EF1 Tornado — Simpson, Kentucky

2025-02-15 · near Prices Mill, Simpson, Kentucky

Event narrative

The National Weather Service in Louisville confirmed an

EF1 tornado in Simpson County, approximately 6 miles west of

Franklin.

The tornado touched down on a large farm at 2495 Neosheo

Prices Mill Road, destroying an older garage. Sheet metal from

the garage was thrown in the trees and wrapped around branches

near the farmhouse. More metal sheeting was thrown several

hundred yards from the north northeast to the easterly direction.

Some cardboard boxes and lawn furniture near the destroyed

garage did not move. Winds were 90 mph, EF1, with a width of

75 yards. There was very sporadic tree damage along Neosheo

Prices Mill Road.

Near the intersection of Sulphur Spring Church Road and Forshee

Road there were three barns with substantial roof damage. The

largest barn, approximately 50 feet by 70 feet, had its wood

anchors lifted out and pushed to the north northwest. All the

metal sheeting from the three barns was thrown from a few hundred

yards, to as far away as one quarter of a mile to the east

northeast, wrapping around fences and trees. Winds were 90 mph, EF1,

with a width of 120 yards.

There were dozens of topped trees along Sulphur Spring Creek and Neosheo

Road. Winds were 87 mph, EF1, with a width of 100 yards. Drone

photography showed trees damaged off to the east along farm land.

The most substantial damage was at 1600 Harris School Road where a horse

arena at Sundown Stables was thrown into a large barn housing the

horses. The barn took considerable side and structural roofing

damage. Some of the boards and other debris hit a concrete house

where relatives were staying. Fortunately no people or farm

animals were injured. Surprisingly, there was less tree damage

near the barn and house. Winds were 90 mph, EF1, with a width of

90 yards. The tornado lifted about 100 yards east of Harris

School Road.

Wider weather episode

A strong storm system moved across the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys on February 15th and 16th, 2025, bringing heavy rainfall and flooding, severe weather, and winter weather to central Kentucky. The large scale upper level pattern featured deep troughing ejecting across the central CONUS, with broad southwesterly flow occurring in the low and mid troposphere. Southerly flow helped to draw rich moisture up from the Gulf of America, with unseasonably high precipitable water for the middle of February, generally between 1.1 and 1.3 inches, overspreading the Tennessee and Kentucky. A nearly stationary surface front extending from west to east across the lower Ohio Valley provided a source for lift as warm and humid air ascended over a cool near surface layer. Light to moderate rain developed across the region early on the morning of the 15th, with rainfall getting heavier across south central Kentucky by around daybreak. This resulted in instances of flash flooding occurring across south central Kentucky during the mid-to-late morning hours. As the main surface low pressure system approached from the southwest during the afternoon on the 15th, the quasi-stationary surface front lifted into north central Kentucky, bringing a brief reprieve from rain across southern Kentucky while rainfall increased across northern Kentucky. As a broken line of storms developed ahead of an approaching cold front, temperatures and dewpoint temperatures increased considerably across southern Kentucky. This allowed for enough instability for a few strong to severe storms to develop near the Tennessee border. One portion of the line of storms produced a brief tornado over Simpson County, while other reports of wind damage and hail were received from Warren, Logan, and Monroe County. Still, heavy rainfall was the predominant impact from this system, as numerous instances of flooding and flash flooding were observed across Kentucky, and river flooding would occur over the following week. February 17th, one person drove into flood water and drown in Ohio County. Precipitation ended as a band of light to moderate snow on the morning of the 16th, producing accumulations of 1 to 3 inches before ending.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.6926, -86.7157)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1238248. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.