EF1 tornado, Hammonville to Aetna Furnace, Kentucky, February 6, 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 6, 2025

Touchdown

5:07 AM CST (11:07 UTC)

Lifted

5:10 AM CST (11:10 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

2.9 miles (4.7 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Hart County

Touchdown point

37.411, -85.764

Lift-off point

37.409, -85.712

Record number

2502060507-01

19 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 95 mph.

• Trees uprooted going east and north
• Drone footage of multiple trees down different directions

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

A quasi-stationary front was draped across the lower Ohio Valley from February 5th into the 6th. South of the front, a warm and humid air mass was present, with temperatures in the mid 60s and dewpoints in the upper 50s and low 60s during the early morning hours on February 6th. Temperatures warmed into the low 70s south of the front during the day, with dewpoints remaining in the low 60s. A few elevated storms produced severe hail across Mercer County just after midnight. The main wave of strong to severe storms occurred during the early morning hours on the 6th, as a shortwave in the mid levels moved across the area. A broken line of miniature supercells produced isolated wind damage across south central Kentucky, as well as an EF1 tornado which briefly touched down in Hart County. More isolated wind damage occurred during the late afternoon hours in the Lake Cumberland area before the front pushed off to the east.

A National Weather Service storm damage survey confirmed an EF1 tornado briefly touched down in northeastern Hart County, about one mile south of the LaRue County line. The tornado touched down just west of the intersection of US Route 31 E|and Levi Beams Rd. It topped and uprooted trees on a farm about|0.5 miles west of the 11500 block of North Jackson Highway (31E).|The twister then hit a well built house, damaging the southwest|roof, blowing out windows, and taking a bunch of shingles off. ||A large, well built barn had its doors blown out and about a third |of its roof destroyed. There were large sections of the roofing|structure thrown 200 yards. Several large 2 x 10 joists, each|weighing about 100 pounds, were thrown over 150 yards and|embedded in the ground. Portions of the barn's metal sheeting|were thrown about a third of a mile. There were sporadic roofing|impalements downwind facing north northeast to south southeast.|Winds were 95 mph, EF1, with a width of 100 yards. ||On the east side of 31E, along the rear flank downdraft, a resident |reported heavy wind that caused the house to shake and caused their |ears to pop. ||About 50 yards north of that house, there was topping and snapping |of some older trees and a large section of an older barn|had its roof ripped off. Several power poles were leaning along|31E. Winds were 95 mph, EF1, with a width of 100 yards. ||Along Levi Beams Rd, there were dozens of older and newer trees|snapped, topped and uprooted along with a couple of snapped power|poles. The NWS drone found more tree damage about an eighth of a|mile east of the end of Levi Beams Rd. Winds were 90 mph, EF1,|with a width of 80 yards. ||There was a lot of tree damage along Ernest Chaudoin Rd. The most |concentrated tree damage was in a deep forested area on JD Garner |property. Trees were uprooted, twisted, and leaning. Drone |photography was very helpful to see the tree damage in in the trees. |Winds were 90 mph, EF1, with a width of 100 yards. ||There was a lot of tree damage along Mount Zion Church Road (KY 1079). |Trees were uprooted, twisted, and leaning. One well built home |was hit by the tornado with only minor shingle damage. Winds were |90 mph, EF1, with a width of 100 yards.||Pine and cedar trees were snapped along Carl Benningfield Rd. |Maple and locust trees were uprooted and facing from north northeast |to the southeasterly direction. Drone photography found an old barn, |just east of Carl Benningfield Rd with metal sheeting thrown and |wrapped around some trees and fence. That was the last damage point |about 50 yards east of the barn. Winds were 90 mph, EF1, with a width |of 100 yards.

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. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

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 Marginal Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:41 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), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 11:05 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.