Mayfield Tornado (2021)

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). This is the fourth of five segments of this tornado in the Louisville, Kentucky County Warning Area. The tornado finally came to an end in Grayson County, Kentucky at Rough River Dam State Park. The tornado continued onward crossing Highway 110, going over a ridgetop and snapping more trees. More extensive tree damage occurred as the tornado briefly paralleled another portion of the Rough River as it crossed Old Railroad Bed Road.

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.