EF1 Tornado — Larue, Kentucky

2021-03-25 · near Tonieville, Larue, Kentucky

Event narrative

The National Weather Service in conjunction with Larue County Emergency Management went on a lengthy storm damage survey across northeast LaRue County.

A bow echo moving at over 50 mph produced sporadic straight-line wind damage with a distinct tornadic path, primarily along Slack Rd in the Roanoke community. The tornado touched down about a half mile west of 1598 Carter Brothers Road. Aerial photography from a NOAA NWS drone shows distinct swirls along several farmers' properties with damage to a half dozen barns and numerous uprooted and snapped trees. Cedar trees were the most common tree that sustained damage during this tornado.

At 1598 Carter Brothers Rd, a riding lawn mower was thrown about 50 yards and a garbage can flew 150 yards. There were snapped, twisted, and uprooted trees facing in nearly every direction. Winds at this location were between 90 and 95 miles an hour.

There were indications that this was an intermittent skipping tornado. Along Dan Dunn Road several barns sustained significant roof and sidewall damage, and a 50 foot by 50 foot chain link fence was bent at 90 degrees along every support post.

The most significant damage of the tornado path was found at 3000 Slack Rd. It destroyed two barns and did significant roof and siding damage to a well-built one-story residential home. Insulation and metal siding were thrown in multiple directions. At the end of the property, aerial drone photography showed trees going in nearly every direction. Wind speeds in this location were estimated to be 100 mph. Residents at the house said they could feel the intense pressure and everything trying to suck out of the house.

On the way to the next storm damage survey we found sporadic straight line wind damage in Hardin County. This included three mobile homes that sustained roof damage near the Hardin County Fairgrounds.

Wider weather episode

Early in the day, low level wind shear was very strong. A stable layer over the area allowed a warm front to bring sunshine and warmer temperatures to the region, but the warming surface temperatures caused the stable layer to erode and become unstable. The high shear environment allowed storms, ahead of a cold front, to become severe and severe hail, damaging winds, and three tornadoes resulted.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.6255, -85.7671)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 950632. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.