Mayfield Tornado (2021)

Tornado December 10, 2021 · Breckinridge County, Kentucky

EF1

Rating

168.5 mi

Whole path

1,200 yd

Path width

Deaths

515

Injuries

$25K

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Obion County, Tennessee → Fulton County → Hickman County → Graves County → Marshall County → Lyon County → Caldwell County → Hopkins County → Muhlenberg County → Ohio County → Breckinridge County → Grayson County → Breckinridge County → Grayson County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,200 yards (0.68 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

This tornado is a continuation of the western Kentucky (Mayfield) tornado and will go down as the longest continuous tornado track on record in the Commonwealth of Kentucky at 163 miles (plus another two miles in Tennessee). This tornado developed in Obion County, Tennessee near Woodland Mills Road before tracking to the northeast through western Kentucky and on into central Kentucky (see Storm Data from the Memphis, Tennessee and the Paducah, Kentucky offices for more information on the beginning portion of this tornado). The tornado finally came to an end in Grayson County, Kentucky at Rough River Dam State Park. This is the second of five segments of this tornado in the Louisville, Kentucky County Warning Area. The tornado arrived in Breckinridge County, crossed Schneider Road, and damaged a cattle barn and trees, before entering Grayson County.

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 Falls of Rough (37.5791, -86.6109).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF3 Bowling Green Tornado (2021) 17 dead EF3 Taylor County 1 dead EF3 Logan County EF2 Warren County EF2 Boyle County EF2 Hart County EF1 Hardin County EF1 Spencer County EF1 Marion County EF1 Madison County EF1 Madison County EF0 Monroe County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 996995. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.