EF1 tornado, Persimmon to Frogue, Kentucky, May 26, 2024

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

May 26, 2024

Touchdown

11:30 PM CDT (04:30 UTC)

Lifted

11:31 PM CDT (04:31 UTC)

On the ground

1 minutes

Path length

1.1 miles (1.8 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Monroe, Cumberland and Metcalfe counties

Touchdown point

36.817, -85.603

Lift-off point

36.820, -85.584

Record number

2405262230-01

55 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LMK, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 110 mph.

• the nw in a converging pattern at times.
• Mainly northeast but some evidence of convergence
• 8-10 hardwood trees uprooted here

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

A strong storm system moved across the Ohio and Tennessee valleys on May 26th and into the early morning hours of May 27th, 2024. Two waves of strong to severe thunderstorms moved across central Kentucky, producing numerous occurrences of straight-line wind damage and 8 tornadoes while crossing the region. The first wave of storms moved across central Kentucky as a large bowing quasi-linear convective system during the late morning and early afternoon hours. This line of storms produced widespread straight-line wind damage, with particularly heavy damage observed across the Louisville metro and northern Woodford County. Two quick spin up tornadoes in Clinton County were also associated with this line.||After a second sub-severe line of storms moved across the area during the early afternoon hours, conditions were relatively quiet until the mid-to-late afternoon, when strong and severe cells began to develop across western Kentucky and southern Illinois. The storms would initially be discrete before growing into another large line of storms which produced the heaviest damage south of Interstate 64. Six tornadoes would be associated with this second line, with a long track EF1 tornado extending for over 40 miles across Muhlenberg, Butler, and Warren County. Heavy straight-line wind damage was also observed with this second line of storms, especially in Barren, Mercer, and Garrard County. The line of storms finally pushed east of the area shortly after midnight on May 27th, bringing an end to an active 16 hours across central Kentucky.

The National Weather Service conducted a storm survey and found a|tornado occurred on Sunday, May 26th, 2024. Despite the fact that the tornado was only on the ground for a little over one mile and one minute, it tracked very briefly through Monroe, Metcalfe, and Cumberland County. Starting in Monroe|County near the Bacon Branch of Leatherwood Creek on a rural|hillside, drone footage found a clearly defined path of uprooted|trees with a convergent signature to the damage consistent with|100 mph winds. The tornado then turned along the creek and|crossed into the intersection of Cumberland County and Metcalfe|County.

The National Weather Service conducted a storm survey and found a tornado occurred on Sunday, May 26th, 2024. Despite the fact that the tornado was only on the ground for a little over one mile and one minute, it tracked very briefly through Monroe, Metcalfe, and Cumberland County.||The tornado crossed into Metcalfe County for a few yards as it tracked along Bacon Branch of Leatherwood Creek near Fowler Brown Road. Most of the tree damage associated with the tornado at this point was in Cumberland County, though minor damage did occur across the county line in Metcalfe County. After a few seconds straddling the Metcalfe and Cumberland County line, the tornado would cross into Cumberland County for good.

The National Weather Service conducted a storm survey and found a tornado occurred on Sunday, May 26th, 2024. Despite the fact that the tornado was only on the ground for a little over one mile and one minute, it tracked very briefly through Monroe, Metcalfe, and Cumberland County.||After passing along the Metcalfe and Cumberland County line for several yards, the tornado moved into Cumberland County completely as it traveled down the Leatherwood Creek valley along Fowler Brown Road. Widespread|damage at 100 yards wide with many uprooted trees and some|snapped trees were in this area consistent with 110 mph wind|speeds. The tornado continued along Fowler Brown Road for another two thirds of a mile and|dissipated at a farm just southwest of Wilson Road where drone|footage showed the width narrowed considerably to 10 yards or|less with a few uprooted trees.

The National Weather Service conducted a storm survey and found a|tornado occurred on Sunday, May 26th, 2024 about 3 miles north of|Burkesville. The tornado started just to the east of Old Columbia|Road along Little Renox Creek in fields behind a residence. A few|trees were uprooted consistent with EF0 85 mph strength. The|tornado then continued across Columbia Road and|did extensive tree damage along a hillside to the east of the|highway. Tree damage consistent with EF1 90 mph strength was|observed on the hillside just to the east of the highway. The|tornado then lifted with no observed damage via drone footage to|the east of the hill.

The National Weather Service conducted a storm survey and found a|tornado occurred on Sunday, May 26th, 2024. This tornado reached a peak intensity of EF1 with 95 mph estimated peak winds, crossing through portions of southern Cumberland and Clinton County.||The tornado started at Sulphur Creek in southern Cumberland County just to the west|of Celina Road, or Kentucky Route 61. Tree uproot damage was consistent|with EF1 95 mph winds. The tornado then tracked across Celina|Road along Sulphur Creek, and did more extensive tree damage in|the hills west of Peytonsburg Sulphur Road, consistent with 90 to|95 mph wind speeds. The tornado then went across a campground|along Sulphur Creek Road near Mike's Restaurant, and left tree|damage in the campground along with shingle damage to some|cabins. Tree damage continued to the east and hit an RV storage|garage with significant roof loss thrown in different directions|just north of Dale Hollow Lake Golf Course. The tornado crossed another finger of Dale Hollow Lake as it crossed into western Clinton 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.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 23:55 UTC and running to 05:19 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 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 00:57 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), 107 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:30 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 2024 tornado in KentuckyEvery tornado in Kentucky since 1950Warnings in force in Kentucky nowThe forecast where you are

69 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 70 of them

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.