EF2 tornado, Griderville to Park, Kentucky, April 3, 2025

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

April 3, 2025

Touchdown

1:04 AM CDT (06:04 UTC)

Lifted

1:09 AM CDT (06:09 UTC)

On the ground

5 minutes

Path length

4.9 miles (7.9 km)

Path width

400 yards (366 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

1

County

Barren County

Touchdown point

37.122, -85.894

Lift-off point

37.151, -85.813

Record number

2504030004-01

12 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 120 mph.

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

On the night of April 2nd, 2025, a cold front approached the lower Ohio Valley. Along and ahead of the cold front, numerous supercells developed over southern Illinois and western Kentucky. These storms tracked eastward and occasionally grew upscale into a QLCS with bowing segments. Storms lasted all night and into the morning hours, as the cold front began to stall over the lower Ohio Valley. These storms left behind a wake of damage in many counties in central Kentucky. Over the next few days, waves of showers and storms rode along the cold front bringing lots of rain which lead to widespread flash and areal flooding. Showers and storms came through daily, until the evening of April 6th. Later, this flooding turned into historic and near-record breaking river flooding along many river basins.||Overall, 6 tornadoes touched down from late evening into the overnight on April 2nd and 3rd, including one EF-3, one EF-2's, and four EF-1's. Many additional pockets of wind damage occurred, as well as widespread areal and flash flooding through late week into the weekend. Some river crests were historic, including a new record crest at Camp Nelson on the Kentucky River and the #2 all time crest at Frankfort. The crest at McAlpine Upper on the Ohio River was #8 all time.

A tornado tracked across northern Barren County during the early morning hours on Thursday, April 3rd. The tornado was on the ground for just under five miles and about five minutes, tracking from the southwest to the northeast. The tornado peaked at|EF2 intensity with maximum winds of 120 mph and had a maximum width of approximately 400 yards.||The tornado first touched down along Jack Turner Road, approximately three and a half miles east-southeast of Cave City. An older wooden barn was completely destroyed; given the construction of the barn, a more conservative wind estimate of 105 mph was given for this damage. The tornado then tracked over open farmland for about one mile before causing damage to several structures along Spillman Road. Parts of the roof were taken off of several barns, and additional damage to a mobile home was noted. Winds in this area were estimated at EF1 strength, between 90 and 95 mph.||As the tornado moved across US Route 31E, more significant damage was observed with a roof being blown off a single story home. Damage from this house was thrown a quarter of a mile downstream, with winds in this area being estimated at 120 mph, or EF2 strength. About 400 yards downstream, several barns and other outbuildings were impacted by the tornado, with damage ranging from minor peeling of roofing material to complete destruction of a shed.||The intensity of the tornado was difficult to assess over the next one and a quarter miles as it once again passed over mainly open farmland. Another area of significant structural damage occurred along Hiseville Bear Wallow Road, where substantial losses of roofing material was observed at one residence, and the entire roof was taken off another residence. The damage in this area was consistent with wind speeds of 115 to |120 mph, or EF2 strength. Scattered snapped and uprooted trees were also observed in this area.||Damage intensity lessened considerably beyond this point, with minor tree damage noted just west of Rock Springs Church Road, indicative of EF0 strength with 80 mph winds. The tornado lifted near Rock Springs Church Road, about 0.6 miles south of the Hart County line.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

2 minutes of warning. NWS LMK issued a tornado warning for this county at 06:02 UTC, 2 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 06:25 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 04:39 UTC and running to 10:36 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 05:39 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 Louisville radar (KLVX), 94 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:06 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 2025 tornado in KentuckyEvery tornado in Kentucky since 1950Warnings in force in Kentucky nowThe forecast where you are

7 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.