Tornadoes in Kentucky, January 3, 2000

Name: Tornadoes in Kentucky, January 3, 2000
Start: 2000-01-03T15:08
End: 2000-01-03T15:32
Location: Kentucky

January 3, 2000 · NWS PAH · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

2 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 3
Property damage: $7.4 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 Paducah radar (KPAH), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:10 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Crittenden

When: January 3, 3:08 PM CST to 3:23 PM CST
Where: Crittenden County, Crayne
Rating: F3
Path length: 15 mi
Path width: 440 yd
Injuries: 3 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $5.0 million
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 37.267, -88.083

Although the tornado tracked about 15 miles through the county with estimated top winds of 160 MPH, damage was relatively light due to the rural nature of the land. Based on aerial surveys, structures that were heavily damaged or destroyed included 85 homes, 5 to 10 businesses, and 50 to 80 barns and outbuildings. Three people in the Crayne area were transported to a hospital for non life-threatening injuries. About 35 National Guard personnel were deployed to Crittenden County, primarily for damage assessment and security operations. An emergency shelter was opened to accomodate roughly 25 homeless persons.

Tornado, Webster

When: January 3, 3:23 PM CST to 3:32 PM CST
Where: Webster County, 3 mi SW of Diamond
Rating: F3
Path length: 9 mi
Path width: 440 yd
Property damage: $2.4 million
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 37.383, -87.850

The tornado caused extensive damage in the community of Diamond. Both Crittenden and Webster Counties were declared federal disaster areas.

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 2000 Every state in 2000 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Kentucky, 2000 Warnings in Kentucky, January 2000

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: 5133317, 5131965.