EF1 Tornado — Trigg, Kentucky

2024-05-26 · near Maple Grove, Trigg, Kentucky

Event narrative

An EF-1 tornado formed in Trigg County southeast of Cumberland Shores, tracking eastward just south of KY-807 and ending around KY-139 south of Cadiz. Mainly tree damage occurred, with many large limbs down and a few trees uprooted in rural areas. Peak winds with this tornado were estimated at 95 mph.

Wider weather episode

The second major severe weather outbreak for the month occurred on the 26th for the Quad State region. On the synoptic scale, a shortwave trough centered in the middle of the country with a 60 kt mid-level jet moved across northern Arkansas. A weak surface low was moving into SE Missouri during the morning with a secondary low located further northwest. A warm frontal boundary was draped across our area. A bowing line progressed east across SE Missouri into W Kentucky and far S Illinois between 0500-1000CST, followed by a mostly sub-severe second line that exited the region by 1300CST. The environment recovered producing fuel for more severe storms, starting with supercells 1800-2100CST with a line of storms moving east-southeastward across the entire Quad State after 1900CST, crossing through by midnight. Across the Quad State, this event produced the record for most tornado track miles in a single day in office history, along with the second most warnings issued in a day (just behind the May 8, 2024 event). Widespread straight-line wind and tornado damage resulted in over 100,000 customers without power across the Quad State.

For the morning, MLCAPE values at 0700CST were 1000-2000 J/kg in W Kentucky. Effective bulk shear was 30-40 kts with STP around 1, which increased in the following hours. Precipitable water was 1.5-1.8 inches, allowing for torrential rainfall rates.

The morning round of storms produced widespread destructive straight-line wind damage leading to numerous power outages across the southernmost portions of W Kentucky from the Jackson Purchase Area to the Southern Pennyrile. Two EF-1 tornadoes occurred in Calloway County, with one of them tracking 22 miles. One person was injured when thunderstorm winds caused a tree to fall on his vehicle on Rockwood Rd in Calloway County. Two more tornadoes formed in Trigg County, one an EF-1, and an EF-2 that produced its strongest damage south of Hopkinsville in Christian County. Another EF-1 tornado formed northwest of Bremen and tracked northeastward to Island in McLean County. Torrential rainfall rates led to a few reports of flash flooding in Western Kentucky during the morning to early afternoon hours.

Heading into the evening, MLCAPE values at 1800CST were 2000-3500 J/kg in W Kentucky. For W Kentucky, effective bulk shear rose to 45-55 kts, with SRH around 200-400 m2/s2 and STP of 2-4. 0-1 km shear was 20-30 kts. Mid-level lapse rates were 7-7.5 C/km. DCAPE of 1100-1400 J/kg provided ample opportunity for downburst winds.

Late afternoon to early evening supercells produced hail reports and a long-track EF-3 tornado that began in Lyon County, then continued east-northeastward through Caldwell and Hopkins Counties. Severe structural damage occurred between Dawson Springs and Charleston and at least one family in Barnsley lost their home for the second time with the previous instance being the historic December 10, 2021 tornado. 21 people were injured (4 in Caldwell, 17 in Hopkins) while two people lost their lives, one in Hopkins County from the tornado (48f, direct), and one in Caldwell County due to a heart attack while cleaning up tornado debris (54m, indirect). The cold front swept through, producing more straight-line wind damage and flash flooding. As the line caught up to the supercell tornado, the storm became much more muddled, with an EF-1 tornado taking shape in Muhlenberg County tracking southeastward through Beech Creek and Beechmont, and continuing as a long track tornado reaching areas north of Bowling Green. Late night power outages were widespread along the tornado tracks in Lyon, Hopkins, Caldwell, and Muhlenberg Counties, which other counties with around half the county without power included Calloway, Trigg, Christian, and Todd Counties. Rainfall amounts of 2.5 to 4 inches were commonplace, with locally higher totals in southern Trigg and Christian Counties. Brief minor flooding occurred for the third time this month on part of the S. Fork Little River near Hopkinsville.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.7405, -87.9071)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1186208. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.