Tornado Climatology of Butler County

June 6, 1917
Counties:  Butler (from Muhlenberg)
F-scale:  F2
Deaths: 7
Injuries:   30
Path width:  75 yards
Path length:  17 miles
Time:  5:00pm
Narrative:  Moved east from two miles north of Greenville to near Powderly and to southeast of Rochester.  The tornado moved through a rural area of poorly constructed homes, many owned by miners.  A number of these homes were swept away.  One man was killed in Butler County, running from a house to a barn.  Both were destroyed.

November 5, 1948
Counties:  Butler
F-scale:  F2
Deaths:  0
Injuries:  0
Path width: 
Path length:  3 miles
Time:  4:30am
Narrative:  Moved east from near Rochester, unroofing a school and destroying a gym.  Farm buildings were destroyed.

April 27, 1971
Counties:  Ohio, Butler
F-scale:  F3
Deaths:
Injuries:
Path width:
Path length:  11 miles
Time:  7:10pm CDT
Notes:  There is considerable disagreement among data sources regarding the end point of this tornado (despite excellent agreement on the touchdown point).  After further research, it has been decided that this tornado touched down west of Cool Springs and north of Wysox in Ohio County.  It proceeded to the east-southeast through Little Bend (near Mining City) and into Butler County.  This project will end the tornado about two miles into Butler County.  Damage was found as far east as the Reedyville and Roundhill areas along the Butler County/Edmonson County line, however these locations are not really in line with the earlier known tornado locations, and also there have been no damage reports found between the end point described above and these two locations.  Damage in Roundhill and Reedyville may have been from straight-line winds or a separate small tornado.  At this tornado's touchdown point in Ohio County a witness said it "swerved" as it approached his house, just grazing the home but destroying the garage and a nearby barn.   Multiple vortices may have been visible.  The tornado was witnessed at Little Bend and was described as being about 17 yards wide while moving at about 40mph (and accompanied by large hail).   In this area a barn was destroyed and roof shingles were found embedded two inches deep into an oak tree.  Will not disagree with the official strength ranking of F3, but it sounds like this tornado was a minimal F3 at best.
Noted discrepancies:  SPC and NCDC rank this as an F3, Grazulis call it an F2.  SPC and NCDC list a path width of 20 yards, Grazulis says 50 yards, Storm Data 14 yards. 

April 27, 1971
Counties:  Butler, Warren (from Muhlenberg)
F-scale:  F3
Deaths:  1
Injuries:
Path width:
Path length:
Time:  8:20pm CDT
Grazulis narrative:  Skipped east-southeast from four miles east of Drakesboro, to near Ennis, South Hill, and Riverside.  A six room brick veneer home was completely destroyed, as were several large trailers.  There were two injuries in one, and a death in another.  Many homes sustained damage.  South Hill, where several people were injured and trailers were swept away, and Dunbar were especially hard hit.  Cherry Chapel Church near Richardsville was destroyed.  Damage was found along Stringtown Road in Butler County.
Noted discrepancies:  SPC and NCDC list no injuries, Grazulis lists 20, Storm Data lists 7.  SPC lists a path length of 27 miles, NCDC 28 miles, Grazulis and Storm Data 30 miles.  Grazulis ends this tornado closer to Riverside, SPC and NCDC end it closer to Richardsville (both in Warren County).  According to Storm Data, radar first showed a hook echo four miles east of Drakesboro.  The storm struck South Hill, 1.75 miles east of Ennis, and "probably" on to Riverside and Richardsville.

April 21, 1972
Counties:  Butler
F-scale:  F3
Deaths:  0
Injuries:
Path width:
Path length:  5 miles
Time:  8:00pm
Grazulis narrative:  Moved from three miles south of Cromwell to near Gilstrap.  Three small homes were blown down.  Twelve other homes and a church were damaged, and two barns were destroyed.
Noted discrepancies:  SPC, Storm Data, and NCDC list no injuries, Grazulis lists 2.  SPC and NCDC give a path length of six miles, Grazulis and Storm Data give 5.  SPC gives a path width of 10 yards, NCDC 30 yards, Grazulis nothing.

April 3, 1974
Counties:  Butler
F-scale:  F1
Deaths:
Injuries:
Path width:
Path length:
Time:  7:25pm
Noted discrepancies:  SPC/NCDC lat/lon place this tornado in Mason County.  Unable to plot, pending further research.

May 12, 1978
Counties:  Butler, Warren
F-scale:  F2
Deaths:  0
Injuries:  0
Path width:  400 yards
Path length:  15 miles
Time:  9:45pm
Grazulis narrative:  Moved east-northeast from six miles south of Morgantown near KY 79, damaging or destroying three farm homes and fifteen barns.
Notes:  A home was moved off its foundation and lost a wall on "Guy Hadley" (Hadley Shearer?) Road.  Trees were uprooted and a car was lifted and spun around.
Noted discrepancies:  This tornado is not included in the SPC database or at the NCDC website (despite listing 32 tornadoes elsewhere across the country that day), but is listed in Storm Data and Grazulis.  The Bowling Green newspaper said the damage occurred around 10:30pm.

June 17, 1997
Counties: Butler
F-scale: F0
Deaths:
Injuries:
Path width:
Path length:
Time: 7:25pm
Noted discrepancies: None

April 4, 2011
Counties:  Butler
F-scale:  EF1
Deaths:  0
Injuries:  0
Path width:  50 yards
Path length:  3.4 miles
Time:  12:26pm CDT to 12:30pm CDT
Notes:  This tornado touched down 1.7 miles west-northwest of Sugar Grove near the intersection of Dimple and Belcher Roads.  The tornado continued for four minutes along a 3.4 mile long path with winds to 100 mph, lifting 0.7 miles northeast of Needmore.   The path was 50 yards wide.  Near Needmore trees were snapped and a section of a residence's roof was removed.  Elsewhere along the path minor roof damage occurred and a mobile home was moved from its foundation. The tornado lifted just east of the William H. Natcher/Green River Parkway.

November 17, 2013
County: Butler
EF-Scale: EF1
Deaths: 0
Injury: 1
Path width: 200 yards
Path length: 5.3 miles
Time: 4:10-4:16pm CST
Notes:  The tornado, with 105 mph winds, touched down approximately one mile west of Huntsville on Blaine Road where some trees were uprooted. The tornado then moved eastward into Huntsville where a few homes were damaged and trees were snapped along Huntsville-Quality Road. The tornado then continued east damaging trees, homes and small outbuildings just north of Silver City-Huntsville Road. One minor injury occurred in a double-wide that lost all of its roof and a couple of walls just west of the intersection of Silver City-Huntsville Road and Panther Creek Road. Intermittent minor damage then occurred east of this intersection. Finally, the tornado did a more concentrated area of damage along Muddy Creek Road where a few more homes and trees were damaged. The tornado quickly lifted 4 miles east of Huntsville.

March 1, 2017
County:  Butler
EF-Scale:  EF1
Deaths:   0
Injuries:  0
Path width:  90 yards
Path length:  0.8 miles
Time:  12:35am - 12:37am CST
Notes: The tornado touched down south of D&G Archery and snapped, twisted, and uprooted trees on rugged, rural countryside. One building was damaged at the touchdown site.  

February 24, 2018
County:  Butler
EF-Scale:  EF1
Deaths:   0
Injuries:  0
Path width:  100 yards
Path length:  1.4 miles
Time: 9:21pm - 9:24pm CST
Notes: Damage began near Ewing Road where trees were snapped and twisted. This continued along Graveltown Road. The tornado reached its peak intensity on KY 106 where it did significant damage to a large barn. The tornado crossed the highway, uprooted two trees, and lifted.