Tornadoes of April 23, 1968

April 23, 1968
Counties: Jessamine
F-scale: F2
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 3
Path width: 75 yards
Path length: 3 miles
Time: 5:34pm
Grazulis narrative: Moved northeast at Nicholasville. A house was shifted off its foundation. Many homes had roof damage, and at least one was unroofed. A barn was picked up and scattered over 60 to 70 acres.
Notes: (This information was discovered on an internal Weather Bureau memo from Charles E. Hardy at WSO Lexington) The violent storm moved from the southwest part of Nicholasville near Shun Pike and reached the center of the city near the police station at Oak and Main. Near Lake Street some trees were felled and some monuments were overturned in Maple Grove Cemetery. An estimated number of 75 to 100 trees were uprooted or blown over. Some roofs on the southwest side of Nicholasville had the tin rolled or twisted toward the northeast. Several windows were broken in an elementary school, which was in session, and flying glass injured one student on their finger. Damage to houses and other buildings was mainly to roofs and windows of the upper floors. One house had its foundation shifted a few feet, and one roof was completely blown off. Power and telephone lines were downed. A car was overturned on Main Street. Mrs. Bloomfield, whose house was in the path of the storm, stated that she heard a noise like a jet airplane. Another witness, Patrolman Swallows of the police department, said he noticed a short appendage looking like a trail of smoke hanging down from the parent cloud and a noise like a freight train was heard. Mr Hammonds, another policeman on duty at the time of the storm, said that he noticed nothing like a funnel, but he observed a violent rotation apparently about a vertical axis in a black ominous looking cloud assoicated with the storm. Two women were injured by flying glass but the injuries were not serious.
Noted discrepancies: SPC and NCDC give 3 injuries, Grazulis gives 6, Storm Data gives 0. SPC and NCDC give a path width of 60 yards, Grazulis 80 yards, Storm Data 75 yards.