EF1 tornado, Delia to Williamstown, Kentucky, June 18, 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 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, as surveyed

EF1, preliminary

Date

June 18, 2026

Touchdown

4:16 AM EDT (08:16 UTC)

Lifted

4:22 AM EDT (08:22 UTC)

On the ground

6 minutes

Path length

6.6 miles (10.6 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Grant County

Touchdown point

38.651, -84.661

Lift-off point

38.654, -84.543

Highest wind the damage implies

95 mph

Surveyed by

NWS ILN

The office's name for it

N Williamstown KY

Survey last edited

June 24, 2026

Record number

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

The first evidence of tornadic damage occurred on a property just east of Clarks Creek where several trees were uprooted or snapped. The tornado would continue east towards Baton Rouge Rd, where several more hardwood trees had large branches broken off, with tree debris thrown onto both sides of the road. Additionally, a barn was completely destroyed in the same area. Sporadic tree damage would continue along Baton Rouge Rd, eventually leading to another barn where the walls completely collapsed and the roof blown off. The damage to these outbuildings was consistent with EF1 damage, with maximum winds around 90 mph. Just a bit farther down the road, another outbuilding had its sheet metal roof completely ripped off, with pieces of sheet metal thrown ~50 yards into the nearby field. Some of the siding was also peeled off.

The damage path would continue along portions of Baton Rouge Rd, with extensive tree damage noted leading up to the intersection of I-75. Most of the tree damage was primarily large branches that were broken off, but there was one hardwood tree that was uprooted. Just east of I-75, additional tree damage occurred, including some wooden power poles that were snapped.

The area of most concentrated damage would occur in several neighborhoods just east of US-25. On Ridgelea Dr, there were multiple large, healthy trees that were uprooted and/or snapped at the base. On Humes Ridge Rd, more large trees and wooden power poles were snapped. The most significant damage occurred near the end of the tornadic path on Waterworks Rd, where a standalone, multi-car garage had the majority of its roof ripped off. Multiple sections of the garage observed a significant loss of its cinderblock exterior walls, including some minor damage to the interior walls between car ports. Debris from the garage was spread out into the nearby field. Given the structural integrity of the garage, it’s expected that wind speeds up to 95 mph were observed in this part of the tornado track, which is consistent with EF1 damage. Finally, some minor tree damage was observed in the field just off to the east before the tornado lifted.

The National Weather Service office would like to thank Grant County Emergency Management Agency, State of Kentucky Emergency Management, and the Williamstown Fire Department for their assistance with this damage survey.

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

26 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS ILN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 95 mph.

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

Thunderstorms developed during the evening hours and continued into the overnight hours as a low pressure system moved through the Ohio Valley.

The first evidence of tornadic damage occurred on a property just east of Clarks Creek where several trees were uprooted or snapped. The tornado would continue east towards Baton Rouge Road, where several more hardwood trees had large branches broken off, with tree debris thrown onto both sides of the road. Additionally, a barn was completely destroyed in the same area. Sporadic tree damage continued along Baton Rouge Road, eventually leading to another barn where the walls completely collapsed and the roof was blown off. The damage to these outbuildings was consistent with |EF-1 damage, with maximum winds around 90 mph. Just a bit farther down the road, another outbuilding had its sheet metal roof completely ripped off, with pieces of sheet metal thrown about 50 yards into the nearby field. Some of the siding was also peeled off. ||The damage continued along portions of Baton Rouge Road, with extensive tree damage noted leading up to the intersection of Interstate 75. Most of the tree damage was primarily large branches that were broken off, but there was one hardwood tree that was uprooted. Just east of Interstate 75, additional tree and power pole damage occurred. ||The area of most concentrated damage occurred in several neighborhoods just east of U.S. Route 25. On Ridgelea Drive, there were multiple large, healthy trees that were uprooted and/or snapped at the base. On Humes Ridge Road, more large trees and wooden power poles were snapped. The most significant damage occurred near the end of the tornadic path on Waterworks Road, where a standalone, multi-car garage had the majority of its roof ripped off. Multiple sections of the garage had significant loss of its cinder block exterior walls, as well as some minor damage to the interior walls between car ports. Debris from the garage was spread out into the nearby field. Given the structural integrity of the garage, it was estimated that wind speeds up to 95 mph were observed in this part of the tornado track,| consistent with EF-1 damage. Finally, some minor tree damage was observed in the field just off to the east before the tornado ended.

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.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 02:13 UTC and running to 08:43 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 Marginal Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:49 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 Cincinnati radar (KILN), 109 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 08:19 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 2026 tornado in KentuckyEvery tornado in Kentucky since 1950Warnings in force in Kentucky nowThe forecast where you are

50 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.