Tornado in Kentucky, June 17, 1997

Name: Tornado in Kentucky, June 17, 1997
Start: 1997-06-17T16:20
End: 1997-06-17T16:22
Location: Kentucky

June 17, 1997 · NWS PAH · 1 event in 1 county or zone

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $100,000
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.

The radar

The Ft Campbell radar (KHPX), 14 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:21 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Christian

When: June 17, 4:20 PM CST to 4:22 PM CST
Where: Christian County, 5 mi SE of Hopkinsville
Rating: F1
Path length: 1.3 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Property damage: $100,000
Coordinates: 36.800, -87.420

The primary damage was to a tobacco barn, which was destroyed. At least three other barns received some roof damage. The damage path was narrow and well-defined. A nearby wheat field showed the appearance of several smaller vortices with a convergent path of damage associated with each one. An eyewitness gave a very detailed description of the tornado, very similar to the one in the Oak Grove area. He said there was more than one vortex and that each one formed and dissipated rather quickly. He estimated that the individual vortices were as little as 6 feet across. This tornado event and the Oak Grove event were both associated with non-severe thunderstorms.

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

Every storm in Kentucky in 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Kentucky, 1997 Warnings in Kentucky, June 1997

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: 5601696.