EF2 tornado, Alvaton to Allen Spgs, Kentucky, March 3, 2020

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 mphthis tornado

   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

EF2

Date

March 3, 2020

Touchdown

12:15 AM CST (06:15 UTC)

Lifted

12:18 AM CST (06:18 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

2.7 miles (4.3 km)

Path width

250 yards (229 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$200,000

Counties

Allen and Warren counties

Touchdown point

36.849, -86.318

Lift-off point

36.854, -86.277

Record number

2003030015-01

40 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LMK, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 116 mph.

• Back deck porch lifted up blowing out window and partially lifting roof structure
• Back deck non concreted uplifted through and deck flew into pick up truck and downwind approximately 75 yards into big home
• Impaled 2 by 4 by upper bedroom and another one straight down in the center of the roof structure from previous house deck uplift which was thrown 75 yards
• Garage doors blown in 2 by 4 thrown into roof structure

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

During the day of March 2nd, southerly warm moist air moved through Kentucky from Tennessee just ahead of an upper trough and cold front. As a result, a series of strong storms moved across south central Kentucky late on the evening of March 2nd and into the morning of March 3rd. Along with large hail, high winds, and some flash flooding, one particular storm produced a brief but strong tornado in southeast Warren County that crossed over into Allen County.

Most of the damage was around the southeastern portion of the Alvaton community, east of Bowling Green. Several trees were either uprooted or pushed over, facing from the west-southwest to the east-northeast just west of Highway 231 on Fairview Road. The wind swath was about 200 yards wide. Just east of Highway 231 a large 40 x 60 storage barn for a camper had its roof partially lifted downwind to the east northeast. The metal siding was flung up to 150 yards into the trees. The tree damage continued along Alvaton- Scottsville Road into Marble Gate Ct. Several homes sustained roof damage, with several porches partially lifted up causing structural damage. One home on Marble Gate Court had four 20-pound steel chairs flung about 50 yards and the 35-pound table thrown 25 yards. Portions of the porch covering were blown 125 yards into the yard of their next-door neighbors yard, 2 of which punctured the house like a flying 2 by 4 missile. There were also portions of the deck impaled in the ground. The damage swatch then increased to about 225 yards and winds increased to 80 to 85 mph. There were at least three trees laying on homes.||Just east off Claypool Boyce Road... there was a distinct change in the tree pattern. Instead of just going to the northeast trees were now going to the northwest, north and northeast. A large 2 x 8 went flying and got wedged between the windshield wiper and the windshield but incredibly did not crack the windshield. This is where a small tornado formed within the straight-line wind path, with winds between 80 and 85 mph. Residents reported half inch hail, followed by a surge in lightning, then quiet, then a 20 second loud roar with popping in their ears followed by complete silence again. Further east in the 500 block of Kara Court, there was significant tree damage with the back of the house being uplifted and insulation being thrown upwind and downwind around the back of the house. Trees were laying in all directions with lots of twisting and many snapped trees. At the 200 block of Cross Creek Court, the clearest evidence of trees are facing all eight inter-cardinal headings. In this area, trees were snapped and uprooted all over the place. ||The survey team estimated well over 500 trees in a 1 mile stretch had been uprooted snapped or pushed over. Two of the snapped trees landed on pick up trucks. Winds increased to EF1 range of 95 mph and a width of 225 yards. At the 2400 block of WG Talley Road was the most significant damage of the entire survey. Three barns were destroyed, 2 of them were concreted in strong firm footers. One of the barns was 30 x 80, one was 150 x 100, and one was 12 x 16 along with numerous sheds destroyed, and debris was thrown in all directions downwind up to 500 yards. A 5000 pound horse trailer was thrown to the northwest 70 yards. ||A very well-built family residence took a direct hit from an EF2 tornado, with the front side of the home having the plywood exposed and with most of the shingles gone but the rest of the house fully intact due to the house having all the proper clips, braces, and rebar. Wind speeds at this point were 116 mph with a width of 250 yards. EF-1 Tree damage continued into Allen County along Allen Springs Road. The tornado lifted just north of Bailey School Road in far NW Allen County.

Most of the damage was around the southeastern portion of the Alvaton community, east of Bowling Green. Several trees were either uprooted or pushed over, facing from the west-southwest to the east-northeast just west of Highway 231 on Fairview Road. The wind swath was about 200 yards wide. Just east of Highway 231 a large 40 x 60 storage barn for a camper had its roof partially lifted downwind to the east northeast. The metal siding was flung up to 150 yards into the trees. The tree damage continued along Alvaton- Scottsville Road into Marble Gate Ct. Several homes sustained roof damage, with several porches partially lifted up causing structural damage. One home on Marble Gate Court had four 20-pound steel chairs flung about 50 yards and the 35-pound table thrown 25 yards. Portions of the porch covering were blown 125 yards into the yard of their next-door neighbors yard, 2 of which punctured the house like a flying 2 by 4 missile. There were also portions of the deck impaled in the ground. The damage swatch then increased to about 225 yards and winds increased to 80 to 85 mph. There were at least three trees laying on homes.||Just east off Claypool Boyce Road... there was a distinct change in the tree pattern. Instead of just going to the northeast trees were now going to the northwest, north and northeast. A large 2 x 8 went flying and got wedged between the windshield wiper and the windshield but incredibly did not crack the windshield. This is where a small tornado formed within the straight-line wind path, with winds between 80 and 85 mph. Residents reported half inch hail, followed by a surge in lightning, then quiet, then a 20 second loud roar with popping in their ears followed by complete silence again. Further east in the 500 block of Kara Court, there was significant tree damage with the back of the house being uplifted and insulation being thrown upwind and downwind around the back of the house. Trees were laying in all directions with lots of twisting and many snapped trees. At the 200 block of Cross Creek Court, the clearest evidence of trees are facing all eight inter-cardinal headings. In this area, trees were snapped and uprooted all over the place. ||The survey team estimated well over 500 trees in a 1 mile stretch had been uprooted snapped or pushed over. Two of the snapped trees landed on pick up trucks. Winds increased to EF1 range of 95 mph and a width of 225 yards. At the 2400 block of WG Talley Road was the most significant damage of the entire survey. Three barns were destroyed, 2 of them were concreted in strong firm footers. One of the barns was 30 x 80, one was 150 x 100, and one was 12 x 16 along with numerous sheds destroyed, and debris was thrown in all directions downwind up to 500 yards. A 5000 pound horse trailer was thrown to the northwest 70 yards. ||A very well-built family residence took a direct hit from an EF2 tornado, with the front side of the home having the plywood exposed and with most of the shingles gone but the rest of the house fully intact due to the house having all the proper clips, braces, and rebar. Wind speeds at this point were 116 mph with a width of 250 yards. EF-1 Tree damage continued into Allen County along Allen Springs Road. The tornado lifted just north of Bailey School Road in far NW Allen County.

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.

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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:56 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.

The Nashville radar (KOHX), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:17 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 2020 tornado in KentuckyEvery tornado in Kentucky since 1950Warnings in force in Kentucky nowThe forecast where you are

8 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.