Tornadoes · United States · Kentucky · 2007

EF1 tornado, Bernstadt to Pittsburg, Kentucky, November 14, 2007

From Bernstadt to Pittsburg, this EF1 tornado ran 2.0 miles across Laurel County on November 14, 2007, touching down at 4:28 PM EST and reaching 200 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $75,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

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

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

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

  3. EF2111 to 135 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. EF3136 to 165 mph

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

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

  6. EF5over 200 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
EF1
Date
November 14, 2007
Touchdown
4:28 PM EST (21:28 UTC)
Lifted
4:33 PM EST (21:33 UTC)
On the ground
5 minutes
Path length
2.0 miles (3.2 km)
Path width
200 yards (183 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$75,000
County
Laurel County
Touchdown point
37.158, -84.169
Lift-off point
37.161, -84.133
Record number
0711141528-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A strong cold front moving through Eastern Kentucky brought severe thunderstorms to the region during the afternoon hours of November 14th. One of these storms produced a tornado in Laurel County. This tornado was on the ground intermittently for approximately 2 miles, causing damage to numerous buildings, and toppling trees.

Tornado touchdown occurred 1.8 miles east-northeast of Bernstadt around 428 pm EST, with the tornado dissipating 1 mile southwest of Pittsburg around 433 pm EST. The path length was almost 2 miles and the width was 200 yards at its maximum. The tornado was rated EF1, with estimated peak winds of 94 to 99 mph. Several homes along the tornados path sustained broken windows from flying debris and shingle and gutter damage along the tornados path. A tree fell on one home. Intermittent tree damage was observed along the tornados path. One barn collapsed and several outbuildings were also damaged, with one building being blown off its foundation. A manufactured home was shifted of its foundation at the touchdown site.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
21:29 UTC22:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKL
21:37 UTC22:00 UTCTornado WarningJKL

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 19:51 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), 12:00Z

9.5 hours before the tornado, 247 km from the path. November 14, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2007-11-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 143 joules per kilogram, CIN -43, lifted condensation level 506 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 2007-11-14The 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 244 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 34 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
143 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-43 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
506 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
244 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
188 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

2.5 hours after it, 247 km from the path. November 15, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 2007-11-15Temperature 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 -81126, lifted condensation level 632 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 00:00Z on 2007-11-15The 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 116 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 52 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
-81126 J/kg
Surface CAPE
13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
632 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
274 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

London-Corbin Airport (LOZ), 10 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
19:45 UTC71.660.8220° 9 kt171008.8
19:53 UTC7160200° 9 kt1008.8
20:53 UTC7059200° 9 kt1007.8
21:17 UTC69.859180° 9 kt1007.5VCTS
21:53 UTC6760220° 11 kt201007.8-TSRA
22:00 UTC64.460.8270° 9 kt181008.8+TSRA BR
22:02 UTC64.460.8240° 14 kt221008.8+TSRA BR
22:23 UTC60.855.4250° 10 kt191008.1+TSRA
22:31 UTC60.855.4230° 7 kt1008.8TSRA
22:41 UTC60.855.4240° 13 kt201008.5+TSRA
22:50 UTC60.855.4210° 7 kt201008.5TSRA
22:53 UTC6157230° 4 kt1008.5TSRA BR
23:00 UTC62.657.2240° 5 kt1008.8-RA

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

The radar

The Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 88 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:29 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
21:30 UTCTORNADO1 E BernstadtLaurel, KYTHE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN OCCURRED 1.3 MILES EAST OF BERNSTADT AROUND 428 PM EST WITH THE TORNADO DISSIPATING 3.8 MILES EAST OF BERNSTADT AROUND 433 PM EST. THE PATH LENGTH WAS 2.5 MILES AND THE WIDTH WAS 200 YARDS. THE TORN
21:33 UTCTORNADO1 W PittsburgLaurel, KYSEVERAL HOMES WITH SHINGLE DAMAGE IN AN AREA FROM SWISS COLONY TO NEAR PITTSBURG. ONE TREE DOWN ON A HOME. ONE MOBILE HOME BLOWN OFF FOUNDATION. TREE DAMAGE ALSO REPORTED. DAMAGE PATH ABOUT 1 MILE LONG.
21:40 UTCTORNADO5 Nw LondonLaurel, KYSTRUCTURAL DAMAGE EAST BURNSTAT WITH DEBRIS SEEN IN THE AIR. POWER LINES DOWN
22:00 UTCHAIL 0.88N Sacker GapClay, KYNICKEL AND PEA SIZE HAIL

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2007 tornado in KentuckyEvery tornado in Kentucky since 1950Warnings in force in Kentucky nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of November 14, 2007

4 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 143:17 PM CSTEF1Jackson, TN0.1100$10,000
November 144:16 PM CSTEF0White, TN0.7100$20,000
November 145:35 PM CSTEF1Lincoln, TN5.375$5,000
November 147:02 PM CSTEF2Marion, TN2.02009$2.5 million

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.