Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, April 23, 1968

Name: Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, April 23, 1968
Start: 1968-04-23T12:20
End: 1968-04-23T16:34
Location: Kentucky

April 23, 1968 · 31 events in 23 counties and zones

18 hail, 7 thunderstorm wind, 6 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 5
Injuries: 368
Property damage: $28 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 31

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

18 hail, 7 thunderstorm wind, 6 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Shelby

When: April 23, 12:20 PM CST
Where: Shelby County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 38.200, -85.180

Hail,

When: April 23, 12:40 PM CST
Where: County
Measured: 2.75 in hail
Coordinates: 39.500, -84.500

Tornado, Pendleton

When: April 23, 12:41 PM CST
Where: Pendleton County
Rating: F4
Path length: 8 mi
Path width: 300 yd
Deaths: 4 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 350 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $25 million
Coordinates: 38.670, -84.370

Hail, Owen

When: April 23, 12:45 PM CST
Where: Owen County
Measured: 2.5 in hail
Coordinates: 38.500, -84.780

Hail, Pendleton

When: April 23, 12:45 PM CST
Where: Pendleton County
Measured: 2.75 in hail
Coordinates: 38.700, -84.280

Tornado, Bracken

When: April 23, 1:00 PM CST
Where: Bracken County
Rating: F4
Path length: 16.4 mi
Path width: 300 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 8 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 38.700, -84.220

Hail, Pendleton

When: April 23, 1:00 PM CST
Where: Pendleton County
Measured: 2.5 in hail
Coordinates: 38.700, -84.400

Hail, Wayne

When: April 23, 1:00 PM CST
Where: Wayne County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 36.780, -84.780

Hail, Cumberland

When: April 23, 1:00 PM CST
Where: Cumberland County
Measured: 2.25 in hail
Coordinates: 36.780, -85.280

Hail, Grant

When: April 23, 1:00 PM CST
Where: Grant County
Measured: 2 in hail
Coordinates: 38.700, -84.580

Hail, Harlan

When: April 23, 1:00 PM CST
Where: Harlan County
Measured: 5 in hail
Coordinates: 36.780, -83.280

Thunderstorm Wind, Grant

When: April 23, 1:00 PM CST
Where: Grant County
Coordinates: 38.700, -84.580

Thunderstorm Wind, Wolfe

When: April 23, 1:15 PM CST
Where: Wolfe County
Coordinates: 37.700, -83.580

Tornado, Edmonson

When: April 23, 1:20 PM CST
Where: Edmonson County
Rating: F4
Path length: 2.7 mi
Path width: 300 yd
Injuries: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 38.750, -83.920

Tornado, Bracken

When: April 23, 1:30 PM CST
Where: Bracken County
Rating: F2
Path width: 33 yd
Property damage: $30
Coordinates: 38.720, -84.000

Hail, Madison

When: April 23, 1:30 PM CST
Where: Madison County
Measured: 1 in hail
Coordinates: 37.700, -84.280

Hail, Boone

When: April 23, 1:30 PM CST
Where: Boone County
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Coordinates: 39.080, -84.900

Hail, Green

When: April 23, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Green County
Measured: 2.75 in hail
Coordinates: 37.280, -85.580

Hail, Marion

When: April 23, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Marion County
Measured: 1 in hail
Coordinates: 37.580, -85.180

Hail, Mason

When: April 23, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Mason County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 38.700, -83.900

Hail, Metcalfe

When: April 23, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Metcalfe County
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Coordinates: 36.880, -85.680

Thunderstorm Wind, Green

When: April 23, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Green County
Coordinates: 37.280, -85.580

Thunderstorm Wind,

When: April 23, 2:00 PM CST
Where: County
Coordinates: 38.700, -83.500

Hail, Whitley

When: April 23, 2:30 PM CST
Where: Whitley County
Measured: 1 in hail
Coordinates: 36.780, -84.280

Hail, Wolfe

When: April 23, 2:30 PM CST
Where: Wolfe County
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Coordinates: 37.780, -83.400

Tornado, Greenup

When: April 23, 2:55 PM CST
Where: Greenup County
Rating: F3
Path width: 33 yd
Injuries: 5 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $2.5 million
Coordinates: 38.720, -82.950

Hail, Clinton

When: April 23, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Clinton County
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Coordinates: 36.780, -85.180

Thunderstorm Wind, Warren

When: April 23, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Warren County
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Coordinates: 37.000, -86.400

Thunderstorm Wind, Mercer

When: April 23, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Mercer County
Coordinates: 37.780, -84.900

Thunderstorm Wind, Jessamine

When: April 23, 4:30 PM CST
Where: Jessamine County
Coordinates: 37.880, -84.580

Tornado, Jessamine

When: April 23, 4:34 PM CST
Where: Jessamine County
Rating: F2
Path length: 3.3 mi
Path width: 60 yd
Injuries: 3 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 37.870, -84.580

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Tornado, Bracken	1968-04-23				Direct

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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.
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.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Kentucky in 1968 Every state in 1968 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Kentucky, 1968

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: 10034944, 10034945, 10038065, 10033530, 10038066, 10033531, 10033532, 10033533, 10033534, 10033535, 10033536, 10033537, 10033538, 10033539, 10033540, 10033541, 10033542, 10033543, 10033544, 10033545, 10033546, 10033547, 10033548, 10033549, 10033550, 10033551, 10033552, 10033553, 10033554, 10033555, 10033556.