Tornadoes · United States · Kentucky · 2008
EF2 tornado, Broadwell to Cynthiana, Kentucky, February 6, 2008
From Broadwell to Cynthiana, this EF2 tornado ran 3.5 miles across Harrison County on February 6, 2008, touching down at 1:29 AM EST and reaching 440 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 1, and did $500,000 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 mph
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 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.
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
- EF2
- Date
- February 6, 2008
- Touchdown
- 1:29 AM EST (06:29 UTC)
- Lifted
- 1:34 AM EST (06:34 UTC)
- On the ground
- 5 minutes
- Path length
- 3.5 miles (5.6 km)
- Path width
- 440 yards (402 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 1
- Property damage
- $500,000
- Crop damage
- $200,000
- County
- Harrison County
- Touchdown point
- 38.363, -84.378
- Lift-off point
- 38.380, -84.317
- Record number
- 0802060029-01
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 touched down near 812 Mt. Vernon Road, damaging a home and a barn at that location. Along Connersville Road, the tornado lifted the roofs off three homes and damaged three others. It also destroyed several barns and outbuildings, and snapped numerous hardwood trees. It damaged a few more barns and trees before lifting about a half mile southwest of Cynthiana. Several businesses in the city of Cynthiana had sign damage from 70 mph straight line winds.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
8 minutes of warning. NWS LMK issued a tornado warning for this county at 06:21 UTC, 8 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 06:45 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 05:43 UTC and running to 09:44 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01:10 UTC | 05:43 UTC | Tornado Watch | LMK |
| 05:43 UTC | 09:44 UTC | Tornado Watch | LMK |
| 06:21 UTC | 06:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | LMK |
| 06:33 UTC | 07:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LMK |
| 18:05 UTC | 21:00 UTC | High Wind 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 General Thunderstorms Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 05:58 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
6.5 hours before the tornado, 127 km from the path. February 6, 2008.
- 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
Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 12:00Z
5.5 hours after it, 127 km from the path. February 6, 2008.
- 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
The surface observations
Lexington/Bluegrass (LEX), 43 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04:54 UTC | 65 | 59 | 190° 23 kt | 32 | 1002 | -RA |
| 05:54 UTC | 64 | 60 | 180° 36 kt | 51 | 999.3 | -RA BR |
| 06:28 UTC | 62.6 | 57.2 | 270° 29 kt | 52 | 1004.1 | -RA BR |
| 06:34 UTC | 55.4 | 55.4 | 270° 17 kt | 52 | 1004.4 | +RA BR |
| 06:40 UTC | 55.4 | 53.6 | 270° 12 kt | 28 | 1004.4 | -RA BR |
| 06:42 UTC | 55.4 | 53.6 | 270° 14 kt | 28 | 1004.7 | -RA BR |
| 06:54 UTC | 56 | 55 | 270° 10 kt | 24 | 1005.1 | -RA |
| 07:54 UTC | 56 | 54 | 230° 8 kt | 1006.1 | -RA |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 125 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:30 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06:06 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Lawrenceburg | Anderson, KY | TREES DOWN...BARNS COLLAPSED ON VEHICLES |
| 06:08 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 N Dry Ridge | Grant, KY | DEBRIS FROM A DAMAGED BUILDING WAS SCATTERED ACROSS US ROUTE 25 BETWEEN DRY RIDGE AND CRITTENDEN. NUMEROUS POWER POLES WERE ALSO DAMAGED AND ARE LEANING OR BROKEN. |
| 06:08 UTC | TORNADO 1 | 1 N Frankfort | Franklin, KY | NWS SURVEY TEAM FOUND DAMAGE CONSISTENT AT THE EF-1 LEVEL. WIND DAMAGE FIRST OCCURRED WITH DOWNBURST WINDS OF 70 MPH WEST OF STADMANTOWN LANE. EVIDENCE OF AN EF-0 TOUCHDOWN WAST NOTED ACROSS ELKHORN CREEK WHERE HARDWOOD |
| 06:08 UTC | TORNADO | 1 N Frankfort | Franklin, KY | NWS SURVEY TEAM FOUND DAMAGE CONSISTENT AT THE EF-1 LEVEL. WIND DAMAGE FIRST OCCURRED WITH DOWNBURST WINDS OF 70 MPH WEST OF STADMANTOWN LANE. EVIDENCE OF AN EF-0 TOUCHDOWN WAST NOTED ACROSS ELKHORN CREEK WHERE HARDWOOD |
| 06:10 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 N Dry Ridge | Grant, KY | TWO BARNS WERE BLOWN DOWN ON BANNISTER ROAD. |
| 06:13 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Dry Ridge | Grant, KY | NUMEROUS POWER POLES DOWN AROUND THE AREA. ON WARSAW ROAD...A BARN WAS BLOWN INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. |
| 06:22 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 N Georgetown | Scott, KY | BARN AND ROOF DAMAGE WAS NOTED ALONG WITH SEVERAL TREES DOWN IN THE VICINITY OF ROGERS GAP ROAD EAST OF INTERSTATE 75. |
| 06:29 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Cynthiana | Harrison, KY | SEVERAL BARNS AND ONE HOME DESTROYED IN AND SURROUNDING CYNTHIANA. MANY MORE DAMAGED. NUMEROUS ROADS BLOCKED DUE TO POWERLINES AND TREES DOWNED. TRAILER FLIPPED IN WAL-MART PARKING LOT. |
| 06:29 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Lexington | Fayette, KY | CORRECTED TIME...ROOF OFF A BUILDING NEAR NEW CIRCLE ROAD. |
| 06:29 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Lexington | Fayette, KY | CORRECTED TIME...TREES DOWN...BARN DAMAGED...AND FENCES DOWN NEWTOWN PIKE NEAR IRON WORKS. |
| 06:29 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Lexington | Fayette, KY | AN NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM FOUND STRAIGHT-LINE WIND DAMAGE ACROSS URBAN LEXINGTON. THIS OCCURRED ROUGHLY BETWEEN 129 AM EST AND 139 AM EST. MOST DAMAGE WAS FROM 50-60 MPH WITH TWO CONCENTRATED AREAS JUST WEST AND JUST EAST |
| 06:29 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Nicholasville | Jessamine, KY | A BARN WAS DESTROYED. |
| 06:29 UTC | TORNADO 2 | 3 Sw Cynthiana | Harrison, KY | *** 1 INJ *** NWS SURVEY TEAM FOUND EF-2 TORNADO DAMAGE JUST SOUTHWEST OF CYNTHIANA. THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR MT VERNON ROAD WITH WINDS ESTIMATED NEAR 100 MPH. DAMAGE CONTINUED ALONG CONNERSVILLE ROAD WHERE SEVERAL |
| 06:29 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Sw Cynthiana | Harrison, KY | *** 1 INJ *** NWS SURVEY TEAM FOUND EF-2 TORNADO DAMAGE JUST SOUTHWEST OF CYNTHIANA. THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR MT VERNON ROAD WITH WINDS ESTIMATED NEAR 100 MPH. DAMAGE CONTINUED ALONG CONNERSVILLE ROAD WHERE SEVERAL |
| 06:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Falmouth | Pendleton, KY | NUMEROUS TREES DOWN...INCLUDING ONE THAT DAMAGED A VEHICLE. |
| 06:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Versailles | Woodford, KY | NUMEROUS TREES WERE DOWNED COUNTYWIDE. |
| 06:36 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Lexington | Fayette, KY | SIGNIFICANT ROOF DAMAGE AND EQUIPMENT DAMAGE TO THE JIFF PEANUT BUTTER PLANT IN LEXINGTON |
| 06:36 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | Lexington | Fayette, KY | IN THE SOUTH PART OF LEXINGTON. |
| 06:42 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Frankfort | Franklin, KY | MANY TREES AND POWER LINES WERE DOWNED. |
| 06:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Carlisle | Nicholas, KY | NUMEROUS REPORTS OF ROOF DAMAGE...DAMAGE TO SHEDS AND VEHICLES...POWER LINES AND TREES DOWNED. MOST DAMAGE OCCURRED BETWEEN 145 AM AND 150 AM EST. |
| 06:51 UTC | TORNADO | 4 Ne Winchester | Clark, KY | NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM FOUND EF-0 TORNADO DAMAGE ABOUT 4 MILES NORTHEAST OF WINCHESTER. TOUCHDOWN OCCURRED BETWEEN GAY EVANS AND PRETTY RUN ROADS. TWO BARNS WERE DESTORYED WHILE THREE BARNS HAD EXTENSIVE DAMAGE. ONE HOME |
| 06:51 UTC | TORNADO | 4 Ne Winchester | Clark, KY | NWS SURVEY TEAM FOUND DAMAGE CONSISTENT WITH A EF-0 LEVEL. THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ABOUT FOUR MILES NORTHEAST OF WINCHESTER BETWEEN GAY EVANS ROAD AND PRETTY RUN ROAD. TWO BARNS WERE DESTROYED...3 BARNS HAD SUBSTANTIAL |
| 06:52 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 S Ewing | Fleming, KY | THERE WAS ROOF DAMAGE TO TWO HOMES NEAR TEA RUN ROAD. ALSO...A BARN SUFFERED ROOF DAMAGE NEAR MOUNT TABOR ROAD. |
| 06:52 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 N Trapp | Clark, KY | SEVERAL BARNS DAMAGED AND SIX CATTLE KILLED. |
| 06:58 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Mount Sterling | Montgomery, KY | TREES AND POWER LINES WERE REPORTED DOWN COUNTY WIDE WITH DAMAGE TO A PORCH ON WEAR CHAPEL ROAD IN MOUNT STERLING. |
| 07:00 UTC | TSTM WND GST 67 | 1 Ese Lewisburg | Mason, KY | MEASURED AT THE FLEMING-MASON AIRPORT AUTOMATED WEATHER OBSERVING SENSOR. |
| 07:01 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Camargo | Montgomery, KY | HIGHWAY 460 CLOSED NEAR CAMARGO DUE TO A BUILDING BLOCKING THE ROAD. |
| 07:01 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Nw Ford | Madison, KY | PART OF THE STRUCTURE OF A GAS STATION WAS BLOWN ON TO HIGHWAY 627 IN MADISON COUNTY...JUST SOUTHWEST OF THE FORT BOONESBORO STATE PARK. |
| 07:01 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Nw Ford | Madison, KY | TREES WERE DOWN ON SIMPSON LANE SOUTHWEST OF FORT BOONESBORO. TREES WERE ALSO BLOCKING HIGHWAY 388. |
| 07:02 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 S Owingsville | Bath, KY | NUMEROUS BARNS WERE BLOWN OVER WITH TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN COUNTY WIDE. A TRACTOR TRAILER WAS BLOWN OVER ON HIGHWAY 36 IN BETWEEN PRESTON AND HARD PIKE. ALSO...THERE WAS A ROOF OFF OF A TRAILER IN PEELED OAK. |
| 07:02 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Lexington | Fayette, KY | ROOF OFF A BUILDING NEAR NEW CIRCLE ROAD. |
| 07:05 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Wsw Flemingsburg | Fleming, KY | TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN ON RED BUD ROAD NEAR EWING AT HIGHWAYS 170 AND 559. |
| 07:05 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Lexington | Fayette, KY | TREES DOWN...BARN DAMAGED...AND FENCES DOWN NEWTOWN PIKE NEAR IRON WORKS. |
| 07:06 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Stepstone | Bath, KY | A ROOF WAS BLOWN OFF A HOME AND A CHAIN LINK FENCE WAS BLOWN DOWN. A TREE WAS ALSO BLOWN DOWN ON A HOUSE. |
| 07:06 UTC | TORNADO | Stepstone | Bath, KY | EF1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ON STEPSTONE ROAD AND CONTINUED EAST-NORTHEAST FOR 8.5 MILES. MAXIMUM WIND SPEEDS WERE AROUND 105 MPH. TWO MOBILE HOMES WERE ALMOST COMPLETELY DESTROYED. SEVERAL BARNS AND OUTBUILDINGS WERE DESTR |
| 07:09 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 10 Ssw Flemingsburg | Fleming, KY | TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN ACROSS HIGHWAY 111 AT GRANGE CITY AND HILLSBORO. |
| 07:09 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Crooks | Bath, KY | NUMEROUS TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN COUNTY WIDE...WITH THE GREATEST AMOUNT IN THE SOUTHWESTERN PORTION OF THE COUNTY. AT LEAST 20 TO 30 TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN IN THIS AREA. |
| 07:13 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Wsw Flemingsburg | Fleming, KY | TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN ON RED BUD ROAD NEAR EWING AT HIGHWAYS 170 AND 559. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2008 tornado in KentuckyEvery tornado in Kentucky since 1950Warnings in force in Kentucky nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of February 6, 2008
23 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 6 | 1:01 AM EST | EF1 | Washington, KY | 0.3 | 150 | $60,000 | ||
| February 6 | 1:06 AM EST | EF2 | Washington, KY | 1.0 | 250 | $15,000 | ||
| February 6 | 1:08 AM EST | EF1 | Franklin, KY | 2.4 | 170 | $250,000 | ||
| February 6 | 1:20 AM EST | EF1 | Mercer, KY | 0.9 | 350 | $1.0 million | ||
| February 6 | 12:32 AM CST | EF0 | Dickson, TN | 0.1 | 20 | |||
| February 6 | 12:44 AM CST | EF0 | Davidson, TN | 0.1 | 20 | |||
| February 6 | 12:46 AM CST | EF0 | Yazoo, MS | 4.8 | 75 | $180,000 | ||
| February 6 | 1:51 AM EST | EF0 | Clark, KY | 0.9 | 125 | $200,000 | ||
| February 6 | 2:06 AM EST | EF1 | Bath, KY | 8.7 | 250 | $250,000 | ||
| February 6 | 1:12 AM CST | EF0 | Sumner, TN | 3.3 | 50 | |||
| February 6 | 1:22 AM CST | EF1 | Sumner, TN | 11.8 | 100 | |||
| February 6 | 2:23 AM EST | EF0 | Menifee, KY | 4.0 | 150 | $50,000 | ||
| February 6 | 1:25 AM CST | EF1 | Leake, MS | 1.5 | 50 | |||
| February 6 | 1:40 AM CST | EF3 | Allen, KY | 9.4 | 440 | 4 | 11 | $1.3 million |
| February 6 | 1:45 AM CST | EF0 | Williamson, TN | 1.6 | 300 | |||
| February 6 | 1:55 AM CST | EF0 | Noxubee, MS | 1.7 | 50 | |||
| February 6 | 2:04 AM CST | EF1 | Lamar, AL | 7.3 | 150 | $70,000 | ||
| February 6 | 2:51 AM CST | EF2 | Fayette, AL | 26.2 | 2,000 | 4 | $335,000 | |
| February 6 | 3:02 AM CST | EF4 | Moulton–Decatur tornado, AL | 16.7 | 880 | 4 | 23 | |
| February 6 | 4:00 AM CST | EF0 | Cullman, AL | 0.3 | 20 | |||
| February 6 | 4:45 AM CST | EF1 | Marshall, AL | 0.2 | 35 | |||
| February 6 | 5:17 AM CST | EF4 | Rosalie–Flat Rock tornado, AL | 10.9 | 660 | 1 | 12 | |
| February 6 | 6:25 AM CST | EF2 | Coosa, AL | 15.9 | 2,000 | $120,000 |
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.