EF1 tornado, Kuttawa to Fredonia, Kentucky, April 25, 2011

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.

Rating

EF1

Date

April 25, 2011

Touchdown

12:40 AM CDT (05:40 UTC)

Lifted

12:59 AM CDT (05:59 UTC)

On the ground

19 minutes

Path length

15.4 miles (24.8 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$200,000

Counties

Lyon and Caldwell counties

Touchdown point

37.076, -88.102

Lift-off point

37.274, -87.978

Record number

1104252340-01

A pronounced mid-level shortwave trough and associated 70 to 80 knot mid-level jet progressed northeastward from the southern Plains across Arkansas and Missouri. An associated surface low developed northeastward from southwest Missouri toward northwest Illinois. A gradual increase in the warm sector southerly low level jet occurred as the surface low deepened. Increasing vertical wind shear in the moist and unstable warm sector resulted in organized severe storms. The storms were organized into bowing lines with embedded supercell structures.

The tornado uprooted trees and snapped branches. The tornado struck a marina on Lake Barkley. There was substantial damage to boat docks and to the roofing of one home. One boat capsized. Peak winds were estimated near 90 mph. The path width was only 30 yards on average.

The intermittent damage path began along Highway 373, producing mainly tree damage. Further northeast, barns and trees were damaged, along with shingles off roofs. Peak winds were estimated near 95 mph. The average path width was 75 yards. The tornado continued northeast into Caldwell County.

The tornado continued from Lyon County into Caldwell County. Near U.S. Highway 641, several trees were uprooted and snapped. A carport was destroyed, but damage to homes was mainly to shingles. To the east of Fredonia, a barn was destroyed with debris blown several hundred yards. Nearby barns sustained major roof damage, and several power poles were snapped. To the northeast of this area, mainly tree and shingle damage occurred. The tornado was on the ground intermittently throughout the path. Peak winds were estimated near 95 mph. The average path width was 75 yards.

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

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.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 05:04 UTC and running to 06:15 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:32 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 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.

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 66 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:42 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.

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

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2011 tornado in KentuckyEvery tornado in Kentucky since 1950Warnings in force in Kentucky nowThe forecast where you are

45 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.