TornadoLookup

Home / Kentucky / Nelson

EF1 tornado in Nelson County, Kentucky

Tornado April 8, 2020 · Nelson County, Kentucky

EF1
Rating
4.0 mi
Path length
45 yd
Path width
$200K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 45 yards (0.03 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado initially touched down on the northwest side of a large family home and farm on Fairfield Road. The upper part of the roof of a two story home was lifted off and thrown in various directions. Several large 2x10s and 2x8s were impaled in the ground about 50 yards from the barn. Two trees on the property sustained extensive twisting and several large section of the trees were snapped. The tornado at this point was only 35 yards wide with wind speeds of 95 mph. The owner of the house was upstairs sleeping, when he heard his ears popping, then a large roar of wind on top of the house and bricks fell on his bed. Surprisingly he sustained no injuries. The tornado then moved across a mixture of open farm fields and scattered forest. There is a significant swath of tree damage between Fairfield Road and Murrays Run Road, with trees uprooted, snapped, and twisted. Thanks to a nelson county drone you could clearly see trees laying in multiple directions.

The tornado hit a property on Murrays Run Road ripping off the sides of a large well-built barn. The back part of the barn was thrown to the west while a wagon in the trailer was pushed out through the barn. A 72' x 12' shed next to the barn was destroyed. Parts of that barn were impaled into the ground 75 to 80 yards down wind. The tornado was at its widest at 45 yards here with 95 mph winds. Another remarkable thing is the family house was only 60 yards from the damage path, and did not lose even a shingle on the house. Across the street the tornado did extensive roof damage to a family house and barn, uplifting several large parts of it. Debris from the barn was thrown up to 300 yards downwind and in many different directions. The family said that they heard all the doors in the house shut tightly and heard a distinct roar. The tornado produced sporadic damage across farmland mainly in terms of trees, with more concentrated damage along Plum Run Road. Cedar tree damage was rather extensive with many cedars being snapped and twisted. Winds were around 90 mph here with a width of 40 yards. The tornado destroyed an old barn on Chester Hahn Road but weakened to an EF-0 of 80 mph and ended with a few snapped trees before Dugan Lane.

The wider storm

A strong storm system moved from the Midwest into the lower Ohio Valley on April 8, 2020. Isolated storms developed ahead of a sinking cold front during the afternoon across portions of southern Indiana and central Kentucky. These storms dropped large hail and produced damaging winds. Later that evening, a line of severe thunderstorms moved in from the northwest and produced widespread damaging winds and small hail. An EF-1 tornado spun up along the front edge of the line of severe storms and tracked for several miles across Nelson County. Storms pushed east of the region during the early morning hours of April 9, 2020.

Began near Fairfield (37.9206, -85.4216).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 889019. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.