Tornadoes · United States · Kentucky

2025 tornadoes in Kentucky

37 tornadoes touched down in Kentucky in 2025, 127 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 19 people and injured 27. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

2024 The whole country in 2025

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 2025

February 6 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 65:07 AM CSTEF1Hart2.9100
February 67:48 AM ESTEF1Rockcastle0.7270
February 68:15 AM ESTEF1Owsley1.5175

February 15 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 159:46 PM CSTEF1Simpson4.3150

March 19 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 1910:54 PM EDTEF1Boone3.190$250,000

March 30 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 308:20 PM CDTEF1Breckinridge2.530
March 309:23 PM EDTEF1Meade30.35001
March 309:35 PM EDTEF1Meade7.250
March 309:48 PM EDTEF1Jefferson5.4301
March 3010:23 PM EDTEF1Spencer2.580

April 2 8 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 28:00 PM CDTEF2Carlisle9.7200$180,000
April 28:18 PM CDTEF2Ballard18.21,0004$3.2 million
April 29:34 PM CDTEF1Hopkins12.250$110,000
April 29:58 PM CDTEF2McLean9.1200$250,000
April 212:29 AM EDTEF3Jefferson9.7350
April 21:16 AM EDTEF1Nelson2.9175
April 21:26 AM EDTEF1Harrison10.850
April 21:52 AM EDTEF0Mason1.8150$25,000

April 3 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 31:04 AM CDTEF2Barren4.94001
April 32:29 AM EDTEF1Taylor7.01252
April 33:07 AM EDTEF1Lincoln8.790
April 310:23 PM CDTEF0Calloway8.9100$40,000

May 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 310:54 AM EDTEF0Franklin1.030

May 16 6 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 165:54 PM CDTEF1Lyon0.8210$100,000
May 166:42 PM CDTEF2Todd6.0200$1.1 million
May 167:16 PM CDTEF3Union9.95004$15 million
May 169:26 PM CDTEF2Christian10.0225$1.3 million
May 169:27 PM CDTEF4London tornado60.11,70018
May 169:55 PM CDTEF1Logan2.675

May 30 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 306:49 AM EDTEF2Washington5.5450114
May 307:22 AM EDTEF1Mercer1.550

June 7 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 73:55 PM CDTEF0Daviess2.125$50,000

September 22 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 225:02 PM EDTEF0Bracken4.1500$100,000

October 19 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 1912:05 PM EDTEF1Jessamine0.720

November 18 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 186:42 PM CSTEF1Fulton5.630$40,000

November 22 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 2212:38 AM CSTEF1Todd1.675$100,000

December 18 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 188:05 PM ESTEF0Larue2.020

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
April 29:43 PM EDTEF2Madison, IN to IL, KY2.1250$200,000
April 28:43 PM CDTEF2Livingston, IL to KY12.0150$235,000
April 29:17 PM CDTEF1Weakley, TN to KY17.1200$980,000

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.