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F2 tornado in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky

Tornado May 30, 2004 · Muhlenberg County, Kentucky

Rating

7.0 mi

Whole path

175 yd

Path width

$300K

Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 175 yards (0.10 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado crossed over from Hopkins County in a densely forested area, and lifted within a couple minutes after entering Muhlenberg County. Tree damage was the only known damage during the short time this tornado was in Muhlenberg County.

The wider storm

A few supercell thunderstorms tracked across western Kentucky during the early afternoon. Each thunderstorm showed distinct rotation and produced at least one tornado. The first tornadic storm developed just west of Paducah, and continued northeast across Livingston and Crittenden Counties before weakening. This storm produced only one confirmed tornado, which was at West Paducah. A second thunderstorm developed strong rotation between Princeton and Madisonville, then moved east, parallel to and a few miles north of the Western Kentucky Parkway. This storm produced the strongest tornado of the day, from Hopkins County into extreme western Muhlenberg County. A funnel cloud accompanied the storm across the rest of Muhlenberg County. A third strongly rotating storm moved across Christian and Todd Counties, and another moved south and east of Owensboro.

Began near Graham (37.2167, -87.3833).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F0 McCracken County F0 Todd County F0 Daviess County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5398121. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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