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EF1 tornado in Hickman County, Kentucky

Tornado May 4, 2021 · Hickman County, Kentucky

EF1
Rating
5.2 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
$350K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

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 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

Multiple trees were snapped. Many tree branches and some trees fell on multiple homes, which inflicted damage. At one point there were 65 trees covering main and secondary roads across the county. All main roads were back open on the afternoon of the 4th, and crews then focused on secondary roads. Many roads were closed as cleanup continued. Emergency management reported 28 residential structures had some form of damage, and a dozen commercial structures were damaged as well. These included farming structures and equipment. One family was displaced from their mobile home because of damage from a fallen tree. A county state of emergency was declared. Peak winds were estimated near 105 mph.

The wider storm

Clusters of storms, followed by a bowing line of thunderstorms, organized and accelerated east-northeastward during the overnight and wee morning hours. Several tornadoes accompanied mesovortices along the bowing line of storms. In addition, a particularly strong microburst was associated with the line. Finally, the occurrence of multiple thunderstorms resulted in localized flash flooding in the Pennyrile region. A mid-level shortwave trough moved east across the southern Plains. A belt of stronger southwesterly 500 mb winds spread northeast ahead of the trough into southeast Missouri and Arkansas. Instability was sufficient for a round of severe thunderstorms to occur.

Began near Oakton (36.6610, -89.0890).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

4 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 949838. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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