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EF1 tornado in Shelby County, Kentucky

Tornado April 13, 2022 · Shelby County, Kentucky

EF1
Rating
3.5 mi
Path length
125 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 125 yards (0.07 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The National Weather Service in Louisville confirmed an EF-1 tornado in Eastern Shelby County. The tornado touched down just west of 2402 Highway 714, twisting a bunch of cedar trees, and then crossing 714 doing extensive tree damage. Trees were twisted, snapped, uprooted, and facing from north through southeasterly directions. The tornado uprooted and snapped dozens of trees on Bob Jeff Road, destroying one barn, just north of I-64. Large sections of the 30 by 20 solid barn were thrown 60 yards and several 2 X 4 boards were impaled in the ground. Strangely enough, a large chicken coop next to the barn which was on blocks was not moved at all. The survey crew was a bit perplexed when they located a large dismantled barn on Wolf Run. Parts of the barn were thrown 250 yards downwind. There were straight line winds in between 659 Bob Jeff Road and the barn on the southside of I-64 on Wolf Run Road. Based on radar, there was at least 2 small funnels from the same larger circulation, and for a brief time, two of them touched down, each about 100 yards wide. However, they were part of the same mesovortex with max wind of 90 mph. Another interesting thing about the solid barn on Wolf Run Road, is that a hoop barn, and an older barn, both of which were on both sides of the dismantled barn, had only minor damage. In fact, the long narrow hoop barn, only 10 yards away, was left unscathed. Along Buzzard Roost Road, just east of the Shelby Knobs. An older barn`s metal sheeting, and sections of the roof were thrown up to 300 yards east northeast. Maximum wind speeds in this area were 80 mph. A 15 by 10 foot storage outbuilding was picked up and debris thrown up to 300 yards. A large oak tree was uprooted and leaning on top of a well built house. Numerous pine and cedar trees were snapped and twisted. Several other barns had significant roof and side panel damage. Wind speeds in this area were 90 mph. The tornado straddled Highway 60, and did significant telephone pole damage and tree damage all along Highway 60. Poles were twisted and snapped over a 1 mile area. Wind speeds in this area were 90 mph. The last tornado damage point was along Highway 395 in Peytona. A couple of barns had minor roof damage and a couple of trees were snapped. Winds were estimated to be 75 mph at this location.

The wider storm

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.

Began near Hemp Ridge (38.1650, -85.1260).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

7 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1024654. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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