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EF1 tornado in Carroll County, Kentucky

Tornado March 2, 2012 · Carroll County, Kentucky

EF1
Rating
5.7 mi
Whole path
150 yd
Path width
$1.8M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Trimble County → Carroll County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 150 yards (0.09 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado initially touched down in Trimble County at 1541 EST, causing extensive EF2 and some EF3 damage south of Milton, before weakening. While in Trimble County, the tornado traveled 3.26 miles and had a maximum width of 75 yards. Based on the damage survey conducted in Trimble County, the maximum estimated wind speed of the tornado at that time was 140 miles per hour. The tornado then entered Carroll County at 1544 EST. The EF1 damage in Carroll County began near the county line near the junction of East Prong Locust Road and Wrights Ridge Road. At this point the path width of the tornado had decreased to 150 yards. The path continued east northeast along Kings Ridge Road. The path then continued east northeast to Route 42 in the vicinity of Kemper Lane near the Harbor Pointe Estates community. The path briefly continued after that before diminishing. Damage in Carroll County was consistent with a high end EF0 to low end EF1 tornado. Several structures had minor to more significant roof damage, with some structures losing over 25 percent of the roof structure. Several barns were destroyed, as well as widespread hardwood tree damage. These trees were either snapped or uprooted. At least two mobile homes were destroyed. Based on this survey, the maximum estimated wind speed of this tornado while in Carroll County, was 95 miles per hour. Damage estimates in Carroll County are 1,277,000 dollars.

The wider storm

Thunderstorms developed during the afternoon in a high wind shear environment ahead of a strengthening low pressure system. Many of these storms became severe, with large hail, damaging thunderstorm winds, and tornadoes all being the main threats. Isolated flooding also became possible due to the intense rainfall.

Began near Locust (38.6610, -85.2636).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

4 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 369131. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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