Tornado Climatology of Nelson County

February 19, 1884
Counties:  Nelson, Spencer
F-scale:  F2
Deaths:  1
Injuries:  30
Path width:  200 yards
Path length: 9 miles
Time: 4:30pm
Narrative:  Moved east from south of High Grove, to seven miles west of Fairfield, to two miles east of Fairfield.  A man was killed in a tobacco barn, and thirty people were injured in the High Grove area as at least six homes were destroyed.  The funnel may have been aloft over Fairfield.  This tornado was part of the "Enigma Outbreak", when sixty tornadoes swept through the southeast United States.

March 16, 1942
Counties:  Nelson
F-scale:  F3
Deaths:  4
Injuries:  20
Path width:  200 yards
Path length:  15 miles
Time:  7:30pm
Narrative:  Moved east-northeast, passing north of Bardstown, killing people in three different homes.  Rural homes were leveled from near Deatsville to Cox's Creek.

May 8, 1969
Counties:  Nelson
F-scale:  F1
Deaths:
Injuries:
Path width:
Path length:
Time:  5:00pm
Noted discrepancies:  SPC gives a path length of 1/10 of a mile and a width of 10 yards...NCDC gives nothing for either. 
Notes:  Storm Data says this tornado destroyed two barns in the Fairfield area.

April 14, 1972
Counties:  LaRue, Nelson
F-scale:  F1
Deaths:
Injuries:
Path width:
Path length:
Time:  1:10am
Noted discrepancies:  NCDC only includes LaRue County.  Storm Data says the tornado unroofed a home in LaRue County before crossing the Rolling Fork River in Nelson County at New Haven.
Notes:  Will map this as touching down just barely inside LaRue County.  (SPC's lat/lon is actually in Nelson County).

August 25, 1972
Counties:  Nelson
F-scale:  F1
Deaths:
Injuries:
Path width:
Path length:
Time:  1:50pm
Noted discrepancies:  SPC gives a path width of 10 yards, NCDC gives 30 yards.  This tornado is not listed in Storm Data!  More research would be helpful.

April 3, 1974
Counties:  Hardin, Nelson, Spencer
F-scale:  F4
Deaths:  3
Injuries:  81
Path width:  400 yards
Path length: 40 miles
Time:  3:45pm
Eyewitness narrative: I was 15 years old at the time and I lived on KY 44 just east of Elk Creek in Spencer County. The storm came up from near Cox's Creek where the Whitney Horse Farm was damaged, crossing Lilly Pike where several homes, barns, and trailers were demolished, across Murray Road, and then across KY 44 and on to the Elk Creek community. On Murray Road a father and son were in their milking barn when they saw the storm approach. They got under some heavy equipment for shelter and the barn came down around them. They were rescued several hours later as workers and neighbors cleared Murray Road of trees and debris. The father was taken to the hospital in critical condition but the son was OK. As the twister crossed Murray Road and Elk Creek it was about 300 yards wide. The tornado broke into vortices at my home on KY 44 and circled around the house. Our neighbors between us and the creek lost their roof, which landed 300 yards to the east of their home mostly intact. Witnesses said that the main tornado broke into two vortices, the larger one of which hit the house to our west while the other went to the east and damaged a farm on Carl Monroe Road just south of KY 44. My home was in between the two vortices and was spared. The two vortices came together on the north side of KY 44 across from my house and destroyed a large tobacco barn. Debris from the barn could be seen circling the tornado and was thrown to the southeast. I saw the tornado start to rope out at this point. It touched down again in Elk Creek but didn't do much more damage.
Grazulis narrative:  Moved northeast from northwest of Elizabethtown, destroying businesses as it passed two miles north of that town along the miracle mile strip on US 31W.  Two people were killed in this area.  One person was killed as 15 homes were destroyed near Cox's Creek, Nelson County.  The funnel lifted two miles north of Fairfield.  Nelson County lost 52 homes and about 100 barns.
Noted discrepancies:  Grazulis takes this tornado into Bullitt County as well.  The path Grazulis describes seems to keep the tornado just barely inside Nelson County, though it does indeed come very close to the Bullitt County line.  Grazulis lifts the tornado two miles north of Fairfield, but SPC/NCDC take it to north of Wakefield.  Storm Data may begin this tornado at Colesburg in Hardin County...then it reports continuous damage from 3 miles north of Boston to Samuels to 2 miles north of Fairfield.  Storm Data lists Hardin, Nelson, and Spencer counties.  SPC/NCDC give a path length of 38 miles, Grazulis gives 42 miles.  SPC gives a path width of 10 yards, NCDC 30 yards, Grazulis 400 yards.  Grazulis' path width is probably the most correct.

March 10, 1986
Counties:  Nelson
F-scale:  F1
Deaths:
Injuries:
Path width:
Path length:
Time:  4:00pm
Notes:  Storm Data says this tornado touched down near Botland on Manton Road at the Carol Ballard Farm.

March 12, 1986
Counties:  Nelson
F-scale:  F1
Deaths:
Injuries:  2
Path width:
Path length:
Time:  5:10am
Notes:  Storm Data says this tornado struck Hunters Lane, north of Bardstown.

March 28, 1997
Counties:  Nelson
F-scale:  F0
Deaths:
Injuries:
Path width:
Path length:
Time:  6:15pm
Noted discrepancies:  None

February 6, 2008
Counties:  Nelson
EF-scale:  EF2
Deaths:  0
Injuries:  0
Path width:  300 yards
Path length:  1.3 miles
Time:  12:38am EST to 12:42am EST
Notes: An outbuilding was destroyed and the top half of a silo was knocked off.  Near Patton Road there was an enhanced area of tree damage, with the trees laying in a convergent pattern.

February 6, 2008
Counties:  Nelson
EF-scale:  EF2
Deaths:  0
Injuries:  2
Path width:  300 yards
Path length:  0.8 miles
Time:  12:50am EST to 12:52am EST
Notes: This tornado destroyed or heavily damaged two shop buildings at a construction company.  A couple trailers on the company site were rolled over.  Farther along the tornado's path, it knocked a mobile home off the foundation, and rolled it over two nearby cars.  Two occupants of the mobile home were injured.

April 8, 2020
County:  Nelson
EF-Scale: EF1
Deaths:   0
Injuries:  0
Path width:  45 yards
Path length:  4 miles
Time: 11:20-11:25pm EDT
Notes: The tornado initially touched down on the northwest side of a large family home and farm on Fairfield Road. The upper part of the roof of a two story home was lifted off and thrown in various directions. Several large 2x10s and 2x8s were impaled in the ground about 50 yards from the barn. Two trees on the property sustained extensive damage. The tornado at this point was only 35 yards wide with wind speeds of 95 mph. The owner of the house was upstairs sleeping when he felt his ears popping, then a large roar of wind on top of the house and bricks fell on his bed. The tornado then moved across a mixture of open farm fields and scattered forest. There was a significant swath of tree damage between Fairfield Road and Murrays Run Road with trees uprooted and snapped. Drone footage clearly showed trees lying in multiple directions. The tornado hit a property on Murrays Run Road ripping off the sides of a large well-built barn. The back part of the barn was thrown to the west while a wagon in the trailer was pushed out through the barn. A 72'x12' shed next to the barn was destroyed. Parts of that barn were impaled into the ground 75 yards from the damage path. Across the street the tornado did extensive roof damage to a family house and barn. Debris from the barn was thrown up to 300 yards downwind and in many different directions. The family said that they heard all the doors in the house shut tightly and heard a distinct roar. The tornado produced sporadic damage across farmland mainly in terms of trees, with more concentrated damage along Plum Run Road. Cedar tree damage was rather extensive with many cedars snapped. Winds here were around 90 mph with a width of 40 yards. The tornado destroyed an old barn on Chester Hahn Road but then weakened to an EF0 of 80 mph and ended with a few snapped trees before Dugan Lane.