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Bowling Green Tornado (2021)

Tornado December 11, 2021 · Edmonson County, Kentucky

EF0
Rating
46.2 mi
Whole path
900 yd
Path width
17
Deaths
63
Injuries

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Warren County → Edmonson County → Edmonson County → Barren County → Hart County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 900 yards (0.51 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 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 formed approximately 2.3 miles east of Rocky Hill near Goldenrod Lane and tracked northeast for approximately 1.1 miles before crossing into western Barren County. The tornado would continue approximately 9 miles into Barren County before crossing into southern Hart County. The tornado traveled approximately 7 more miles into Hart County before dissipating near Red Buck Estes Road at approximately 0154 CST. In Edmonson County, the tornado broke some tree branches before it quickly exited into Barren 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 Rocky Hill (37.0660, -86.0880).

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 Taylor County 1 deadEF3 Logan CountyEF2 Warren CountyEF2 Boyle CountyEF2 Hart CountyEF1 Hardin CountyEF1 Spencer CountyEF1 Marion CountyEF1 Madison CountyEF1 Madison CountyEF0 Monroe County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 997227. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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