F1 tornado, Providence, 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 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.

Rating

F1

Date

May 30, 2004

Touchdown

8:30 PM CDT (01:30 UTC)

Path length

2.0 miles (3.2 km)

Path width

300 yards (274 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$150,000

County

Webster County

Touchdown point

37.380, -87.780

Lift-off point

37.380, -87.750

Record number

159

A line of severe thunderstorms produced wind gusts around 60 MPH at many locations in western Kentucky. Numerous trees were blown down, some of which landed on roads and power lines. Wind gusts were clocked at 58 MPH at the Paducah National Weather Service office, and 60 MPH at a Paducah television station. At least 40 places in McCracken County had power lines, tree limbs, or trees across roads. One tree was on a house, and two trees fell on vehicles. A tree fell on a gas line, causing a major gas leak. In Livingston County, a roof was torn off a mobile home on Highway 60 in Burna. Trees were down in about 65 locations in Crittenden County, 8 in Ballard County, and 10 in Hickman County. A tornado with a 2-mile path length occurred near Providence in Webster County. Isolated strong downbursts with winds up to 90 MPH occurred in northwest Kentucky. A couple of miles southwest of Spottsville in Henderson County, peak winds estimated near 90 MPH blew a roof and wall off a mobile home. Utility companies reported about 8500 customers without power in Henderson, Union, and Webster Counties. Some roofs were damaged, mainly by falling trees in Henderson. A barn and grain bins were destroyed one mile east of Henderson. Roofs of two businesses in Henderson were damaged, including the Wal-Mart store. Two or three barns were destroyed in western Henderson County. In northern Hopkins County, straight-line winds near 65 MPH downed a couple dozen trees at Nebo, including one that fell on a house. A mobile home was damaged at Nebo, and trees were down north of Hanson. The most widespread damaging winds were north and west of a line from Murray (Calloway County) to Central City (Muhlenberg County). West of Murray, fallen trees blocked Highway 121. In the Land-Between-The-Lakes National Recreation Area, the Turkey Bay off-road vehicle area was closed due to tree damage.

Around 30 homes were damaged by this tornado that tracked across the southern and eastern fringe of Providence. Several homes received major damage, in excess of ten thousand dollars each. About a dozen homes were moderately damaged, and the rest had minor damage. On Highway 120, a delivery truck was pushed over onto a car. Twelve utility poles were replaced. Much of the damage was caused by fallen trees. Peak winds in this tornado were estimated near 100 MPH.

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

7 minutes of warning. NWS PAH issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:23 UTC, 7 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:15 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.