EF2 tornado, Grayson and Hart counties, Kentucky, July 21, 2026

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, as surveyed

EF2, preliminary

Date

July 21, 2026

Touchdown

4:27 PM CDT (21:27 UTC)

Lifted

5:08 PM CDT (22:08 UTC)

On the ground

41 minutes

Path length

21.2 miles (34.2 km)

Path width

500 yards (457 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

1

Counties

Grayson and Hart counties

Touchdown point

37.347, -86.111

Lift-off point

37.170, -85.813

Highest wind the damage implies

115 mph

Surveyed by

NWS LMK

The office's name for it

Grayson-Hart County Tornado

Survey last edited

July 23, 2026

Record number

None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.

An NWS Storm Survey concluded than a long track, EF-2 tornado touched down in far eastern Grayson County, right along Nolin River Lake in the Wax, KY area. The worst of the accessible damage was noted here towards the beginning of the track, where winds of 115 mph did significant damage to some homes and outbuildings along Nolin River Lake. One injury was reported in this area where a man sustained a head injury from the tornado.

The tornado maintained high-end EF-1 strength throughout much of the rest of its path through Hart County. This high end EF-1 damage was most widespread and pronounced from the town of Rowletts and southeast along Red Buck Estes Road. Most trees and structures had some sort of damage in these areas and this is likely where the tornado was at its peak width. The tornado continued southeast along Lonoke Road into the small town of Uno, KY, where it finally lifted before crossing into Metcalfe County, KY. In total, the path was over 20 miles long and this tornado was on the ground continuously for 41 minutes!

NWS Louisville would like to express gratitude to Kentucky Emergency Management, Grayson County Emergency Management, and Hart County Emergency management for their timely reports of the damage and their help with the survey process.

Written by NWS LMK in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.

132 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 115 mph.

• Piece of sheet metal thrown, unknown direction and distance.
• 492 Joe Stephens Road. Trees downed in "different directions" according to email in nws.louisville account.

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

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:01 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.

Glasgow Municipal (GLW), 25 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Louisville radar (KLVX), 80 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:24 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.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2026 tornado in KentuckyEvery tornado in Kentucky since 1950Warnings in force in Kentucky nowThe forecast where you are

35 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. A survey can be revised, so the rating, the path and the casualties can all still change.

NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit, the record the survey teams file from the damage, and NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Neither is the official database for 2026, which SPC publishes in the spring of 2027.