 2 | 37°08'N / 84°05'W | 37°08'N / 84°05'W | 7.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 10 | 17.1M | 0K | Laurel |
| Brief Description: A strong F2 tornado with wind estimates between 135 and 155 miles per hour ripped through downtown London during the evening hours. The Carnaby Square shopping center was hard hit. The tornado was reported by eye witnesses to have been nearly stationary in the parking lot for nearly 4 minutes. During this time several automobiles including a large moving van were overtured. A 20 by 30 foot chunk of 4 inch thick blacktop from the parking lot was torn up and thrown approximately 100 feet. Merchandise from one of the stores was later found 25 miles to the east. The tornado lifted before crossing U.S. Highway 25. The tornado touched down again along Bellinger Street between 6:15 and 6:20 pm where several homes received major damage. One duplex lost its entire roof as a mother and her two sons took shelter on the second floor. A mobile home used for storage was demolished. One block over on Morgan Street several brick and framed homes lost their entire roofs. A framed home placed on a block foundation was blown 15 feet away from the foundation. The storm lifted as if approached the Rolling Acres Subdivision. Witnesses reported seeing two funnel clouds at this time as the storm continued moving east. Damage was confined to large trees and some shingle damage on roofs of homes. The storm again dropped a tornado as it approached a ball park just northwest of the intersection of Kentucky Highway 192 and 80. Three of the four teams in the park took refuge in the concession stand and the fourth team remained in the dugout where parents covered the children while laying on the ground. One mid sized truck was tossed from the parking lot approximately 150 feet. Fencing from both ball diamonds was blown away. The last major damage occurred at a mobile home sales lot near the intersection of Kentucky Highway 192 and the Daniel Boone Parkway. Eight mobile homes weighing 8 to 12 tons were totaled. Emergency management officials reported that there were 10 minor injuries with the most serious being a broken arm. Eighteen residences were destroyed, 21 received major damage while 84 received minor damage. Twenty-six businesses suffered major damage. One church received major damage with another receiving minor damage. Thirty vehicles were destroyed and three 18 wheel tractor trailers were overturned. | |||||||||||
| 39.1 | 1954-06-01 | 2 | 37°17'N / 84°07'W | 37°27'N / 83°54'W | 16.40 Miles | 67 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Laurel |
| 41.5 | 1980-07-06 | 2 | 36°35'N / 83°15'W | 36°25'N / 83°13'W | 11.50 Miles | 300 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Hancock |
| 45.1 | 2009-05-08 | 2 | 36°27'N / 83°34'W | 2.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Claiborne | |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: An EF-2 tornado with maximum wind speed of 110 miles an hour occurred around five miles southwest of Tazewell. The tornado initially touched down along Cole Road and quickly produced 110 mph winds. It lifted the roof off of a home on Cole Road moved east across the road and moved east across the road and destroyed two large wooden barns carrying debris up to a half mile away. Several trees were also snapped off at mid trunk level. The tornado continued in a 2.2 mile path and dissipated near Neely Road. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A highly organized mesoscale convective vorticity maximum with strong low to mid tropospheric flow coupled with moderate instability resulted in the development of discrete supercellular thunderstorms. These storms produced a long-lived tornado across Northeast Tennessee late in the afternoon and another long duration tornado across Southwest Virginia later in the evening. | |||||||||||
| 45.5 | 1961-06-09 | 3 | 37°40'N / 83°48'W | 37°40'N / 83°46'W | 1.30 Miles | 150 Yards | 1 | 25 | 2.5M | 0 | Lee |
| 45.5 | 1974-04-03 | 3 | 37°17'N / 84°11'W | 37°18'N / 84°10'W | 1.30 Miles | 33 Yards | 1 | 10 | 2.5M | 0 | Rockcastle |
| 46.4 | 1961-06-09 | 3 | 37°40'N / 83°50'W | 37°40'N / 83°48'W | 1.30 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 38 | 2.5M | 0 | Estill |
| 47.1 | 2009-05-08 | 2 | 37°04'N / 82°33'W | 37°04'N / 82°31'W | 2.00 Miles | 120 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Wise |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: An EF2 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 120 miles an hour occurred around five miles southeast of Pound, Virginia. Tornado damage was observed along the path which measured 1.7 mile in length with a path width of 120 yards. Two trailers along with several outbuildings were destroyed while one trailer was damaged. Numerous trees...some in clusters...were downed by the high wind speeds generated by the tornado. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A highly organized mesoscale convective vorticity maximum with strong low to mid tropospheric flow coupled with moderate instability resulted in the development of discrete supercellular thunderstorms. These storms produced a long-lived tornado across Northeast Tennessee late in the afternoon and another long duration tornado across Southwest Virginia later in the evening. | |||||||||||
| 47.3 | 1974-04-03 | 3 | 37°09'N / 84°17'W | 37°17'N / 84°11'W | 10.70 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Laurel |
| 49.6 | 1967-03-12 | 3 | 36°40'N / 84°07'W | 2.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Whitley | |
* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.