EF1 Tornado — Garrard, Kentucky

2025-04-03 · near Harmons Lick, Garrard, Kentucky

Event narrative

A storm damage team surveyed EF1 tornado damage with a max wind speed around 95 mph and a max width of 90 yards in Lincoln and Garrard Counties. The tornado touched down near the intersection of US Highway 27 South and KY Highway 698 in Lincoln County.

After crossing into Garrard County near Preachersville, several outbuildings on blocks were moved or destroyed, fence posts and barbed wire fences were ripped out and severely bent, and fencing was thrown in multiple directions across Highway 39. A single family home had a few shingles off, and the gutter was bent. There were several barn panels damaged, with metal sheeting ripped apart. The tornado weakened near the Fall Lick Road and Drakes Creek Road intersection where some large tree limbs were downed and some barns had minor damage. The tornado lifted just beyond this intersection.

Wider weather episode

On the night of April 2nd, 2025, a cold front approached the lower Ohio Valley. Along and ahead of the cold front, numerous supercells developed over southern Illinois and western Kentucky. These storms tracked eastward and occasionally grew upscale into a QLCS with bowing segments. Storms lasted all night and into the morning hours, as the cold front began to stall over the lower Ohio Valley. These storms left behind a wake of damage in many counties in central Kentucky. Over the next few days, waves of showers and storms rode along the cold front bringing lots of rain which lead to widespread flash and areal flooding. Showers and storms came through daily, until the evening of April 6th. Later, this flooding turned into historic and near-record breaking river flooding along many river basins.

Overall, 6 tornadoes touched down from late evening into the overnight on April 2nd and 3rd, including one EF-3, one EF-2's, and four EF-1's. Many additional pockets of wind damage occurred, as well as widespread areal and flash flooding through late week into the weekend. Some river crests were historic, including a new record crest at Camp Nelson on the Kentucky River and the #2 all time crest at Frankfort. The crest at McAlpine Upper on the Ohio River was #8 all time.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.5350, -84.5330)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1258697. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.