Tornadoes · United States · Kentucky

2023 tornadoes in Kentucky

34 tornadoes touched down in Kentucky in 2023, 109 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2022 2024 The whole country in 2023

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.

EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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 2023

January 3 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 3	4:35 AM CST	EF0	Christian	1.2	50			$30,000

January 12 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
January 12	2:03 AM CST	EF1	Ballard to IL	6.5	200	$65,000
January 12	8:47 AM EST	EF1	Henry	1.3	100
January 12	9:01 AM EST	EF1	Mercer	3.6	80
January 12	9:10 AM EST	EF1	Boyle	0.8	125
January 12	9:23 AM EST	EF0	Grant	0.3	50	$150,000
January 12	9:42 AM EST	EF1	Madison	1.2	80

March 3 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
March 3	11:08 AM CST	EF2	McCracken	1.5	175	$1.3 million
March 3	12:00 PM CST	EF1	Union	6.7	100	$115,000
March 3	12:02 PM CST	EF1	Union	1.8	100	$50,000
March 3	12:04 PM CST	EF0	Union	3.6	25	$5,000
March 3	12:17 PM CST	EF1	Henderson	2.1	125	$20,000

March 31 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 31	12:30 AM EDT	EF1	Jefferson	4.0	130

April 5 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 5	1:26 PM CDT	EF1	Ballard	0.6	25	$25,000
April 5	2:02 PM CDT	EF0	Calloway	5.4	50	$100,000
April 5	4:41 PM EDT	EF1	Meade	0.3	50
April 5	4:58 PM EDT	EF1	Jefferson	0.8	100
April 5	5:05 PM EDT	EF1	Jefferson	0.4	75
April 5	5:05 PM EDT	EF1	Jefferson	0.9	100

May 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 7	9:25 AM EDT	EF0	Shelby	0.6	30

May 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 16	4:46 PM EDT	EF1	Magoffin	0.7	150			$1,000

June 25 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 25	10:27 PM EDT	EF2	Hardin	1.2	300
June 25	11:25 PM CDT	EF1	Russell	0.7	300

July 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 1	6:30 PM CDT	EF1	Graves	27.4	100			$245,000

July 2 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 2	3:55 PM EDT	EF1	Anderson	3.6	400
July 2	7:55 PM EDT	EF1	Casey	0.1	40

July 18 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 18	12:43 PM CDT	EF1	Ballard	0.4	60	$15,000
July 18	2:04 PM CDT	EF1	Caldwell	0.5	125	$75,000
July 18	6:54 PM EDT	EF0	Marion	0.1	20

August 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 7	2:00 PM CDT	EF1	Lawrence to WV	6.3	400			$23,000

August 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 9	12:44 AM EDT	EF0	Fleming	0.3	75			$150,000

August 12 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 12	8:56 AM CDT	EF1	Fulton	1.3	350			$60,000
August 12	9:13 AM CDT	EF1	Hickman	2.5	275			$100,000

December 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
December 9	3:07 PM CST	EF1	Warren	2.2	125

Crossed into Kentucky

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

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 7	7:57 AM CDT	EF1	Floyd, IN to KY	4.5	200
December 9	1:41 PM CST	EF3	Montgomery, TN to KY	47.2	600	4	62	$21 million
December 9	6:07 PM CST	EF1	Monroe, TN to KY	2.9	50			$50,000

Nearby

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