Tornadoes · United States · Kentucky · 2009
EF1 tornado, Relief, Kentucky, June 14, 2009
This EF1 tornado ran 1.5 miles across Morgan County on June 14, 2009, touching down at 6:45 PM EDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $35,000 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 mphthis tornado
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
- EF1
- Date
- June 14, 2009
- Touchdown
- 6:45 PM EDT (22:45 UTC)
- Lifted
- 6:55 PM EDT (22:55 UTC)
- On the ground
- 10 minutes
- Path length
- 1.5 miles (2.4 km)
- Path width
- 75 yards (69 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $35,000
- County
- Morgan County
- Touchdown point
- 37.960, -83.013
- Lift-off point
- 37.969, -82.991
- Record number
- 0906141645-01
What the Weather Service recorded
Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms knocked down trees and limbs around eastern Kentucky on June 14th. One tornado and isolated flash flooding also occurred.
An EF1 tornado with winds of 90-95 mph touched down 1.5 miles northwest of Relief. The tornado was on the ground for 1.5 miles and had a path width of 75 yards. The tornado lifted shortly after crossing into Johnson County. Dozens of trees were damaged and numerous trees were snapped off or uprooted.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Jackson, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jun 14, 2:44 PM EDT, 4 hours 1 minute earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 14, 2:44 PM EDT, 4 hours 1 minute before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 244 PM EDT SUN JUN 14 2009 .SHORT TERM.../TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/...UPDATED CONVECTION IS NOW FIRING TO THE WEST WHERE MOISTURE HAS POOLED ALONG A SURFACE TROUGH RESULTING IN A MUCH MORE UNSTABLE AIRMASS THAN IS PRESENTLY LOCATED OVER EASTERN KENTUCKY. NONETHELESS... 14/12Z NAM AND CRAS PROGS INDICATE THESE STORMS WILL PROPAGATE INTO OUR WESTERN COUNTIES LATER THIS AFTERNOON. AS STATED EARLIER... PLENTY OF INSTABILITY AVAILABLE AND INCREASING MID LEVEL WINDS ALOFT ALONG WITH SOME DRY MID LEVEL AIR ARE ALL SUPPORTIVE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTAINING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 407 REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM. THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL HAVE A BIG IMPACT ON FOG TONIGHT. CURRENTLY WE ANTICIPATE AT LEAST AREAS OF FOG TO DEVELOP... SOME DENSE... BUT IF TOO MUCH CLOUD COVER PERSISTS AFTER THE CONVECTION ENDS THEN THAT MAY BE TOO AGGRESSIVE. A WARM FRONT WILL GRADUALLY LIFT NORTHEAST ACROSS THE AREA MONDAY THROUGH THE REST OF THE PERIOD AS UPPER LEVEL RIDGING TRIES TO BUILD NORTHEASTWARD FROM TEXAS. THIS BOUNDARY WILL BE FOCUS FOR SEVERAL ROUNDS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. FORECAST MODELS CONTINUE TO VARY IN THEIR DEPICTIONS OF THIS PRECIP BUT SUFFICE IT TO SAY THAT THE PERIOD SHOULD BE RATHER UNSETTLED. WILL CARRY HIGHEST POPS (LIKELY RANGE) TUESDAY AFTERNOON BUT REALLY CANNOT RULE OUT A SHOWER OR THUNDERSTORM AT ANY TIME. PRECIPITABLE WATER WILL APPROACH 2 INCHES BY TUESDAY SO LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE. SPC ALSO CONTINUES TO OUTLOOK PARTS OF THE AREA AS HAVING A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ON TUESDAY AS A SHORTWAVE CROSSES THE NORTHERN PLAINS PROMOTING INCREASING UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE OVER THE BLUEGRASS STATE AT THAT TIME. OTHERWISE... VERY LITTLE CHANGE ANTICIPATED WITH TEMPS THROUGH THE PERIOD. HIGHS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN THE LOW TO MID 80S WHILE LOWS FALL INTO THE MID 60S FOR MOST LOCATIONS. .LONG TERM.../WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/...UPDATED UNSETTLED WEATHER IS STILL IN THE OFFING. THE GENERAL SCENARIO EARLY IN THE PERIOD INVOLVES AN UPPER RIDGE OVER THE SOUTH CENTRAL CONUS WITH WNW FLOW ALOFT LOCALLY. MEANWHILE...LOW LEVEL WARM AIR ADVECTION IS EXPECTED WITH A FRONTAL BOUNDARY IN THE VICINITY. THIS SCENARIO FAVORS PERIODIC SHOWERS AND STORMS AND POTENTIAL MCS DEVELOPMENT. HOWEVER...CONFIDENCE IN THE DETAILS IS STILL SOMEWHAT LACKING. BOTH THE GFS AND ECMWF DO CONTINUE TO SUGGEST ENHANCED POPS ON WEDNESDAY AS AN UPPER LEVEL IMPULSE MOVES THROUGH ALONG WITH A SURFACE SYSTEM TO OUR NW ENHANCING WARM AIR ADVECTION. MEXMOS POPS ARE 70 PERCENT IN THE 00Z RUN. NOT PREPARED TO MAKE THAT JUMP YET...BUT WILL UP IT A NOTCH TO 60 PERCENT. AFTER THIS...WILL USE 30-40 PERCENT POPS THROUGH FRIDAY...EXPECTING FURTHER REFINEMENTS LATER. BY FRIDAY...THE GFS AND ECMWF BOTH HAVE DEVELOPMENT OF A MORE SIGNIFICANT MIDWEST WEATHER SYSTEM AS UPPER LEVEL ENERGY IS ABLE TO FLATTEN THE RIDGE AND SUPPRESS IT WESTWARD AS IT SLIDES DOWN ITS EASTERN SIDE. CONFIDENCE IN THE DETAILS IS VERY LACKING...BUT IT LOOKS LIKE THIS WOULD INITIALLY TAKE THE SURFACE FRONTAL BOUNDARY WELL TO OUR NORTH AS A WARM FRONT ON FRIDAY...FOLLOWED BY COLD FROPA SATURDAY. HAVE USED A SLIGHTLY HIGHER POP ON SATURDAY AT 50 PERCENT. AFTER THIS...HAVE INCLUDED LOW CHANCE POPS FOR SHOWERS UNDER THE UPPER TROUGH DURING THE WEEKEND. THE WARMEST DAY IS EXPECTED ON FRIDAY AS WE END UP FURTHER INTO THE WARM SECTOR...FOLLOWED BY COOLING OVER THE WEEKEND. && .AVIATION.../18Z TO 18Z/ ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. EXPECTED COVERAGE IS TOO LOW FOR ANYTHING MORE THAN A VCTS MENTION AT TAF SITES HOWEVER. ONCE THIS THREAT WANES TOWARDS MIDNIGHT... WE WILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH FOG DEVELOPING AGAIN. TAFS WILL MIRROR WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT FOR THE MOST PART WITH LOZ AND SME GOING TO VLIFR FOR A COUPLE HOURS WITH JKL LOWERING ONLY INTO THE IFR RANGE DUE MAINLY TO HAZE. THIS MAY NEED TO BE ALTERED THOUGH IN LATER FORECASTS DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY DEVELOPS AND HOW LONG RESULTANT CLOUD COVER FROM CONVECTION HANGS ON AFTER DARK. A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL THEN BE POSSIBLE AT THE END OF THE TAF PERIOD BUT ONCE AGAIN EXPECT BEST COVERAGE TO BE TOMORROW AFTERNOON... JUST BEYOND 18Z. && .JKL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS EVENING FOR KYZ044- 050>052-058>060-068-069-079-080-083-104-106-108-109-111-112-114. && SHORT TERM...ABE LONG TERM...HAL AVIATION...ABE
Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 14, 1:18 PM EDT, 5 hours 27 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 118 PM EDT SUN JUN 14 2009 KYZ044-050>052-058>060-068-069-079-080-083>088-104-106>120-151115- FLEMING-MONTGOMERY-BATH-ROWAN-ESTILL-POWELL-MENIFEE-ROCKCASTLE- JACKSON-PULASKI-LAUREL-WAYNE-MCCREARY-WHITLEY-KNOX-BELL-HARLAN- ELLIOTT-MORGAN-JOHNSON-WOLFE-MAGOFFIN-FLOYD-LEE-BREATHITT-KNOTT- OWSLEY-PERRY-CLAY-LESLIE-LETCHER-MARTIN-PIKE- 118 PM EDT SUN JUN 14 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. AREAS OF FOG ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP LATE TONIGHT. THE FOG WILL LIKELY BECOME LOCALLY DENSE... RESTRICTING THE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AT TIMES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE FOR MOST LOCATIONS...MAINLY IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS FROM MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. AN ALREADY WET GROUND FROM RECENT RAINFALL...COMBINED WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERAL ROUNDS OF RAIN THIS WEEK COULD PRODUCE SOME LOCALIZED FLOODING PROBLEMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY INSTANCES OF WIND DAMAGE OR HAIL THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON. ABE
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jun 14, 5:33 PM EDT, 1 hour 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 533 PM EDT SUN JUN 14 2009 KYZ050>052-059-060-106-108-142200- ROWAN-BATH-MONTGOMERY-MENIFEE-POWELL-MORGAN-WOLFE- 533 PM EDT SUN JUN 14 2009 ...A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS TO AFFECT EXTREME SOUTH CENTRAL ROWAN AND EXTREME SOUTH CENTRAL BATH AND SOUTHEASTERN MONTGOMERY AND WEST CENTRAL MORGAN AND MENIFEE AND NORTHEASTERN POWELL AND NORTH CENTRAL WOLFE COUNTIES THROUGH 600 PM EDT SUNDAY EVENING... AT 533 PM EDT...A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED NEAR MEANS...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR TABOR AROUND 540 PM EDT...FRENCHBURG AROUND 545 PM EDT...MARIBA AROUND 550 PM EDT...DENNISTON AROUND 555 PM EDT...STOLL AROUND 600 PM EDT... RESIDENTS SHOULD EXPECT VERY HEAVY RAIN...WITH RAINFALL RATES OF UP TO 1 INCH PER HOUR...GUSTY WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND SMALL HAIL IN THESE AREAS. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EDT SUNDAY EVENING FOR SOUTHEASTERN KENTUCKY. JACOBSON
Special weather statement, Jun 14, 5:35 PM EDT, 1 hour 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 535 PM EDT SUN JUN 14 2009 KYZ052-104-106-142200- ROWAN-ELLIOTT-MORGAN- 535 PM EDT SUN JUN 14 2009 ...A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS TO AFFECT EASTERN ROWAN AND ELLIOTT AND NORTH CENTRAL MORGAN COUNTIES THROUGH 600 PM EDT SUNDAY EVENING... AT 535 PM EDT...A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED NEAR CHRISTY...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH. THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR VALE AROUND 540 PM EDT...ELLIOTTVILLE AROUND 545 PM EDT...WAGNER STORE AROUND 550 PM EDT...FARLEY AROUND 555 PM EDT...LYTTEN AROUND 600 PM EDT... RESIDENTS SHOULD EXPECT VERY HEAVY RAIN...WITH RAINFALL RATES OF UP TO 1 INCH PER HOUR...GUSTY WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND SMALL HAIL IN THESE AREAS. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EDT SUNDAY EVENING FOR SOUTHEASTERN KENTUCKY. JACOBSON
Special weather statement, Jun 14, 5:37 PM EDT, 1 hour 8 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 537 PM EDT SUN JUN 14 2009 KYZ044-142200- FLEMING COUNTY 537 PM EDT SUN JUN 14 2009 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM TO AFFECT NORTHEASTERN FLEMING COUNTY THROUGH 600 PM EDT SUNDAY EVENING... AT 537 PM EDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED NEAR DALESBURG... MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR MOUNT CARMEL AROUND 545 PM EDT... PLEASUREVILLE AROUND 550 PM EDT...FOXPORT AROUND 555 PM EDT... RESIDENTS SHOULD EXPECT VERY HEAVY RAIN...WITH RAINFALL RATES OF UP TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR...GUSTY WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND SMALL HAIL IN THESE AREAS. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EDT SUNDAY EVENING FOR SOUTHEASTERN KENTUCKY. GEOGERIAN
Special weather statement, Jun 14, 5:58 PM EDT, 47 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 558 PM EDT SUN JUN 14 2009 KYZ050-059-060-106-108-111-142230- MONTGOMERY-MENIFEE-POWELL-MORGAN-WOLFE-LEE- 558 PM EDT SUN JUN 14 2009 ...A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS TO AFFECT EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN MONTGOMERY AND SOUTHWESTERN MORGAN AND MENIFEE AND EASTERN POWELL AND WOLFE AND EXTREME EAST CENTRAL LEE COUNTIES THROUGH 630 PM EDT SUNDAY EVENING... AT 558 PM EDT...A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED NEAR HAYSTACK...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH. THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR HAYSTACK AROUND 605 PM EDT...SLADE AROUND 610 PM EDT...RED RIVER GORGE AROUND 615 PM EDT...KOOMER RIDGE CAMPGROUND AROUND 620 PM EDT...PINE RIDGE AROUND 625 PM EDT... RESIDENTS SHOULD EXPECT VERY HEAVY RAIN...WITH RAINFALL RATES OF UP TO 1 INCH PER HOUR...GUSTY WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND SMALL HAIL IN THESE AREAS. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EDT SUNDAY EVENING FOR SOUTHEASTERN KENTUCKY. JACOBSON
Special weather statement, Jun 14, 5:59 PM EDT, 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 559 PM EDT SUN JUN 14 2009 KYZ052-104-106-142245- ROWAN-ELLIOTT-MORGAN- 559 PM EDT SUN JUN 14 2009 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM TO AFFECT EAST CENTRAL ROWAN AND ELLIOTT AND NORTHEASTERN MORGAN COUNTIES THROUGH 645 PM EDT SUNDAY EVENING... AT 558 PM EDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED NEAR WAGNER STORE...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH. THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR LYTTEN AROUND 605 PM EDT...STARK AROUND 610 PM EDT...NEWFOUNDLAND AROUND 620 PM EDT...SANDY HOOK AROUND 625 PM EDT...ISONVILLE AROUND 635 PM EDT... RESIDENTS SHOULD EXPECT VERY HEAVY RAIN...WITH RAINFALL RATES OF UP TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR...GUSTY WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND SMALL HAIL IN THESE AREAS. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EDT SUNDAY EVENING FOR SOUTHEASTERN KENTUCKY. GEOGERIAN
Special weather statement, Jun 14, 6:29 PM EDT, 16 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>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), 12:00Z
10.8 hours before the tornado, 177 km from the path. June 14, 2009.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 23 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -145 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 14 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1165 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 7 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 52 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 105 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.4 K/km
The surface observations
Jackson/J. Carroll (JKL), 50 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 UTC |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 50 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:43 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.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2009 tornado in KentuckyEvery tornado in Kentucky since 1950Warnings in force in Kentucky nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of June 14, 2009
7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 14 | 10:25 AM CDT | EF1 | Lawrence, AL | 0.8 | 150 | |||
| June 14 | 1:27 PM MDT | EF0 | Platte, WY | 5.9 | 40 | |||
| June 14 | 2:53 PM MDT | EF0 | Hot Springs, WY | 0.7 | 30 | |||
| June 14 | 5:23 PM CDT | EF0 | Haskell, KS | 3.3 | 125 | |||
| June 14 | 5:47 PM CDT | EF1 | Haskell, KS | 3.7 | 150 | $250,000 | ||
| June 14 | 5:50 PM CDT | EF1 | Haskell, KS | 0.6 | 75 | $2,000 | ||
| June 14 | 8:03 PM CDT | EF1 | Comanche, KS | 3.7 | 100 |
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.