Updated: Tornadoes confirmed in Kentucky storms. Wind speeds top 100 mph in Central KY
National Weather Service surveyors have confirmed tornado and wind damage from a severe thunderstorm that hit Kentucky Sunday evening.
A tornado was confirmed in Hardin County, with wind speeds up to 115 mph. A second tornado was found in Russell County Tuesday, with wind speeds up to 110 mph. There were also strong straight-line winds up to 100 mph or greater in Madison, Bullitt Edmonson, Grayson and Warren counties, according to the NWS.
A macroburst wind event was confirmed by the NWS in Madison County. A macroburst is a strong outward burst of wind near the ground with an outward dimension of at least 4 kilometers.
The NWS compared the wind in the macroburst to water coming out of a sink faucet.
“The column of water is the downdraft and the outward spray at the bottom of the sink is the macroburst,” said the NWS.
The wind speeds peaked at 110 mph, but most of the damage in Madison County came from winds between 90 and 100 mph, according to the NWS. The damage path spanned 8 miles, but the most concentrated damage location was along Forest and Kennedy lanes, where several homeowners suffered severe tree and roof damage.
Several other locations in Madison County, including Richmond Raceway, suffered damage, the NWS said. Racetrack officials said they are postponing an event on July 8 due to storm cleanup.
Hardin County experienced an EF-2 tornado in the Cecilia community, the NWS confirmed. The tornado was described by the NWS as narrow but powerful, and it first touched down on Long Grove Road near Tabb Road.
“A property near this intersection had several trees uprooted and snapped as well as limbs down,” the NWS said in its storm survey.
The tornado continued southeast and damaged multiple homes and vehicles. The strongest winds occurred as it picked up a wide front porch of a house and peeled the roof back, the NWS said.
The tornado traveled about 1.17 miles and hit peak wind speeds of 115 miles per hour, according to the NWS.
Straight-line wind damage between 90 and 100 miles per hour was reported in Bullitt County, according to the NWS. Damage surveys in Jefferson and Larue counties were planned for Wednesday and Thursday.
Nearly 30,000 customers in Kentucky were still without power more than 24 hours after the storm hit, according to poweroutage.us, a website that tracks power outages across the country. More than 1,400 customers in both Jessamine and Madison counties remained without power Tuesday morning.
Other counties that are still reporting more than 1,000 outages are Barren, Clinton, Edmondson, Grayson, Hart, Metcalfe and Russell counties, according to poweroutage.us.
There are thunderstorm chances Thursday and Friday within NWS Louisville’s region, which covers much of the central and western parts of the state. No storms are expected for Tuesday and Wednesday, with warm days projected in the forecast.
This story was originally published June 27, 2023 at 7:53 AM.
