Big Clifty, Kentucky
18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1932 and the latest in 1991. It stands in the Clarkson census division. It lies in ZIP code area 42712. It lies near Owen Hollow. The Survey maps it on the Big Clifty quadrangle. 367 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 748 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 18 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1932 USGS Big Clifty quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
- 1949 USGS Big Clifty quadrangle1:62500
- 1949 USGS Big Clifty quadrangle1:24000
- 1954 USGS Evansville quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Evansville quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Big Clifty quadrangle1:24000
- 1961 USGS Evansville quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1972 USGS Big Clifty quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Tell City quadrangle1:100000
- 1991 USGS Big Clifty quadrangle1:24000
- 1991 USGS Tell City quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
11 since 2002Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 11 fires within 5 miles of Big Clifty between 2002 and 2014, burning about 40 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 April 2013 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Kentucky Division of Forestry | ST PAUL FIRE |
| 24 April 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 9 March 2007 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 7 March 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 21 March 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 19 March 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 15 March 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | SALT RIVER |
| 12 November 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
12 since 2003Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Big Clifty in 12 storm reports between 2003 and 2024: 6 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 1 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Big Clifty | - | Two trees were downed by strong winds in the Big Clifty community. |
| June 2020 | Flash Flood | Big Clifty | - | There was flooding reported over Crown Rock Road in Big Clifty. |
| July 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Big Clifty | - | There was a picture of a large tree snapped along Morrison Road. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Big Clifty | - | State officials reported trees down near St Paul and Elizabethtown Road due to severe thunderstorm winds. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Big Clifty | - | The public reported large trees snapped in half along Morrison Road. |
| May 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Big Clifty | - | A storm spotter estimated a 70 mph wind gust. |
| December 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Big Clifty | - | Trees were downed. |
| February 2012 | Hail | Big Clifty | - | no account filed |
| February 2012 | Hail | Big Clifty | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Big Clifty | - | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Hail | Big Clifty | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Big Clifty | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Paul | 2.2 miles | 18 | |
| West Clifty | 2.9 miles | 18 | |
| Tar Hill | 3.7 miles | 18 | |
| Horntown | 5.0 miles | 12 | |
| Clarkson | 5.0 miles | 12 | |
| Lacon | 5.2 miles | 14 | |
| Fragrant | 6.4 miles | 12 | |
| Grayson Springs | 7.0 miles | 12 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Big Clifty | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q4905469 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 487153. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.










