EF1 tornado in Clinton County, Kentucky

The National Weather Service conducted a storm survey and found a

tornado occurred on Sunday, May 26th, 2024. A small short lived

tornado started east of Albany along Central Union Road with tree damage along a tree line just east of Branham Road. The

tornado continued and left tree damage to another tree line

between two farms south of Central Union Road. A barn had

significant damage consistent with EF1 winds that was completely

demolished. The barn damage was sent in varying directions

consistent with a tornado. The tornado then continued toward

Branham Road where a residence had a two by four wood plank sent through

the kitchen window and tree damage at the home was in varying

directions. The tornado then lifted just beyond the residence

where no other damage was observed.

A strong storm system moved across the Ohio and Tennessee valleys on May 26th and into the early morning hours of May 27th, 2024. Two waves of strong to severe thunderstorms moved across central Kentucky, producing numerous occurrences of straight-line wind damage and 8 tornadoes while crossing the region. The first wave of storms moved across central Kentucky as a large bowing quasi-linear convective system during the late morning and early afternoon hours. This line of storms produced widespread straight-line wind damage, with particularly heavy damage observed across the Louisville metro and northern Woodford County. Two quick spin up tornadoes in Clinton County were also associated with this line.

After a second sub-severe line of storms moved across the area during the early afternoon hours, conditions were relatively quiet until the mid-to-late afternoon, when strong and severe cells began to develop across western Kentucky and southern Illinois. The storms would initially be discrete before growing into another large line of storms which produced the heaviest damage south of Interstate 64. Six tornadoes would be associated with this second line, with a long track EF1 tornado extending for over 40 miles across Muhlenberg, Butler, and Warren County. Heavy straight-line wind damage was also observed with this second line of storms, especially in Barren, Mercer, and Garrard County. The line of storms finally pushed east of the area shortly after midnight on May 27th, bringing an end to an active 16 hours across central Kentucky.