EF1 Tornado — Franklin, Kentucky

2021-12-06 · near Choateville, Franklin, Kentucky

Event narrative

The National Weather Service conducted a storm damage survey in Franklin County from storms that occurred early Monday morning.

The survey team determined that a tornado touched down on the 1100 block of Manley Leestown Road, about two miles north of Frankfort. Drone imagery showed a well built 40 by 60 foot barn had significant roof damage and the south wall blown out.

The skipping tornado then went through a large grove of trees. Dozens of trees were twisted and uprooted, ranging from cedar to maple to Osage orange trees. About a dozen cedar trees were twisted and laying in multiple directions.

The tornado then hit a well-built two-story house on the 100 block of Shadrick Ferry Road. The southwest side of the house had significant damage and that portion of the roof fell to the north northeasterly direction. Insulation from the house went from the north all the way to a southwesterly direction. A doorbell camera showed the distinct tornado with debris being thrown in all directions around 411 AM EST.

The tornado appeared to lift briefly before touching down on the 6000 block of Owenton Road. A brand new, well constructed 30 by 50 barn took significant damage to the roof. Both garage doors were blown in with tool chests and many heavier items being scattered about the garage. Throughout the entire barn the thick concrete foundation was shifted about an inch. Immediately next to the barn, there was a one story family residence that had no damage whatsoever.

Large sections of roof were thrown 60 yards into the neighbors trees and yard. The tornado lifted at this point. The winds were consistently between 85 and 90 mph along this narrow path, and the width was between 40 and 50 yards.

The National Weather Service would like to thank Franklin County Emergency Management Deputy Ray Kinney for his assistance with the survey.

Wider weather episode

A potent cold front combined with elevated wind energy crossing the region allowed a widespread area of showers and thunderstorms to develop late Sunday night through early Monday morning. Some wind damage and minor flooding occurred, along with two EF1 tornadoes.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.2337, -84.8811)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 994471. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.