Tornadoes · United States · Kentucky · 1990

F1 tornado, Logan County, Kentucky, June 2, 1990

This F1 tornado ran 11.0 miles across Logan County on June 2, 1990, touching down at 11:34 PM CDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $5,000 to $50,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mphthis tornado

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating
F1
Date
June 2, 1990
Touchdown
11:34 PM CDT (04:34 UTC)
Path length
11.0 miles (17.7 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$5,000 to $50,000
County
Logan County
Touchdown point
36.750, -87.020
Lift-off point
36.780, -86.820
Record number
589

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 07:14 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), 00:00Z

4.6 hours before the tornado, 76 km from the path. June 3, 1990.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1990-06-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1381 joules per kilogram, CIN -3, lifted condensation level 1224 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1990-06-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 179 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1381 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1452 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1224 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
179 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
295 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
11.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), 12:00Z

7.4 hours after it, 76 km from the path. June 3, 1990.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1990-06-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN 0, lifted condensation level NaN meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1990-06-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 34 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 36 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
136 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
34 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
187 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 1990 tornado in KentuckyEvery tornado in Kentucky since 1950Warnings in force in Kentucky nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 2, 1990

67 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 211:35 AM CDTF0Van Buren, IA0.527$5,000 to $50,000
June 212:00 PM CDTF1Sebastian, AR2.050$5,000 to $50,000
June 212:43 PM CDTF2Buchanan, IA10.567$50,000 to $500,000
June 212:50 PM CDTF1Goodhue, MN4.050$5,000 to $50,000
June 23:12 PM CDTF1Jackson, IA1.040$5,000 to $50,000
June 24:40 PM EDTF0Lee, FL0.210
June 24:00 PM CDTF2Fond du Lac, WI1.01001$500,000 to $5 million
June 24:00 PM CDTF1Walworth, WI0.250$5,000 to $50,000
June 25:11 PM EDTF0Lee, FL0.210
June 24:30 PM CDTF2Shelby, IL8.06002$500,000 to $5 million
June 24:47 PM CDTF0Douglas, IL0.550
June 25:05 PM CDTF1Clark, IL0.550$5,000 to $50,000
June 25:15 PM ESTF0Vermillion, IN1.040$5,000 to $50,000
June 25:23 PM ESTF0Parke, IN0.550
June 25:28 PM ESTF0Parke, IN0.230$500 to $5,000
June 25:30 PM CDTF1Sangamon, IL8.0200$5,000 to $50,000
June 25:45 PM CDTF4Wayne, IL23.03002$50,000 to $500,000
June 25:45 PM ESTF0Parke, IN0.520
June 25:45 PM ESTF0Sullivan, IN0.130
June 25:50 PM ESTF2Montgomery, IN10.010012$500,000 to $5 million
June 25:53 PM CDTF2Edgar, IL to IN17.5150$50,000 to $500,000
June 25:58 PM CDTF2Edgar, IL to IN8.01006$50,000 to $500,000
June 26:00 PM ESTF0Parke, IN0.220
June 26:07 PM CDTF4Jasper, IL12.52006$50,000 to $500,000
June 26:10 PM ESTF1Boone, IN4.5301$5,000 to $50,000
June 26:10 PM ESTF0Cass, IN0.120
June 27:15 PM EDTF1Menifee, KY2.050$50,000 to $500,000
June 26:19 PM ESTF3Daviess, IN7.0200$50,000 to $500,000
June 26:20 PM CDTF4Hamilton, IL to IN106.0300112$500,000 to $5 million
June 26:20 PM CDTF1Jasper, IL3.050$5,000 to $50,000
June 27:25 PM EDTF1Morgan, KY6.050$50,000 to $500,000
June 26:25 PM ESTF1Clinton, IN6.030$5,000 to $50,000
June 26:30 PM ESTF2Greene, IN10.050$500,000 to $5 million
June 26:35 PM ESTF1Boone, IN0.530$50,000 to $500,000
June 26:37 PM ESTF0Boone, IN6.030$5,000 to $50,000
June 26:40 PM CDTF0Crawford, IL3.050
June 26:43 PM ESTF1Boone, IN7.0305$5,000 to $50,000
June 26:45 PM CDTF2Lawrence, IL to IN5.0501$50,000 to $500,000
June 26:50 PM ESTF4Lawrence, IN11.0400151$500,000 to $5 million
June 27:59 PM EDTF1Newaygo, MI1.550$5,000 to $50,000
June 27:17 PM CDTF4Gibson, IN13.0200660$5 million to $50 million
June 27:20 PM ESTF0Hamilton, IN0.220
June 27:30 PM ESTF2Putnam, IN3.55016$50,000 to $500,000
June 28:30 PM EDTF1Jackson, MI0.520$5,000 to $50,000
June 27:40 PM ESTF2Noble, IN3.52209$50,000 to $500,000
June 27:54 PM ESTF1Orange, IN11.550under $50
June 27:55 PM ESTF1Jennings, IN10.0402$5,000 to $50,000
June 29:00 PM EDTF1Johnson, KY1.023$50,000 to $500,000
June 28:05 PM ESTF2Jennings, IN18.060$50,000 to $500,000
June 29:10 PM EDTF2Washtenaw, MI15.0160$50,000 to $500,000
June 28:15 PM ESTF0Decatur, IN0.110
June 28:17 PM ESTF0Washington, IN3.530
June 28:20 PM ESTF4Jackson, IN18.02009$500,000 to $5 million
June 29:03 PM ESTF2Washington, IN4.51502$50,000 to $500,000
June 29:25 PM ESTF3Washington, IN41.0150$50,000 to $500,000
June 29:30 PM ESTF2Ripley, IN23.04403$50,000 to $500,000
June 29:30 PM ESTF2Crawford, IN11.01009$50,000 to $500,000
June 210:57 PM EDTF3Floyd, IN12.03007$500,000 to $5 million
June 210:00 PM CDTF4Dearborn, IN to OH33.01,35037$5 million to $50 million
June 210:05 PM CDTF0Crittenden, AR0.120

All 68 of them

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.