EF1 tornado, Turners Station, Kentucky, March 1, 2017

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

March 1, 2017

Touchdown

6:36 AM EST (11:36 UTC)

Lifted

6:38 AM EST (11:38 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

1.1 miles (1.7 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$100,000

County

Henry County

Touchdown point

38.553, -85.211

Lift-off point

38.553, -85.191

Record number

1703010536-01

26 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS ILN and NWS LMK, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 100 mph.

• trough tipped over to SE concrete base
• very convergent signatures in this area
• Numerous trees snapped on both sides of interstate

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

The combination of a moist and unseasonably warm air mass and an approaching low pressure system and cold front brought multiple rounds of severe weather to central Kentucky during the early morning hours on March 1. In the end, there were 4 tornadoes across central Kentucky. In addition to the tornadoes, there were several areas of intense straight-line winds estimated up to 100 mph in places. The impacts included numerous areas of structural damage and downed trees. The widespread rain also brought several rivers into minor flood.

A NWS damage survey team in conjunction with Justin Hilliard-Remote Aerial LLC concluded that an EF-1 tornado touched down 2 miles north of Campbellsburg, KY, traveled 1 mile (crossing I-71 and overturning a truck), and then lifted 2.2 miles NE of Campbellsburg. The most significant damage occurred on Jones Ln where 100 mph winds completely destroyed a couple of large barns, along with other small outbuildings. In addition, a large grain bin was demolished, and an anchored mobile home was pushed off its foundation on the north side of the damage path. A large debris field was scattered 200-300 yards downwind. East of I-71, the tornado damaged more outbuildings, and snapped trees. After destroying another older barn, the tornado ended just east of Highway 55 where numerous softwood trees were snapped and uprooted. Very strong convergence was noted in the damage. Also of note, were several instances of straight line wind damage feeding into the main circulation from the south. These wind speeds were estimated at 70-80 mph. We would like to thank Justin Hilliard-Remote Aerial LLC for aerial drone photos.

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 tornado watch, issued at 11:08 UTC and running to 12:59 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 05:42 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.

Madison (IMS), 32 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Louisville radar (KLVX), 91 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 11:36 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 2017 tornado in KentuckyEvery tornado in Kentucky since 1950Warnings in force in Kentucky nowThe forecast where you are

38 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.