Tornadoes · United States · Kentucky · 2009

EF0 tornado, Owensboro, Kentucky, March 28, 2009

This EF0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Daviess County on March 28, 2009, touching down at 5:38 PM CDT and reaching 30 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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 mphthis tornado

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    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
EF0
Date
March 28, 2009
Touchdown
5:38 PM CDT (22:38 UTC)
Lifted
5:39 PM CDT (22:39 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width
30 yards (27 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Daviess County
Touchdown point
37.698, -87.029
Lift-off point
37.696, -87.027
Record number
0903281638-02

What the Weather Service recorded

A strong low pressure center moved northeast from Oklahoma into south central Missouri by late afternoon, with a warm front extending east from the low across western Kentucky. The warm front served as a focusing mechanism for some of the ingredients needed for tornadogenesis.

A small rope tornado was observed by trained spotters. The tornado was seen occasionally lifting off the ground. No damage was located, possibly because it was located over fields. Maximum winds were likely around 65 mph.

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

The warnings

2 minutes of warning. NWS PAH issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:36 UTC, 2 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:05 UTC and running to 00:40 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:05 UTC00:40 UTCTornado WatchPAH
22:36 UTC23:15 UTCTornado WarningPAH
22:39 UTC23:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAH
23:06 UTC23:34 UTCTornado WarningPAH

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, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. 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 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

10.6 hours before the tornado, 178 km from the path. March 28, 2009.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2009-03-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 5 joules per kilogram, CIN -34, lifted condensation level 574 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 2009-03-28The 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 113 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 32 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
5 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-34 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
574 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
113 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
75 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

1.4 hours after it, 178 km from the path. March 29, 2009.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 2009-03-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 471 joules per kilogram, CIN -29, lifted condensation level 1203 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 00:00Z on 2009-03-29The 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 315 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 80 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
471 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-29 J/kg
Surface CAPE
537 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1203 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
80 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
315 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
366 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.8
Supercell composite
4.1
0-3 km lapse rate
7.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Evansville,IN radar (KVWX), 87 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:38 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)ReportWhereCountyRemark
22:06 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDMadisonvilleHopkins, KYREPORT OF TWO FUNNEL CLOUDS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE COMMUNITY.
22:11 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDMadisonvilleHopkins, KYREPORTED ROTATING FUNNEL CLOUD ALONG HIGHWAY 121. PEA SIZE HAIL REPORTED WITH THIS STORM.
22:15 UTCHAIL 0.88MadisonvilleHopkins, KYNICKLE SIZE HAIL REPORTED NEAR EXIT 44 ALONG CARROL GENTRY ROAD. HAIL LASTED FROM 510 TO 515 PM.
22:36 UTCHAIL 0.885 Wsw CalhounMclean, KY
22:38 UTCTORNADO7 Sw OwensboroDaviess, KYSMALL ROPE TORNADO OCCASIONALLY LIFTING OFF THE GROUND MIDWAY BETWEEN CALHOUN AND OWENSBORO.
22:42 UTCHAIL 1CalhounMclean, KYQUARTER SIZE HAIL. WIND GUST 55 MPH REPORTED WITH THIS STORM.
22:46 UTCHAIL 0.88CalhounMclean, KY
22:55 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDWest LouisvilleDaviess, KYREPORT OF 2 ROPE LIKE FUNNEL CLOUDS NEARING THE GROUND. WINDS ESTIMATED WITH THIS STORM IS 50 TO 60 MPH.
23:05 UTCHAIL 11 N OwensboroDaviess, KYQUATER SIZE HAIL REPORTED NEAR ARNOLD HIGH SCHOOL.
23:15 UTCHAIL 1.75Se OwensboroDaviess, KYSTREET AND DITCHES FLOODED ALONG WITH HAIL UP TO GOLF BALL SIZE IN THE BURLEW BLVD VCTY.
23:18 UTCHAIL 0.75CentertownOhio, KY
00:15 UTCHAIL 0.52 E HardinsburgBreckinridge, KY

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

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 March 28, 2009

13 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 282:58 AM CDTEF1Smith, MS0.8200$500,000
March 2810:50 AM EDTEF0Dooly, GA0.350$100,000
March 284:23 PM CDTEF1Union, KY2.175$60,000
March 285:31 PM EDTEF1Clarendon, SC4.0330
March 284:40 PM CDTEF3Union, KY12.34002$540,000
March 285:38 PM CDTEF1Cheatham, TN5.0100$100,000
March 287:00 PM CDTEF1Rutherford, TN1.050$4.4 million
March 287:01 PM CDTEF1Franklin, TN1.560$30,000
March 289:08 PM EDTEF2Bladen, NC1.640$200,000
March 288:11 PM CDTEF0Jackson, AL1.640$15,000
March 288:16 PM CDTEF1DeKalb, AL2.550$20,000
March 289:36 PM EDTEF0Bladen, NC0.110$1,000
March 288:53 PM CDTEF0Sequatchie, TN1.030$30,000

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.