EF3 Tornado — Henry, Kentucky

2011-02-28 · near Bellview, Henry, Kentucky

Event narrative

A NWS storm survey confirmed an EF-3 tornado with wind speeds of up to 140 mph in Henry county. The tornado touched down just to the southwest of KY 1899 (Mulberry Pike), crossing into Springhill Estates subdivision. Two homes were destroyed here along with three outbuildings. Trees were uprooted and snapped. The tornado then weakened as it traveled across KY 1359. Fifteen power poles were blown down along the highway. One barn was destroyed and another had the roof blown off. The tornado continued across KY 22 where trees were blown down and one outbuilding was damaged. The tornado lifted near Drennon Creek.

Wider weather episode

A cold front moved through southern Indiana and central Kentucky on the morning of February 28. A strong low low level jet developed ahead of this front with winds of 60-80 knots at 2-3 thousand feet, resulting in very high speed shear and storm relative helicity values. A squall line with bowing segments developed to the west of the Louisville forecast area and crossed the region during the early to mid morning hours. This line produced multiple tornadoes across the region as well as straight line wind damage.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.3510, -85.1598)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 286984. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.