EF1 tornado, Ogden to Ragland, Kentucky, July 6, 2016

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

July 6, 2016

Touchdown

1:26 PM CDT (18:26 UTC)

Lifted

1:35 PM CDT (18:35 UTC)

On the ground

9 minutes

Path length

4.4 miles (7.1 km)

Path width

250 yards (229 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$115,000

Counties

Ballard and McCracken counties

Touchdown point

37.174, -88.944

Lift-off point

37.162, -88.865

Record number

1607061226-01

27 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS PAH, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 107 mph.

• corn laid over across from Motel. 50 yards wide, 20 ft deep.
• blew part of roof to the north
• Several large trees snapped.
• Tree and minor structural damage to roofs

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

A line of thunderstorms produced sporadic wind damage in southeast Missouri. The line intensified as it approached the Mississippi River and began to bow out. Widespread damaging winds raked areas west of Kentucky Lake in the afternoon. The wind damage became more sporadic east of Kentucky Lake. The storms occurred ahead of a small-scale 500 mb shortwave over western Missouri. A moderately strong southwest wind flow of moist and very unstable air fueled the storms. Mixed-layer capes around 3000 j/kg fed into the southern end of the line of storms. Precipitable water values were near 2 inches.

The tornado touched down on Highway 473 just north of Bandana, where there was significant damage to a home, barn, and grain bin. Debris from the home was thrown at least a half mile. The rest of the damage consisted mainly of snapped and uprooted trees, including some large mature trees. A few homes sustained minor roof and siding damage along the path. Peak winds were estimated near 105 mph. The tornado crossed into McCracken County where Highway 358 crosses the county line.

The tornado entered McCracken County from Ballard County along Highway 358. Damage in McCracken County consisted mostly of snapped and uprooted trees, including some large mature trees. At least ten trees were blown down in the McCracken County portion of the path. A few homes sustained minor roof and siding damage along the path. A barn roof was blown off. Peak winds were estimated near 105 mph.

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.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 15:48 UTC and running to 19:52 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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 17:18 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.

Metropolis IL (M30), 14 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 16 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:27 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 2016 tornado in KentuckyEvery tornado in Kentucky since 1950Warnings in force in Kentucky nowThe forecast where you are

10 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.