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EF1 tornado in Graves County, Kentucky

Tornado May 4, 2021 · Graves County, Kentucky

EF1
Rating
4.7 mi
Path length
125 yd
Path width
$165K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 125 yards (0.07 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

Several farm buildings, including a large shop, lost parts or all of their roofs, with several smaller structures destroyed. At least a couple of homes had mainly minor damage to roofs or siding. Dozens of large trees were snapped or uprooted. The tornado travelled right along Highway 94 from southwest of Cuba to the Lynnville area. Peak winds were estimated near 95 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 Cuba (36.5544, -88.6519).

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 949839. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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