March 2, 2012 -- Tornado near Owenton

March 2, 2012
Tornado near Owenton, KY

Back to the main event page for March 2, 2012

National Weather Service Product Timeline:
PDS Tornado Watch #58 issued at 105 PM EST.
Special Weather Statement issued at 304 PM EST.
Tornado Warning issued at 350 EST. (Tornado Emergency)
-- Follow Up issued at 406 EST.
-- Follow Up issued at 420 EST.
Tornado Warning issued at 430 EST.
-- Follow Up issued at 437 EST.
-- Follow Up issued at 446 EST.
-- Follow Up issued at 454 EST.

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
740 PM EST SAT MAR 3 2012

...TORNADO CONFIRMED NORTH OF OWENTON IN OWEN COUNTY KENTUCKY...

LOCATION...5 MILES NORTH OF OWENTON IN OWEN COUNTY KENTUCKY
DATE...MARCH 2 2012 
ESTIMATED TIME...425 PM EST 
MAXIMUM EF-SCALE RATING...EF2 
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED...125 MPH 
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH...150 YARDS
PATH LENGTH...5 MILES 
BEGINNING LAT/LON...38.60N / -84.89W 
ENDING LAT/LON...38.60N / -84.79W
* FATALITIES...0
* INJURIES...3

* THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO
CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT(S) AND PUBLICATION IN NWS
STORM DATA.

...SUMMARY...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON OH HAS CONFIRMED A
TORNADO NEAR OWENTON IN OWEN COUNTY KENTUCKY ON MARCH 2 2012.

A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN OWEN COUNTY NORTH OF OWENTON ON FRIDAY
AFTERNOON. THE INITIAL TOUCH DOWN OCCURRED NEAR A FARM SOUTH OF
HIGHWAY 227 WHERE MINOR STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO A BARN AND HOUSE WERE
OBSERVED. THE TORNADO CONTINUED EAST TO NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF
TODD ROAD AND HIGHWAY 127/36/227 WHERE THE EF2 DAMAGE
OCCURRED...INCLUDING A HOUSE THAT HAD COMPLETE REMOVAL OF THE
ROOF AND PARTIAL EXTERIOR WALL COLLAPSE. NUMEROUS BARNS IN THE
AREA WERE ALSO COMPLETELY DESTROYED. POWER POLES AND TREES WERE
SNAPPED...AS WELL AS A SEMI-TRAILER OVERTURNED.

THE TORNADO CONTINUED EAST ACROSS KEMPER LANE WHERE MORE BARNS
WERE DESTROYED...AND NUMEROUS GROVES OF TREES WERE UPROOTED AND SNAPPED.

THE TORNADO LIFTED JUST EAST OF JONESVILLE ROAD...AND THIS
LOCATION IS APPROXIMATED DUE TO INACCESSIBLE TERRAIN. DAMAGE IN
THIS AREA OF JONESVILLE ROAD CONSISTED OF MINOR DAMAGE TO
OUTBUILDINGS...TREE DAMAGE...AND MINOR ROOFING MATERIAL REMOVAL.

BASED ON THIS SURVEY...THE MAXIMUM ESTIMATED WIND SPEED OF THIS TORNADO
IS 125 MPH.

FOR REFERENCE...THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO
THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:

EF0...WIND SPEEDS 65 TO 85 MPH.
EF1...WIND SPEEDS 86 TO 110 MPH.
EF2...WIND SPEEDS 111 TO 135 MPH.
EF3...WIND SPEEDS 136 TO 165 MPH.
EF4...WIND SPEEDS 166 TO 200 MPH.
EF5...WIND SPEEDS GREATER THAN 200 MPH.

$$

Radar Imagery:

KILN 0.5° Z -- 4:28 PM	KILN 0.5° SRM -- 4:28 PM

KILN 0.5° Z -- 4:33 PM	KILN 0.5° SRM -- 4:33 PM

These radar images show the circulation associated with the tornado north of Owenton, KY. The top two radar images are from around the time the tornado was lifting.

Although the tornado was no longer on the ground by the time of the bottom two images, note the strong circulation continued aloft as the storm quickly moved to the east-northeast.