EF1 tornado, Greenwood to Penhurst, Kentucky, December 23, 2015

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

December 23, 2015

Touchdown

8:11 PM EST (01:11 UTC)

Lifted

8:16 PM EST (01:16 UTC)

On the ground

5 minutes

Path length

3.8 miles (6.0 km)

Path width

420 yards (384 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

3

Property damage

$120,000

County

Pendleton County

Touchdown point

38.717, -84.371

Lift-off point

38.752, -84.279

Record number

1512231911-01

A squall line developed ahead of an ejecting upper system over the lower Ohio Valley and raced northeast into the region. A second squall line developed and trailed the first one by an hour or so.

Damage was first observed just north of the intersection of U.S. Route 27 and Bethel Loop. This location is south of Butler and northwest of Falmouth in Pendleton County. A mobile home originally anchored into the ground at 8-10 points was tilted and briefly lifted before rolling onto its top on the east side of Bethel Loop. The three residents sustained minor injuries requiring overnight hospitalization. Debris from the mobile home was carried downwind for approximately one-tenth of a mile. The debris field remained confined to a narrow path as it tapered to the east-northeast. This seemed indicative of convergent motion associated with the circulation. There were also several 6-8 inch trees snapped immediately west of the mobile home. This is likely where the first touchdown occurred. The tornado then lifted. The next damage location was a metal barn on Ashcraft Road. The entire roof was lifted and removed from the barn. The roof measured approximately 60 feet by 30 feet and the barn was relatively new (construction within the last 10 years). The roof was carried into adjacent trees immediately northeast of the structure. There was minor damage to a smaller barn just northwest of the path center line. The homeowner also described a dock approximately 15 square feet that was pulled from its anchor and moved north-northeast across a pond toward the center line of the path. All of this damage indicated a convergent and lifting motion associated with the tornado. The tornado then lifted again, as damage was next observed along Route 609 just south of the intersection with Davis Road. One barn west of Route 609 was destroyed and a tree approximately 20 inches in diameter immediately east of the road was snapped at the trunk and fell against a residence. Debris was carried between one and two tenths of a mile to the northeast. Another barn just to the north was partially destroyed. Tornadic damage was not as conclusive at this location, but debris was confined to a narrow path likely due to convergent wind motion. A number of trees were snapped to the northeast along Davis Road. Trees ranged in diameter from 8 to 16 inches. The clearest evidence of circulation on the ground was located along Route 159 where several types of damage occurred at a residence south of the intersection with Davis Road. The roof was partially removed from the residence and some of the insulation was dispersed to the west and spattered against the west side of the house. Insulation was also spattered on trees immediately to the northwest. Heavy sections of metal fencing from a horse corral were lifted and carried approximately 50 yards to the west. Both of these debris fields were carried and deposited opposite the storm motion. A number of trees just north and south of the residence were also snapped. The tornado lifted again before touching down one last time. The final damage was found along Hickory Grove Road, south of the intersection with Route 10. This is the estimated end of the tornado path. A camper was lifted to the north-northeast approximately 10-15 feet over trees before being dropped and destroyed. There was also minor structural damage at two nearby mobile homes. This damage consisted of garage doors blown inward and some roof damage.

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

9 minutes of warning. NWS ILN issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:02 UTC, 9 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:17 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 21:17 UTC and running to 01:38 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:07 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.

Batavia (I69), 40 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 88 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:09 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 2015 tornado in KentuckyEvery tornado in Kentucky since 1950Warnings in force in Kentucky nowThe forecast where you are

30 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.