EF1 tornado in Graves County, Kentucky

This brief EF-1 tornado occurred in a very rural area of east central Graves County near the community of Golo. Near the touchdown location, some shingles were blown off a roof, and a few trees were uprooted or snapped. The tornado continued northeast and damaged trees along the path. The roof of a residence was uplifted briefly, and a window was blown in. Behind the residence, a mobile home with a wood base was lifted and rolled about 30 yards down a hill and was still intact. A small outbuilding was also destroyed on the property. Several large trees were uprooted or snapped on the property. The tornado track length was about one mile. Peak winds were estimated near 100 mph.

An outbreak of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes occurred across western Kentucky. Most of the severe weather was along and south of a Paducah to Madisonville line. North of that line, serious flash flooding resulted in a fatality. A surface low pressure center tracked rapidly north-northeast from Arkansas to the upper Mississippi Valley, dragging a warm front north across western Kentucky. Instability was adequate for tornadoes and severe storms in the presence of very strong wind shear. A very moist air mass resulted in heavy rainfall, which produced localized flash flooding due to the water-logged ground. Locally 5 to 6 inches of rain had fallen over the previous week. Rainfall rates in these thunderstorms were locally one-half to one inch per hour.