F2 tornado, Barnsley to Graham, Kentucky, May 30, 2004

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 mph

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

3. F2113 to 157 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

F2

Date

May 30, 2004

Touchdown

2:40 PM CDT (19:40 UTC)

Path length

7.0 miles (11.3 km)

Path width

175 yards (160 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$300,000

Counties

Hopkins and Muhlenberg counties

Touchdown point

37.250, -87.520

Lift-off point

37.220, -87.370

Record number

1031

A few supercell thunderstorms tracked across western Kentucky during the early afternoon. Each thunderstorm showed distinct rotation and produced at least one tornado. The first tornadic storm developed just west of Paducah, and continued northeast across Livingston and Crittenden Counties before weakening. This storm produced only one confirmed tornado, which was at West Paducah. A second thunderstorm developed strong rotation between Princeton and Madisonville, then moved east, parallel to and a few miles north of the Western Kentucky Parkway. This storm produced the strongest tornado of the day, from Hopkins County into extreme western Muhlenberg County. A funnel cloud accompanied the storm across the rest of Muhlenberg County. A third strongly rotating storm moved across Christian and Todd Counties, and another moved south and east of Owensboro.

This tornado touched down about 5 miles south of Madisonville and moved almost due east, crossing the Pennyrile Parkway at exit 37. The tornado ended just after crossing into Muhlenberg County in a forested area. Several homes were damaged, including one that was severely damaged. Several barns and outbuildings were destroyed. Several roofs were blown off businesses. A truck stop near the Pennyrile Parkway received minor damage. The tornado moved across the sports complex at Hopkins County Central High School, causing heavy damage to the baseball area. Some trees landed on roads and cars. Peak winds were estimated near 140 MPH by the damage survey team. The tornado was videotaped at fairly close range as it passed near Hopkins Central High School.

The tornado crossed over from Hopkins County in a densely forested area, and lifted within a couple minutes after entering Muhlenberg County. Tree damage was the only known damage during the short time this tornado was in Muhlenberg County.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

61 minutes of warning. NWS PAH issued a tornado warning for this county at 18:39 UTC, 61 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 19:45 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a High Risk, with a 0.25 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 16:38 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 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2004 tornado in KentuckyEvery tornado in Kentucky since 1950Warnings in force in Kentucky nowThe forecast where you are

80 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 81 of them

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.

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