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F3 tornado in Marshall County, Kentucky

Tornado November 15, 2005 · Marshall County, Kentucky

F3
Rating
44.0 mi
Whole path
500 yd
Path width
1
Death
20
Injuries
$8.6M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Graves County → Calloway County → Marshall County → Lyon County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 500 yards (0.28 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F3 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F3 meant severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned; the scale paired it with winds of 158–206 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 long-track tornado entered Marshall County from extreme northwest Calloway County. As the tornado moved quickly northeast across Marshall County, it reached its peak intensity of 200 MPH as it approached the Kentucky Lake resort campgrounds and boatyards. Until the tornado reached U.S. Highway 641 south of Benton, mostly F-1 damage occurred. Garages and barns sustained varying degrees of damage, and numerous trees were down. The most serious damage, ranging up to F-3 intensity, occurred from Big Bear Highway to Moor's Resort on Kentucky Lake. The occupant of a destroyed mobile home was killed in this area. The mobile home was thrown 40 feet and overturned before catching fire. At Moor's Resort, a year-round camping area was struck directly. A total of 115 RV's were destroyed, and the campground was devastated. A dock was demolished, taking a number of boats with it. Although the harbor and campground were destroyed, cabins and other lodging facilities outside of the tornado path were untouched. The average path width of this tornado was 275 yards, but it grew to a maximum of 500 yards in Marshall County. In Marshall County, approximately 19 homes were destroyed, 36 suffered major damage, and 65 received minor damage. The tornado then moved over Kentucky Lake and crossed into Lyon County.

The wider storm

The total path length of the tornado across Graves, Calloway, Marshall, and Lyon Counties was 44 miles. Estimated time on the ground was 65 minutes.

Began near Brewers (36.7500, -88.4667).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5479519. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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