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F1 tornado in Meade County, Kentucky

Tornado May 5, 1996 · Meade County, Kentucky

Rating

1.0 mi

Path length

100 yd

Path width

Injuries

$500K

Damage as recorded

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. 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.

The wider storm

An F1 tornado estimated at around 100 mph embedded in downburst winds moved from just north of Ekron to 3 miles southeast of Brandenburg. 25 residences received damage. 5 mobile homes were completely destroyed. 10 people were injured, 3 serious enough for hospitalization. The damage path due to the straight-line winds was estimated around 5 miles long and 1 mile wide, although the tornado path appeared to be a mile long and 100 yards wide.

Began near Ekron (37.9500, -86.1800).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5554088. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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