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F1 tornado in Knox County, Kentucky

Tornado May 31, 2004 · Knox County, Kentucky

F1
Rating
0.1 mi
Path length
63 yd
Path width
$50K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

NOAA recorded where this tornado touched down but not where it lifted, so it appears as a point. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F1 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F1 meant moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken; the scale paired it with winds of 73–112 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

A tornado, 210 feet wide, briefly touched down just south of Hammond. It lifted, and touched down again near Hammond. Numerous trees were down and two trailers, two homes, and on garage were damaged.

The wider storm

On the afternoon of May 30th, a warm front was draped across eastern Kentucky. With extremely moist and unstable air, this boundary helped spark the beginning of a most unusual event for eastern Kentucky, and for that matter, for the country. Countless supercell thunderstorms developed along this boundary for hours on end, causing widespread tree damage and damage to structures. Flash flooding was also occurring with these storms which contained torrential rain. Unfortunately for eastern Kentucky, this was not the end to the severe weather or the flooding. Later in the night, mostly in the early hours of May 31st, a potent cold front burst through, bringing destruction to most if not all eastern Kentucky counties. Also, so much rain had fallen from the previous afternoon and evening, coupled with more heavy rain during the morning of May 31st, that widespread aerial flooding occurred. For some counties, as was the case for Estill and Powell Counties, the aerial flooding lasted for days. The cost of these storms totaled easily in the millions.

Began near Hammond (36.9333, -83.7167).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5403882. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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