Tornadoes · United States · Kentucky

2021 tornadoes in Kentucky

36 tornadoes touched down in Kentucky in 2021, 121 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 17 people and injured 98.

2020 2022 The whole country in 2021

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 2021

February 28 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 288:18 PM CSTEF1Clinton3.775$40,000

March 25 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 258:32 PM CDTEF0Ohio0.750
March 259:16 PM CDTEF0Grayson1.040
March 2510:44 PM EDTEF1Larue4.775

May 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 38:08 AM CDTEF1Monroe0.560

May 4 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 43:31 AM CDTEF1Hickman5.3100$350,000
May 43:33 AM CDTEF2Fulton6.1150$310,000
May 43:55 AM CDTEF1Graves4.7125$165,000
May 43:59 AM CDTEF1Graves0.5100$15,000
May 45:12 AM CDTEF0Christian2.675$45,000

June 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 117:09 PM EDTEF0Lewis0.250$20,000

June 18 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 189:09 PM EDTEF1Boone2.8175$50,000

December 5 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 58:24 PM CSTEF0Livingston0.325$1,000

December 6 6 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 64:10 AM ESTEF1Franklin1.550
December 64:22 AM ESTEF1Scott0.3602
December 63:23 AM CSTEF0Graves5.9100$25,000
December 63:34 AM CSTEF1Graves9.6500$229,000
December 64:33 AM CSTEF1Todd8.6100$150,000
December 64:40 AM CSTEF0Todd4.475$10,000

December 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 108:32 PM CSTEF1Muhlenberg2.775$100,000

December 11 16 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 111:06 AM ESTEF1Hardin1.950
December 1112:47 AM CSTEF3Logan28.01,4001
December 111:51 AM ESTEF1Spencer1.9100
December 111:09 AM CSTEF3Bowling Green tornado29.34401663
December 111:19 AM CSTEF2Warren6.1300
December 111:38 AM CSTEF2Barren17.0900
December 111:52 AM CSTEF2Hart23.85281
December 113:20 AM ESTEF3Taylor14.5450131
December 113:41 AM ESTEF1Marion1.950
December 114:01 AM ESTEF2Boyle0.6100
December 114:02 AM ESTEF1Boyle3.6400
December 114:04 AM ESTEF1Boyle7.1100
December 114:07 AM ESTEF1Garrard3.0950
December 114:10 AM ESTEF1Garrard0.6100
December 114:22 AM ESTEF1Madison0.375
December 114:31 AM ESTEF1Madison1.2125

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
December 108:54 PM CSTEF4Mayfield tornado, Kentucky168.52,60057515$25,000
December 1010:32 PM CSTEF3Dresden–Pembroke tornado, Tennessee and Kentucky122.62,00038$17 million
December 114:20 AM CSTEF1Monroe, TN to KY11.275$500,000

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.