EF1 tornado, Prices Mill to Franklin Whak Arpt, Kentucky, February 15, 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 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

February 15, 2025

Touchdown

9:46 PM CST (03:46 UTC)

Lifted

9:51 PM CST (03:51 UTC)

On the ground

5 minutes

Path length

4.3 miles (7.0 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Simpson County

Touchdown point

36.693, -86.716

Lift-off point

36.719, -86.648

Record number

2502152146-01

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 EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 97 mph.

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 February 15th and 16th, 2025, bringing heavy rainfall and flooding, severe weather, and winter weather to central Kentucky. The large scale upper level pattern featured deep troughing ejecting across the central CONUS, with broad southwesterly flow occurring in the low and mid troposphere. Southerly flow helped to draw rich moisture up from the Gulf of America, with unseasonably high precipitable water for the middle of February, generally between 1.1 and 1.3 inches, overspreading the Tennessee and Kentucky. A nearly stationary surface front extending from west to east across the lower Ohio Valley provided a source for lift as warm and humid air ascended over a cool near surface layer. Light to moderate rain developed across the region early on the morning of the 15th, with rainfall getting heavier across south central Kentucky by around daybreak. This resulted in instances of flash flooding occurring across south central Kentucky during the mid-to-late morning hours. As the main surface low pressure system approached from the southwest during the afternoon on the 15th, the quasi-stationary surface front lifted into north central Kentucky, bringing a brief reprieve from rain across southern Kentucky while rainfall increased across northern Kentucky. As a broken line of storms developed ahead of an approaching cold front, temperatures and dewpoint temperatures increased considerably across southern Kentucky. This allowed for enough instability for a few strong to severe storms to develop near the Tennessee border. One portion of the line of storms produced a brief tornado over Simpson County, while other reports of wind damage and hail were received from Warren, Logan, and Monroe County. Still, heavy rainfall was the predominant impact from this system, as numerous instances of flooding and flash flooding were observed across Kentucky, and river flooding would occur over the following week. February 17th, one person drove into flood water and drown in Ohio County. Precipitation ended as a band of light to moderate snow on the morning of the 16th, producing accumulations of 1 to 3 inches before ending.

The National Weather Service in Louisville confirmed an|EF1 tornado in Simpson County, approximately 6 miles west of|Franklin.||The tornado touched down on a large farm at 2495 Neosheo|Prices Mill Road, destroying an older garage. Sheet metal from|the garage was thrown in the trees and wrapped around branches|near the farmhouse. More metal sheeting was thrown several|hundred yards from the north northeast to the easterly direction.|Some cardboard boxes and lawn furniture near the destroyed|garage did not move. Winds were 90 mph, EF1, with a width of|75 yards. There was very sporadic tree damage along Neosheo|Prices Mill Road.||Near the intersection of Sulphur Spring Church Road and Forshee |Road there were three barns with substantial roof damage. The |largest barn, approximately 50 feet by 70 feet, had its wood |anchors lifted out and pushed to the north northwest. All the |metal sheeting from the three barns was thrown from a few hundred |yards, to as far away as one quarter of a mile to the east |northeast, wrapping around fences and trees. Winds were 90 mph, EF1,|with a width of 120 yards.||There were dozens of topped trees along Sulphur Spring Creek and Neosheo|Road. Winds were 87 mph, EF1, with a width of 100 yards. Drone |photography showed trees damaged off to the east along farm land.||The most substantial damage was at 1600 Harris School Road where a horse|arena at Sundown Stables was thrown into a large barn housing the|horses. The barn took considerable side and structural roofing|damage. Some of the boards and other debris hit a concrete house|where relatives were staying. Fortunately no people or farm|animals were injured. Surprisingly, there was less tree damage|near the barn and house. Winds were 90 mph, EF1, with a width of|90 yards. The tornado lifted about 100 yards east of Harris|School Road.

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 00:43 UTC and running to 04:48 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 00:56 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.

Portland (1M5), 22 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Nashville radar (KOHX), 52 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:44 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

14 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.