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EF1 tornado in Madison County, Kentucky

Tornado December 11, 2021 · Madison County, Kentucky

EF1
Rating
1.2 mi
Path length
125 yd
Path width
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

The tornado touched down just southwest of the intersection of Clay Lane and Lexington Road. There was roof and gutter damage along with one uprooted tree. Several soft pines and cedar trees were twisted and topped, as the tornado crossed

Interstate 75. There was extensive roof damage to a home just north of the Whitehall Baptist Church. NWS drone technology found sporadic tree damage consisting mainly of twisted and topping of trees. The tornado continued east northeast another half mile to Ole Daniel Boone Road, where it damaged a tobacco barn roof. The tornado then lifted.

This tornado was very intermittent and was skipping with peak wind speeds of 90 mph, and widths ranging from 50 yards to a max of 125 yards.

The wider storm

Strong southern winds brought warm temperatures and plenty of moisture into an environment of strong wind shear ahead of an advancing cold front. This resulted in unusually warm temperatures for a December day and the ingredients to produce a historic tornado outbreak and flash flooding. This included multiple long track tornadoes. Central Kentucky saw 18 tornadoes that injured 96 and killed 18. An additional death occurred in a flash flood.

Began near White Hall (37.8244, -84.3301).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF4 Mayfield Tornado (2021) 58 deadEF3 Bowling Green Tornado (2021) 17 deadEF3 Taylor County 1 deadEF3 Logan CountyEF2 Warren CountyEF2 Boyle CountyEF2 Hart CountyEF1 Hardin CountyEF1 Spencer CountyEF1 Marion CountyEF1 Madison CountyEF0 Monroe County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 996923. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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