Thunderstorm Wind, McCracken
- When
- January 21, 4:25 AM CST
- Where
- McCracken County
- Measured
- 62 kt (71 mph)
- Coordinates
- 37.080, -88.680
Tornado and Damaging Winds in Kentucky, January 21, 1959
5 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 3
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $250,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 6
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
Event by event
5 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Tornado, Grayson
- When
- January 21, 12:30 PM CST
- Where
- Grayson County
- Rating
- F3
- Path length
- 6.6 mi
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Deaths
- 3 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $250,000
- Coordinates
- 37.400, -86.620
Thunderstorm Wind, Meade
- When
- January 21, 1:00 PM CST
- Where
- Meade County
- Coordinates
- 37.880, -86.080
Thunderstorm Wind, Hardin
- When
- January 21, 1:10 PM CST
- Where
- Hardin County
- Coordinates
- 37.700, -85.900
Thunderstorm Wind, Fayette
- When
- January 21, 1:41 PM CST
- Where
- Fayette County
- Measured
- 70 kt (81 mph)
- Coordinates
- 38.000, -84.500
Thunderstorm Wind, Breathitt
- When
- January 21, 2:00 PM CST
- Where
- Breathitt County
- Coordinates
- 37.500, -83.400
What these are
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in Mississippi, January 21, 1959
- Tornado and Hail in Tennessee, January 21, 1959
- Tornado and Damaging Wind in Alabama, January 21, 1959
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, January 21, 1959
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Louisiana, January 21, 1959
- Damaging Winds in Georgia, January 21, 1959
- Damaging Winds in South Carolina, January 21, 1959
- Damaging Wind in Ohio, January 21, 1959
More
Every storm in Kentucky in 1959Every state in 1959This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Kentucky, 1959
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 10033677, 10033678, 10033679, 10033680, 10033681, 10033682.