Kentucky, 1996

Tornado in Kentucky, April 20, 1996

April 20, 1996 · NWS LMK · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A tornado embedded in straight-line winds moved through Lincoln county destroying or damaging 20 houses and mobile homes and 6 buildings. DES coordinator Winfred Todd reported the damage path went from near McKinney across the western part of the county to Preachersville across the eastern part of the county near the Garrard county line.

Where it happened

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
7
Property damage
$1.5 million
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS LMK wrote it up.

A tornado embedded in straight-line winds moved through Lincoln county destroying or damaging 20 houses and mobile homes and 6 buildings. DES coordinator Winfred Todd reported the damage path went from near McKinney across the western part of the county to Preachersville across the eastern part of the county near the Garrard county line. Also damaged or destroyed were the Faith Temple Church, two show pavillions at the county fairgrounds 3 miles south of Stanford and a giant 70 by 70 foot screen at the Stanford Drive-In. The Maywood area was perhaps the hardest hit. A home was picked up and slammed down 50 to 100 feet away and shredded. 7 people had minor injuries including a 2 year old girl who was ripped from her house and placed under a tree. The girl's house collapsed into the basement.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

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Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Lincoln

When
April 20, 4:26 AM EST to 4:40 AM EST
Where
Lincoln County, Mc Kinney to Preachersville
Rating
F2
Path length
12 mi
Path width
300 yd
Injuries
7 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$1.5 million
Coordinates
37.450, -84.770

What these are

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

More

Every storm in Kentucky in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Kentucky, 1996Warnings in Kentucky, April 1996

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: 5547408.