Funnel Cloud in Kentucky
Every funnel cloud event the National Weather Service has filed in Kentucky, year by year, with the most significant episodes. A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
The most significant on the map
The most significant funnel cloud episodes in Kentucky.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The record
- Events
- 225
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Damage
- $25,000
Every year
The most significant
Ranked by deaths, injuries, damage and size together.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Kentucky, March 2 to 3, 2012During the afternoon and evening hours of March 2nd, 2012, an historic tornado outbreak occurred in eastern Kentucky. Tornadoes struck Menifee, Morgan, Bath, Wolfe, Laurel, Johnson and Martin Counties causing a combined 16 deaths in those counties.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, March 2, 2012A deepening low pressure system was lifting northeast out of central Illinois around midday on Friday, the 2nd. It reached southern Michigan by evening. By late afternoon its associated warm front had pulled north into central Ohio and into central West Virginia near Charleston.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, May 16, 2025A 500mb shortwave trough moved across the Upper Midwest with height falls across the Quad State during the afternoon and evening of the 16th. The exit region of a strong (125kt) upper level jet was positioned across the area as well.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Kentucky, May 10, 2016An outbreak of supercells with large hail and isolated tornadoes affected western Kentucky during the afternoon and early evening. The initial round of thunderstorms occurred early in the afternoon over northwest Kentucky.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, November 17, 2013Clusters of supercell thunderstorms moved rapidly east around 50 knots across western Kentucky during the afternoon. Some of these storms produced tornadoes. Low level wind shear was very strong, with 0 to 1 km bulk shear near 50 knots.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, April 10, 2009A strong low pressure system tracked east to the Lower Ohio Valley, with a trailing cold front sweeping east across western Kentucky. Storms developed and increased along the advancing cold front as they moved into increasingly unstable air.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, March 28, 2009A strong low pressure center moved northeast from Oklahoma into south central Missouri by late afternoon, with a warm front extending east from the low across western Kentucky. The warm front served as a focusing mechanism for some of the ingredients needed for tornadogenesis.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Kentucky, June 23, 2019Clusters of thunderstorms formed over western Kentucky early in the afternoon. Several of these storms produced large hail or damaging wind.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, April 4, 2011Thunderstorms gradually intensified along and ahead of a cold front from Arkansas into western Kentucky.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Kentucky, February 29, 2012A squall line with embedded sustained supercells entered western Kentucky early in the morning. The embedded supercells raced east-northeast at 60 to 70 mph, while the line moved southeast at a slower rate.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Kentucky, May 1 to 3, 2010A surface cold front extended from the Chicago area southwestward across the eastern fringes of the St. Louis metro area to a weak low pressure center over southeast Missouri.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, March 2, 2012Supercells developed across western Kentucky. The supercells raced east-northeast at 50 to 60 mph as a strong storm system moved northeast from Oklahoma to lower Michigan with it's associated cold front sweeping east across the Ohio and Tennessee valleys.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Kentucky, April 23 to 24, 2011Bands of thunderstorms developed along a surface cold front extending from northern Arkansas northeastward along the Ohio River. Relatively strong diurnal heating occurred south of the front, where mixed-layer cape values increased to around 1500 j/kg.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Kentucky, April 22 to 23, 2011Bands and clusters of strong to severe thunderstorms produced isolated reports of damaging winds and tornadoes. A fast-moving upper level trough tracked east-northeastward from the central Plains into the upper Midwest.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, April 4, 2011Widespread wind damage occurred across eastern Kentucky as a squall line moved across the area.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, May 30, 2004A few supercell thunderstorms tracked across western Kentucky during the early afternoon. Each thunderstorm showed distinct rotation and produced at least one tornado.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Kentucky, April 3 to 4, 2007A cold front moved east from the Upper Midwest and the Central Plains on the afternoon of April 3rd. Very warm, moist, unstable air was in place over much of the region.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in Kentucky, April 3, 2018Clusters of strong to severe thunderstorms moved eastward out of southern Illinois and southeast Missouri. The storms produced four tornadoes over the far western counties of Kentucky before weakening as they moved east across the Kentucky Lake region.
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Kentucky, January 12 to 13, 2013During the afternoon, a supercell thunderstorm developed along a quasi-stationary front that extended from southwest to northeast along the Lower Ohio River Valley.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Kentucky, May 8 to 15, 2024A major outbreak of severe weather occurred on the 8th for the Quad State region. On the synoptic scale, a longwave trough was centered across the Rockies with deep-layer southwesterly flow from the Southern Plains to the Ohio Valley.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, May 25, 2011Numerous strong to severe thunderstorms occurred in the warm sector of a low pressure system over central Missouri. The air mass in the warm sector was very unstable, with afternoon mixed-layer cape values in the 2500 to 4000 j/kg range.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, May 11, 2008A strong cold front moving across the area brought severe thunderstorms with damaging winds and large hail to portions of Eastern Kentucky during the morning hours of May 11th. Numerous reports of downed trees and power lines were received.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, April 9, 2011On April 9th, an stationary boundary draped across eastern Kentucky and a reinvigorated MCS moving into eastern Kentucky combined with afternoon heating set the stage for a high moderate severe weather event for east Kentucky.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kentucky, January 29, 2008A powerful cold front moved rapidly southeast across western Kentucky during the late afternoon hours. An organized line of severe thunderstorms developed along the front as it crossed southeast Missouri, then swept east across western Kentucky.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Kentucky, June 4, 2014Thunderstorms intensified along and ahead of a cold front as it pushed south across the Lower Ohio Valley. A very unstable air mass fueled intense thunderstorm development during the late afternoon hours.
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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.