EF1 tornado in Trigg County, Kentucky

The tornado occurred in heavily wooded terrain on federally protected land. The tornado touched down in the Redd Hollow area (west of the Trace Highway) in the Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area. Damage continued east to just south of the Wranglers Campground. The tornado could have crossed into Lake Barkley and Donaldson Creek, but no evidence was found further east. The heaviest area of damage was south of Wranglers Campground, where many dozens of trees were snapped and uprooted. Just south of the track, a microburst occurred where many trees were snapped and uprooted. Peak winds in this tornado were estimated near 105 mph.

An unseasonably strong storm system impacted the region January 10-11. Heavy rainfall, flooding, scattered damaging winds, tornadoes, and gusty non-thunderstorm winds impacted western Kentucky during this time. The bulk of the event occurred overnight and into the morning hours on the 11th. Rainfall totals ranged from 2 to 5 inches, which resulted in pockets of flash flooding across the region, as well as minor flooding of the Green River. Strong to severe convection over the Ozark Mountains moved east into an environment of very strong wind shear over southeast Missouri, with 850 mb winds near 60 knots. The convection maintained intensity after it crossed the Mississippi River during the early morning hours. Tremendous wind shear (winds of 50 knots down to 1500 feet above ground) and strong forcing associated with a potent 500 mb shortwave compensated for weak instability. Some of the strong winds aloft reached the surface in the form of gradient wind gusts from 40 to around 50 mph. A weak surface low formed along a cold front over southwest Arkansas, then deepened as it tracked northeast across the Missouri Bootheel and into the lower Ohio Valley on the morning of the 11th.