EF1 tornado in Larue County, Kentucky

A National Weather Service storm survey team in coordination with Larue County Emergency Management surveyed damage in southern Larue County from storms that occurred on Wednesday evening. It was determined that a brief EF-1 tornado that was embedded within a larger area of straight-line winds touched down 1.3 miles southeast of Upton, traveled east for just over 2.5 miles, and then lifted 3 miles east-southeast of Upton. The EF-1 tornado had a max wind of around 100 mph, and a max path width of around 200 yards.

The tornado touched down at solid EF-1 strength just northwest of the intersection of Weldon Loop Road and Watkins Alvey Road where a small barn was completely destroyed, and debris was scattered in many directions almost a half mile to the northeast. In addition, a small lean-to section of another barn was thrown back to the northwest, clear evidence of cyclonic rotation. Hardwood trees just downstream from the barn were also snapped and laying in a convergent pattern, offering more support for tornadic winds.

The tornado continued roughly eastward along Weldon Loop Road where it did some light damage to a barn roof and brought down large limbs from a hardwood tree. This damage occurred near the intersection of Johnson Road and Weldon Loop Road, and was in the EF-0 strength range. The tornado continued to the ENE along Weldon Loop Road at EF- 0 strength as it caused minor roof damage to a house, and damaged a greenhouse near the intersection of Wheeler and Wheldon Loop Roads. The tornado finished the last half mile of its path along Upton Talley Road where it uprooted or snapped softwood trees, damaged barns, and did minor fascia and shingle damage to a couple of homes. The tornado lifted about a quarter mile past the Upton Talley and Lanny Heath Roads intersection.

It should be noted that this brief tornado occurred within a larger area of straight-line wind damage where some older barns were destroyed and numerous softwood and hardwood trees were snapped or uprooted. However, the damage was mainly laying in an east-northeast direction consistent with overall storm motion and a straight-line wind signature. It was considered to make this damage part of the overall tornado, however the path width would have been over a half mile wide, which is unlikely for brief spin-up tornadoes embedded in a QLCS.

It should also be noted that more sporadic, and overall weaker, straight-line wind damage continued eastward along a consistent path across southern Larue county. Most of this damage was consistent with winds between 60 and 70 mph toward and just north of the Magnolia community and points eastward.

On the evening of April 13, 2022, a line of severe storms, moving along a cold front, spawned nine tornadoes as it moved east across Kentucky. One of these was an EF-1 that hit Jefferson County. In addition to tornadoes, strong straight line winds also caused widespread damage across central Kentucky.