EF1 tornado in Calloway County, Kentucky

This long-track EF-3 tornado began in western Tennessee near Dyersburg (see Storm Data, Tennessee, Western). It crossed from the northeast corner of Henry County, Tennessee and barely clipped the Fort Heiman section of the Fort Donelson National Battlefield in the southeast extremity of Calloway County. There were numerous uprooted trees near the Kentucky Lake shoreline. Because much of the path remained over the waters of Kentucky Lake during its extremely brief time in Calloway County, the intensity and the path width are both very uncertain. The center of the tornado crossed Kentucky Lake into Stewart County, Tennessee (see Storm Data, Tennessee, Central) and then back into western KY in Christian County (see Storm Data, Kentucky, Western).

On the evening of Friday, December 10, 2021, a potent storm system moving across the central United States resulted in significant long-track tornadoes. A violent EF-4 tornado began in far northwest Tennessee, and moved across western Kentucky, resulting in dozens of lost lives and a swath of destruction. The tornado was on the ground for 128 miles within the NWS Paducah forecast area, and the total path length was about 165 miles from Obion County, TN to Breckinridge County, KY. Another long-track EF-3 tornado started in Dyer County, TN, and traveled about 125 miles through northwest Tennessee and into Christian and Todd Counties in western Kentucky. A strong upper-level trough over the western Plains induced a deepening surface low that tracked northeast across the Iowa/Illinois border. A very strong and deep southwest wind flow brought moist and unstable air into the Tennessee and lower Ohio Valleys. Record high temperatures were recorded, including a high of 73 at Paducah. The combination of very strong winds aloft, unseasonably warm conditions, and a strong low pressure system were ideal for this tornado outbreak.