EF0 Tornado — Fleming, Kentucky

2023-08-09 · near Beechburg, Fleming, Kentucky

Event narrative

Actual storm survey determined that tornado likely started and ended within the same minute, only traveling 0.3 miles in that time span. Starting location was 38.4464/-83.6408 and ending location was 38.4482/-83.6352. Due to limitations within the Storm Data interface, could not track the path of the storm since it shows the same start/end time.

Damage was first observed on a property at the intersection of

Beechburg Road and Colgan Road, where the tornado directly

impacted several structures, including a wooden barn, a mobile

home, a shed, and a larger open barn located behind. All sides of

the mobile home sustained damage, including a large board impaled

into the roof, and some blunt force impacts from pieces of the

nearby barn that collapsed. Vehicles parked to the north and

northeast of the barn sustained heavy damage as it collapsed and

sections became airborne. Next the tornado hit a larger open- air

barn housing heavy equipment. Roof panels were torn off the west

side of the barn and sent up to 200 yards to the ENE. A little

ways down the road, another mobile home sustained blunt force

damage, including a large hole that punctured through into the

interior, as well as wind damage to all sides. Metal roofing from

the barn was found in a grove of trees to the northeast of this

house. The next door neighbor to the east faired better, but it

had debris from the metal barn in their yard, minor wind damage,

and a flagpole which was bent at the base laying northward.

Slightly farther up the road, the next property sustained major

tree damage, including several snapped trees and an uprooted tree,

though no structural damage. The tornado picked up a goat

enclosure in a grove of trees, lifted it over a fence, leaving the

fence untouched, and then tore the structure apart and twisted it

across the front yard of the property. Additional tree damage was

witnessed just past this location before the tornado lifted and

dissipated.

Wider weather episode

A weak low-top supercell brought rain and winds, but no lightning to Fleming County during the early morning hours of August 10, 2023. However, within this system, a weak tornado developed and tracked across portions of the county. By daybreak, dispatch and emergency management began receiving reports of damage that had

occurred in the Beechburg community just east of Flemingsburg. Radar did show some weak rotation that moved across this location. After an NWS Damage Survey, it was determined that an EF-0 tornado had touched down, starting near the intersection of

Beechburg Road and Colgan Road, and continued about a third of a mile down Colgan Road before dissipating. Based on the path of damage, it is also likely that this tornado only lasted about a minute, and skipped a few times along it's track before

dissipating.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.4464, -83.6408)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1135156. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.