Tornadoes · United States · Kentucky · 2008

EF0 tornado, Waterford to Taylorsville, Kentucky, February 5, 2008

Name: EF0 tornado, Waterford to Taylorsville, Kentucky, February 5, 2008
Start: 2008-02-06T05:38:00.000Z
End: 2008-02-06T05:40:00.000Z
Location: Waterford to Taylorsville, Kentucky

From Waterford to Taylorsville, this EF0 tornado ran 0.7 miles across Spencer County on February 5, 2008, touching down at 12:38 AM EST and reaching 220 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $150,000 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.

EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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: EF0
Date: February 5, 2008
Touchdown: 12:38 AM EST (05:38 UTC)
Lifted: 12:40 AM EST (05:40 UTC)
On the ground: 2 minutes
Path length: 0.7 miles (1.1 km)
Path width: 220 yards (201 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $150,000
County: Spencer County
Touchdown point: 37.992, -85.419
Lift-off point: 37.997, -85.409
Record number: 0802052338-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A cold front along with a strong upper level low produced a squall line that crossed central Kentucky. This set off widespread severe weather, and spawned several tornadoes.

The tornado destroyed two mobile homes, and did extensive roof and tree damage.

This tornado destroyed two barns, and did heavy damage to several other barns and homes.

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

The warnings

11 minutes of warning. NWS LMK issued a tornado warning for this county at 05:27 UTC, 11 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 06:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 01:10 UTC and running to 07:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)	Expired	Product	Office
01:10 UTC	07:00 UTC	Tornado Watch	LMK
05:27 UTC	06:00 UTC	Tornado Warning	LMK
05:33 UTC	06:00 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK
05:51 UTC	06:11 UTC	Tornado Warning	LMK

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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:48 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.

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 00:00Z

5.6 hours before the tornado, 212 km from the path. February 6, 2008.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: -62558 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 537 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 74 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 295 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 379 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1
0-3 km lapse rate: 4.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 12:00Z

6.4 hours after it, 212 km from the path. February 6, 2008.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -149 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 669 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 70 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 124 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 185 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Louisville radar (KLVX), 47 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:38 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)	Report	Where	County	Remark
05:13 UTC	TSTM WND GST 60	Pleasure Ridge Park	Jefferson, KY	AT TERRY AND GREENWOOD ROAD. SPOTTER REPORTED DEBRIS HITTING THE SIDE OF THE HOUSE.
05:19 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Louisville	Jefferson, KY	POWER LINES WERE DOWNED AT THE STATE FAIRGROUNDS.
05:20 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Shelbyville	Shelby, KY	TREES DOWN ON ROADS MAINLY TO THE EAST OF HIGHWAY 55. US HIGHWAY 60 WAS CLOSED EAST OF SHELBYVILLE DUE TO SNAPPED POWER POLES.
05:23 UTC	FLASH FLOOD	Louisville	Jefferson, KY	LINDSEY AVENUE WAS FLOODED NEAR THE VA HOSPITAL. SPOTTER ESTIMATED 70 MPH WINDS.
05:27 UTC	TORNADO 2	2 Ese Elizabethtown	Hardin, KY	NWS DAMAGE SURVEY TEAM FOUND A SECOND EF-2 TORNADO TOUCHDOWN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF PORTER LANE AND MILLER ROAD. A TRAILER WAS KNOCKED OFF ITS FOUNDATION WHILE ANOTHER TRAILER WAS COMPLETELY DESTORYED. THE TORNADO MOVE
05:27 UTC	TORNADO	2 Ese Elizabethtown	Hardin, KY	NWS DAMAGE SURVEY TEAM FOUND A SECOND EF-2 TORNADO TOUCHDOWN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF PORTER LANE AND MILLER ROAD. A TRAILER WAS KNOCKED OFF ITS FOUNDATION WHILE ANOTHER TRAILER WAS COMPLETELY DESTORYED. THE TORNADO MOVE
05:29 UTC	TSTM WND GST 69	St. Matthews	Jefferson, KY	TREE LIMBS WERE BLOWN DOWN.
05:30 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	3 E Clermont	Bullitt, KY	TWENTY TREES WERE DOWNED.
05:34 UTC	TSTM WND GST 68	Mount Washington	Bullitt, KY	LIMBS WERE DOWNED. PEA SIZE HAIL ALSO REPORTED.
05:34 UTC	HAIL 0.88	5 E Shepherdsville	Bullitt, KY	NICKEL SIZE HAIL FELL FOR THREE MINUTES.
05:37 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Elizabethtown	Hardin, KY	POSSIBLE TORNADO. THE ROOF WAS BLOWN OFF CENTRAL HARDIN HIGH SCHOOL AT HIGHWAY 62 AND RING ROAD.
05:38 UTC	TORNADO 1	4 S Boston	Nelson, KY	* 2 INJ * NWS SURVEY TEAM FOUND EF-1 TORNADO DAMAGE NEAR NELSONVILLE ROAD IN WESTERN NELSON COUNTY. THE TORNADO WAS EMBEDDED WITHIN A SWATH OF STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. ON NELSONVILLE LOOP...A LARGE GRAIN SILO WAS DESTORY
05:38 UTC	TORNADO	4 S Boston	Nelson, KY	* 2 INJ * NWS SURVEY TEAM FOUND EF-1 TORNADO DAMAGE NEAR NELSONVILLE ROAD IN WESTERN NELSON COUNTY. THE TORNADO WAS EMBEDDED WITHIN A SWATH OF STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. ON NELSONVILLE LOOP...A LARGE GRAIN SILO WAS DESTORY
05:38 UTC	TORNADO	5 Sw Taylorsville	Spencer, KY	NWS DAMAGE SURVEY TEAM FOUND ONE EF-0 TORNADO TOUCHDOWN ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF TAYLORSVILLE WHERE TWO MOBILE HOMES WERE DESTROYED AND EXTENSIVE ROOF AND TREE DAMAGE OCCURRED. THE TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND FOR ABOUT A
05:41 UTC	FLASH FLOOD	Louisville	Jefferson, KY	BEARGRASS CREEK NEAR CANNONS LANE WAS OUT OF BANKS.
05:43 UTC	TORNADO	1 S Taylorsville	Spencer, KY	* 1 INJ * NWS DAMAGE SURVEY TEAM FOUND A SECOND EF-0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ONE MILE SOUTH OF TAYLORSVILLE ON HIGHWAY 55 CAUSING MAJOR STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO SEVERAL BARNS AND HOMES. THE TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND FOR ABO
05:44 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 W Shelbyville	Shelby, KY	SEVERAL LARGE BARNS WERE DESTROYED AND TREES WERE UPROOTED ON HEBRON RD NEAR SCOTT STATION AND HARRINGTON MILL ROADS.
05:45 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	1 Ene Taylorsville	Spencer, KY	EXTENSIVE STRAIGHT-LINE WIND DAMAGE TO TREES AND POWERLINES AND SHINGLES AND OUTBUILDINGS WAS FOUND NEAR AND JUST NORTHEAST OF TAYLORSVILLE OFF OF HIGHWAY 44.
05:45 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Cecilia	Hardin, KY	THE ROOF WAS BLOWN OFF A SCHOOL. ELSEWHERE IN HARDIN COUNTY...TRAILERS WERE DESTROYED...MAJOR ROOF DAMAGE WAS REPORTED...SOME REPORTS OF INJURIES.
05:45 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Cecilia	Hardin, KY	UPDATED REPORT...THE ROOF WAS BLOWN OFF A SCHOOL. MULTIPLE HOMES WERE DAMAGED ELSEWHERE IN CECILIA.
05:45 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Elizabethtown	Hardin, KY	TWO MOBILE HOME TRAILERS WERE DESTROYED OR ROLLED OVER JUST OUTSIDE THE ELIZABETHTOWN CITY LIMITS. ONE WAS ON VALLEY CREEK ROAD...AND THE OTHER WAS ON PORTER ROAD.
05:45 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Elizabethtown	Hardin, KY	UPDATED REPORT...TWO MOBILE HOME TRAILERS WERE DESTROYED OR ROLLED OVER JUST OUTSIDE THE ELIZABETHTOWN CITY LIMITS. ONE WAS ON VALLEY CREEK ROAD...AND THE OTHER WAS ON PORTER ROAD. THERE WAS MASSIVE DAMAGE TO HOMES IN TH
05:46 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	3 S Shelbyville	Shelby, KY	SEVERAL LARGE BARNS WERE DESTROYED AND TREES WERE UPROOTED ON MT. EDEN ROAD SOUTH OF I-64 NEAR WESSINGER HILLS GOLF COURSE.
05:46 UTC	TORNADO 2	6 Ne Shelbyville	Shelby, KY	NWS SURVEY TEAM FOUND DAMAGE CONSISTENT AT THE EF-2 LEVEL. AROUND 40 LARGE HARDWOODS WERE UPROOTED AT 900 FLOOD ROAD. A LARGE BARN WAS DESTROYED AND A LARGE TRAILER WEIGHING 18 THOUSAND POUNDS WAS OVERTURNED AT 940 FLOOD
05:46 UTC	TORNADO	1 Ne Shelbyville	Shelby, KY	NWS SURVEY TEAM FOUND DAMAGE CONSISTENT AT THE EF-2 LEVEL. AROUND 40 LARGE HARDWOODS WERE UPROOTED AT 900 FLOOD ROAD. A LARGE BARN WAS DESTROYED AND A LARGE TRAILER WEIGHING 18 THOUSAND POUNDS WAS OVERTURNED AT 940 FLOOD
05:46 UTC	TORNADO	6 Ne Shelbyville	Shelby, KY	NWS SURVEY TEAM FOUND DAMAGE CONSISTENT AT THE EF-2 LEVEL. AROUND 40 LARGE HARDWOODS WERE UPROOTED AT 900 FLOOD ROAD. A LARGE BARN WAS DESTROYED AND A LARGE TRAILER WEIGHING 18 THOUSAND POUNDS WAS OVERTURNED AT 940 FLOOD
05:47 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	5 Ne Bardstown	Nelson, KY	A DOUBLEWIDE MOBILE HOME WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED IN THE DOUBLE SPRINGS AREA OFF KY HIGHWAY 605 AND WOODLAWN ROAD. THERE WAS ONE MINOR INJURY. TREES WERE DOWNED. POSSIBLE TORNADO.
05:47 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	New Castle	Henry, KY	SEVERAL TREES DOWNED AND UPROOTED. ONE BUSINESS AND MOBILE HOME HAD EXTENSIVE DAMAGE. ALSO A ROOF BLOWN OFF A HOME.
05:52 UTC	TORNADO	1 Se Waddy	Shelby, KY	NWS SURVEY TEAM FOUND DAMAGE CONSISTENT AT THE EF-0 LEVEL. THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ABOUT 1 MILE SOUTHEAST OF WADDY NEAR 1527 KINGS HIGHWAY OR KY 637 BETWEEN KY 395 AND KY 1472. A LARGE BARN WAS DESTROYED AND SCATTERED U
05:52 UTC	TORNADO	2 Se Waddy	Anderson, KY	NWS SURVEY TEAM FOUND DAMAGE CONSISTENT AT THE EF-0 LEVEL. THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ABOUT 2 MILES SOUTHEAST OF WADDY NEAR 1527 KINGS HIGHWAY OR KY 637 BETWEEN KY 395 AND KY 1472. A LARGE BARN WAS DESTROYED AND SCATTERED
05:55 UTC	TSTM WND GST 60	Bardstown	Nelson, KY
06:01 UTC	TORNADO 1	2 Se Springfield	Washington, KY	NWS DAMAGE SURVEY TEAM FOUND AN EF-1 TORNADO TOUCHDOWN ON PLEASANT DRIVE ABOUT 2 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SPRINGFIELD AT APPROXIMATELY 101 AM EST. THIS CAUSED ROOF DAMAGE AND EXTENSIVE TREE DAMAGE ALONG ITS PATH TO THE NORTHEA
06:01 UTC	TORNADO	2 Se Springfield	Washington, KY	NWS DAMAGE SURVEY TEAM FOUND AN EF-1 TORNADO TOUCHDOWN ON PLEASANT DRIVE ABOUT 2 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SPRINGFIELD AT APPROXIMATELY 101 AM EST. THIS CAUSED ROOF DAMAGE AND EXTENSIVE TREE DAMAGE ALONG ITS PATH TO THE NORTHEA
06:02 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Bloomfield	Nelson, KY	POWER LINES WERE DOWNED.
06:04 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Louisville	Jefferson, KY	TREES WERE DOWNED AT FLOYD AND JACOB STREETS.
06:04 UTC	HAIL 1	Mount Washington	Bullitt, KY	CARS WERE DAMAGED BY HAIL. HAIL SIZE ESTIMATED.
06:05 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Lebanon	Marion, KY	ONE GARAGE HEAVILY DAMAGED.
06:05 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Shively	Jefferson, KY	POWER LINES WERE DOWNED ALONG CANE RUN ROAD AT NEW LYNVIEW.
06:06 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Jeffersontown	Jefferson, KY	SPARKING POWER POLE DOWN IN STANDING WATER.
06:06 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Lawrenceburg	Anderson, KY	TREES DOWN...BARNS COLLAPSED ON VEHICLES

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

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2008 tornado in Kentucky Every tornado in Kentucky since 1950 Warnings in force in Kentucky now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of February 5, 2008

61 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 5	3:26 PM CST	EF1	Ashley, AR	0.6	50			$40,000
February 5	4:04 PM CST	EF0	Chicot, AR	1.1	50
February 5	4:27 PM CST	EF0	Phillips, AR	0.2	25
February 5	4:45 PM CST	EF0	Bolivar, MS	3.4	50			$70,000
February 5	4:49 PM CST	EF4	Atkins–Clinton tornado, AR	121.8	1,320	13	139	$119 million
February 5	4:50 PM CST	EF1	Smith, TX	1.0	300			$30,000
February 5	5:00 PM CST	EF2	Shelby, TN	8.1	150		1	$1.0 million
February 5	5:02 PM CST	EF2	Marion, AR	12.5	880	1	36	$18 million
February 5	5:18 PM CST	EF0	Tipton, TN	0.2	50			$7,000
February 5	5:18 PM CST	EF0	DeSoto, MS	2.6	100			$50,000
February 5	5:23 PM CST	EF1	Tipton, TN	0.7	50			$75,000
February 5	5:31 PM CST	EF0	Yell, AR	0.6	30
February 5	5:32 PM CST	EF1	Tipton, TN to MS	0.3	50			$50,000
February 5	5:32 PM CST	EF2	DeSoto, MS to TN	10.2	440	3	13	$128 million
February 5	5:53 PM CST	EF0	Panola, MS	0.2	25			$12,000
February 5	5:55 PM CST	EF1	Weakley, TN	5.1	150			$160,000
February 5	5:57 PM CST	EF1	Lafayette, MS	6.9	25			$25,000
February 5	5:57 PM CST	EF3	Lafayette, MS	7.2	1,000		14	$35 million
February 5	6:02 PM CST	EF0	Shelby, TN	4.9	50			$50,000
February 5	6:12 PM CST	EF0	Marion, IL	0.1	40
February 5	6:12 PM CST	EF0	Marion, IL	0.2	30
February 5	6:21 PM CST	EF3	Fayette, TN	31.1	600	3	14	$10 million
February 5	6:25 PM CST	EF1	Calloway, KY	1.4	150			$35,000
February 5	6:36 PM CST	EF0	Tippah, MS	1.4	50			$50,000
February 5	6:45 PM CST	EF1	Trigg, KY	0.1	40			$8,000
February 5	6:50 PM CST	EF0	Tippah, MS	2.5	50			$100,000
February 5	6:50 PM CST	EF1	Trigg, KY	5.6	150			$60,000
February 5	6:56 PM CST	EF1	Alcorn, MS	2.6	100		4	$250,000
February 5	6:59 PM CST	EF4	Jackson tornado, TN	7.6	125		51	$100 million
February 5	7:05 PM CST	EF1	Faulkner, AR	5.5	100			$140,000
February 5	7:09 PM CST	EF2	Christian, KY	14.1	275		2	$4.4 million
February 5	7:13 PM CST	EF2	Madison, TN	0.4	150			$200,000
February 5	7:13 PM CST	EF1	McNairy, TN	8.9	150			$250,000
February 5	7:19 PM CST	EF0	St. Francis, AR	0.1	25			$1,000
February 5	7:20 PM CST	EF1	Randolph, AR to MO	31.9	200		4	$280,000
February 5	7:30 PM CST	EF0	Union, AR	7.0	100			$200,000
February 5	7:40 PM CST	EF4	Hardin County tornado, TN	16.2	880	3	5	$18 million
February 5	7:44 PM CST	EF3	Muhlenberg, KY	18.1	375	3	24	$21 million
February 5	7:48 PM CST	EF0	Monroe, AR	8.0	75			$15,000
February 5	7:59 PM CST	EF0	Lee, AR	0.1	25			$1,000
February 5	8:03 PM CST	EF1	Butler, MO	3.4	300			$100,000
February 5	8:05 PM CST	EF1	Benton, TN	2.0	50
February 5	8:07 PM CST	EF2	Benton, TN	6.6	440			$10 million
February 5	8:10 PM CST	EF1	Lewis, TN	22.9	200			$900,000
February 5	8:10 PM CST	EF1	Wayne, TN	10.1	50
February 5	9:15 PM EST	EF1	Greene, IN	2.0	50			$1.3 million
February 5	8:18 PM CST	EF2	Butler, MO	13.9	200			$300,000
February 5	8:40 PM CST	EF2	Hickman, TN	25.3	300		1	$750,000
February 5	10:02 PM CST	EF3	Sumner, TN to KY	50.3	880	22	63	$28 million
February 5	11:54 PM EST	EF1	Meade, KY	6.5	350			$2.0 million
February 5	11:17 PM CST	EF0	Catahoula Parish, LA	1.5	50			$2,000
February 5	12:21 AM EST	EF2	Hardin, KY	7.1	400			$3.0 million
February 5	12:27 AM EST	EF2	Hardin, KY	1.0	300			$150,000
February 5	11:32 PM CST	EF1	Hart, KY	10.5	150			$500,000
February 5	12:38 AM EST	EF2	Nelson, KY	1.3	300			$50,000
February 5	11:41 PM CST	EF0	Perry, TN	0.1	20
February 5	12:43 AM EST	EF0	Spencer, KY	0.6	220		1	$200,000
February 5	12:46 AM EST	EF2	Shelby, KY	7.0	250			$175,000
February 5	12:50 AM EST	EF2	Nelson, KY	0.8	300		2	$250,000
February 5	11:51 PM CST	EF0	Hickman, TN	0.1	20

All 62 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.