Tornadoes · United States · Kentucky

2013 tornadoes in Kentucky

35 tornadoes touched down in Kentucky in 2013, 115 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 3 people and injured 42.

2012 2014 The whole country in 2013

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 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.

Every tornado in Kentucky in 2013

January 12 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 12	3:18 PM CST	EF2	Livingston	1.8	200			$100,000

January 29 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 29	11:36 PM CST	EF0	Calloway	2.1	100			$25,000

January 30 9 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
January 30	1:36 AM CST	EF2	Christian	2.1	200		$150,000
January 30	1:39 AM CST	EF1	Christian	7.9	225		$250,000
January 30	2:00 AM CST	EF2	Muhlenberg	5.1	325		$250,000
January 30	4:05 AM EST	EF0	Meade	1.0	200		$50,000
January 30	3:38 AM CST	EF2	Warren	3.0	250		$400,000
January 30	3:42 AM CST	EF1	Edmonson	2.8	100		$80,000
January 30	3:49 AM CST	EF1	Barren	0.3	50
January 30	5:44 AM EST	EF0	Marion	0.1	50	2	$25,000
January 30	6:30 AM EST	EF0	Pulaski	0.5	150		$5,000

March 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 24	5:40 PM EDT	EF1	Pulaski	0.4	80			$100,000

April 18 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 18	8:24 PM CDT	EF0	Graves	0.3	100	$10,000
April 18	8:31 PM CDT	EF0	Graves	3.2	100	$3,000
April 18	8:54 PM CDT	EF0	Marshall	3.6	150	$43,000

June 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 9	5:54 PM EDT	EF0	Johnson	0.5	50			$10,000

June 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 10	1:40 PM CDT	EF2	Logan	13.9	325		4	$502,000

June 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 26	11:25 PM EDT	EF2	Larue	6.7	300			$500,000

July 6 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 6	7:50 PM CDT	EF0	Trigg	0.9	50			$5,000

October 31 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
October 31	8:25 PM CDT	EF1	Carlisle	8.3	200	$203,000
October 31	8:30 PM CDT	EF0	Ballard	0.2	70	$15,000
October 31	8:39 PM CDT	EF1	McCracken	2.1	225	$100,000
October 31	8:48 PM CDT	EF0	McCracken	1.0	40	$15,000
October 31	8:50 PM CDT	EF1	McCracken	0.5	40	$35,000
October 31	9:03 PM CDT	EF0	Marshall	0.5	50	$35,000

November 17 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 17	2:05 PM CST	EF3	McCracken to IL	42.5	500	3	34	$6.8 million
November 17	2:41 PM CST	EF3	Union	14.1	200			$750,000
November 17	3:18 PM CST	EF1	Caldwell	3.2	200			$200,000
November 17	3:32 PM CST	EF3	Hopkins	8.2	200		1	$700,000
November 17	3:50 PM CST	EF1	Muhlenberg	0.8	80			$100,000
November 17	4:10 PM CST	EF1	Butler	5.5	200		1	$250,000

December 21 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
December 21	5:31 PM CST	EF0	Calloway	0.3	50	$2,000
December 21	11:07 PM EST	EF1	Taylor	5.5	300	$200,000
December 21	11:29 PM EST	EF1	Harrison	3.5	110	$100,000
December 21	11:41 PM EST	EF1	Bourbon	5.7	125	$150,000

Crossed into Kentucky

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Kentucky. They are counted under the state they began in.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 30	3:17 AM CST	EF0	Harrison, IN to KY	2.7	215			$115,000
October 31	8:05 PM CDT	EF1	Mississippi, MO to KY	7.6	200			$105,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Kentucky since 1950 Warnings in force in Kentucky The live radar over Kentucky

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.