Tornadoes · United States · Kentucky

2017 tornadoes in Kentucky

25 tornadoes touched down in Kentucky in 2017, 53 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2016 2018 The whole country in 2017

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 mph

    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.

Every tornado in Kentucky in 2017

February 7 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 77:40 PM CSTEF0Trigg1.850$25,000

February 28 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 2810:35 PM CSTEF0Calloway8.830$70,000
February 2811:28 PM CSTEF1Trigg8.6400$300,000

March 1 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 112:35 AM CSTEF1Butler0.890$50,000
March 15:25 AM CSTEF2Graves1.6200$170,000
March 16:36 AM ESTEF1Henry1.1200$100,000
March 16:57 AM CSTEF1Logan1.675$100,000
March 17:24 AM CSTEF1Warren2.6125$250,000

March 9 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 98:41 PM CSTEF2Fulton to TN10.2250$1.3 million
March 99:13 PM CSTEF1Calloway5.6150$75,000

March 27 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 272:27 PM CDTEF0Trigg4.4125$75,000
March 275:05 PM CDTEF1Metcalfe0.3100$300,000

April 5 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 55:54 PM EDTEF1Henry1.7100$100,000
April 55:11 PM CDTEF1Metcalfe0.750$150,000
April 55:12 PM CDTEF1Metcalfe0.450$75,000
April 55:16 PM CDTEF1Green0.8250$100,000

April 26 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 267:12 PM CDTEF1Hickman12.3150$500,000

April 28 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 2811:53 PM EDTEF1Oldham1.3250$200,000

June 23 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 235:37 PM EDTEF1Larue5.175$100,000
June 236:05 PM EDTEF1Marion2.1100$150,000

November 18 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 183:02 PM CSTEF1Muhlenberg2.8300$100,000
November 183:20 PM CSTEF1Ohio2.0601$250,000
November 184:32 PM ESTEF1Meade1.8501$200,000
November 183:36 PM CSTEF0Todd0.7150$125,000
November 186:00 PM ESTEF1Taylor1.550$75,000

Crossed into Kentucky

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

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 98:26 PM CSTEF2Fulton, MO to KY9.7250$270,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Kentucky since 1950Warnings in force in KentuckyThe 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.