F1 tornado, Kelly to Elkton, Kentucky, May 19, 2005

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 19, 2005

Touchdown

7:38 PM CDT (00:38 UTC)

Path length

0.2 miles (0.3 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$250,000

Counties

Todd and Christian counties

Touchdown point

36.830, -87.280

Lift-off point

36.870, -87.280

Record number

729

A supercell thunderstorm tracked east across northern Christian County and into Todd County. Trained spotters reported a long-lived funnel cloud associated with this storm, as well as large hail from nickel to half-dollar size. The funnel cloud reportedly skipped along the ground. Damage surveys indicated only a few brief touchdowns. Another severe thunderstorm followed quickly on the heels of the first, producing nickel-size hail on U.S. Highway 68 at the Christian/Todd County line.

An unoccupied mobile home was damaged. The mobile home was unroofed and pushed off its foundation. The tin roof on a garage was partially blown off. A garage door was pushed in, and another large garage door was blown out. Tin and other lightweight materials were blown several hundred feet. Peak winds in this very short track tornado were estimated near 80 MPH. Several witnesses reported their observations to local law enforcement officials.

A funnel cloud skipped along the ground near the Christian/Todd County line. This was the first of two touchdowns of the same tornado. Along U.S. Highway 68 just inside Christian County, near the Jefferson Davis Monument State Historic Site, a few sheds and small buildings were unroofed. Numerous trees were blown down. This first touchdown in Christian County was about 1/8 mile long and 100 yards wide. Peak winds were estimated near 80 MPH. About a mile to the east in Todd County, there was a second brief touchdown of this tornado.

The tornado skipped along the ground from Christian County into Todd County. This second touchdown occurred about a mile east of the Christian County touchdown. Along U.S. Highway 68 just inside Todd County, a garage and a small building were unroofed. Building debris was blown through a truck window. A piece of wood was impaled into a portable plastic tank. Numerous trees were blown down. This touchdown was about 1/8 mile long and 100 yards wide. Peak winds were estimated near 80 MPH.

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

1 minute of warning. NWS PAH issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:37 UTC, 1 minute before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:15 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 Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 20:02 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.

Fort Campbell (Aaf) (HOP), 28 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2005 tornado in KentuckyEvery tornado in Kentucky since 1950Warnings in force in Kentucky nowThe forecast where you are

4 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.