Warren/Allen County Tornado and Straight Line Winds March 2, 2020

Overview

A series of strong storms, including supercells, moved into the lower Ohio River Valley and Tennessee Valleys late on the evening of March 2 and early in the morning of March 3, 2020. Along with large hail, and some flash flooding, one particular storm produced a brief but strong tornado in SE Warren County, crossing over into Allen County, KY.

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Tornado & Wind Damage
Radar
Storm Reports

Tornado & Wind Damage

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Tornado - LOCATION
Warren/Allen County

Date	March 3rd, 2020
Time (Local)	1215 AM CST
EF Rating	2
Est. Peak Winds	115 MPH
Path Length	2.2 Miles
Max Width	250 Yards
Injuries/Deaths	0
Summary: The National Weather Service in Louisville conducted a storm damage survey across eastern Warren and northwestern Allen counties for storms that went through after midnight this morning. For reference most of the damage was around the southeastern portion of the Alvaton community, east of Bowling Green. Several trees were either uprooted or pushed over, facing from the west southwest to the east northeast just west of Highway 231 on Fairview Road. The wind swath was about 200 yards wide. Just east of Highway 231 a large 40 x 60 storage barn for a camper had its roof partially lifted downwind to the east northeast. The metal siding was flung up to 150 yards into the trees. The tree damage continued along Alvaton Scottsville Road... intoMarble Gate Ct. Several homes sustained roof damage...with several porches partially lifted up causing structural damage. One home on Marble Gate Court had 4, 20 pound steel chairs flung about 50 yards and the 35 pound table thrown 25 yards. Portions of the porch covering were flown 125 yards into the yard of their next-door neighbor, 2 of which punctured the house like a flying 2 by 4 missile. There were also portions of the deck impaled in the ground. The damage swatch increased to about 225 yards and winds increased to 80 to 85 mph. There were at least three trees laying on homes. Just east off Claypool Boyce Road... there was a distinct change inthe tree pattern. Instead of just going to the northeast trees were now going to the northwest, north and northeast. A large 2 x 8 went flying and got wedged between the windshield wiper in the windshield but incredibly did not crack the windshield. This is where a small tornado formed within the straight-line wind path...with winds between 80 and 85 mph. Residents reported half inch hail, followed by a surge in lightning, then quiet, then a 20 second loud roar with popping in their ears followed by complete silence again. Further east in the 500 block of Kara Court...there was significant tree damage with the back of the house being uplifted and insulation being thrown upwind and downwind around the back of the house. Trees were laying in all directions with lots of twisting and many snapped trees. At the 200 block of Cross Creek Court, the clearest evidence of trees are facing all eight intercardinal headings. In this area...rrees were snapped and uprooted all over the place. The survey team estimated well over 500 trees in a 1 mile stretch have been uprooted snapped or pushed over. Two of the snapped trees landed on pick up trucks. Winds increased to EF1 range of 95 mph and a width of 225 yards. At the 2400 block of WG Talley Road was the most significant damage of the entire survey. Three barns were destroyed, 2 of them were concreted in strong firm footers. One of the barns was 30 x 80, one was 150 x 100, and one was 12 x 16 along with numerous sheds destroyed, and debris was thrown in all directions downwind up to 500 yards. A 5000 pound horse trailer was thrown to the northwest 70 yards. A very well-built family residence took a direct hit from an EF2 tornado, with the front side of the home having the plywood exposed and with most of the shingles gone but the rest of the house fully intact due to the house having all the proper clips braces and with rebar. Wind speeds at this point were 116 mph with a width of 250 yards. Tree Damage continued into Allen County along Allen Springs Road. The tornado lifted just north of Bailey School Road in far NW Allen County. The survey team would like to thank Warren County emergency management and the Alvaton Volunteer fire department for their assistance with the storm survey.

Track Map

The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:

EF0 Weak 65-85 mph	EF1 Moderate 86-110 mph	EF2 Significant 111-135 mph	EF3 Severe 136-165 mph	EF4 Extreme 166-200 mph	EF5 Catastrophic 200+ mph

Radar


Radar reflectivity just before tornado touchdown in southeast Warren	Storm relative motion (SRM), showing a broad area of circulation just before touchdown	Reflectivity just after the tornado lifted off the ground in NW Allen	SRM at time of peak intensity, showing a brief tighter circulation

Storm Reports

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1017 PM     HAIL             5 WSW SUGAR GROVE       37.05N 86.74W
03/02/2020  E1.00 INCH       BUTLER             KY   TRAINED SPOTTER

            NEAR DAVIS CROSSROADS. HAIL UP TO QUARTER
            SIZE, BUT DIME SIZE HAIL COVERING GROUND.

1020 PM     HAIL             1 NE HADLEY             37.06N 86.60W
03/02/2020  U0.75 INCH       WARREN             KY   PUBLIC

            REPORT FROM MPING: DIME (0.75 IN.).

1035 PM     HAIL             3 SW RICHARDSVILLE      37.06N 86.52W
03/02/2020  U0.75 INCH       WARREN             KY   PUBLIC

            REPORT FROM MPING: DIME (0.75 IN.).

1050 PM     HAIL             2 NW BOWLING GREEN      36.99N 86.47W
03/02/2020  U1.00 INCH       WARREN             KY   PUBLIC

            REPORT FROM MPING: QUARTER (1.00 IN.).

1057 PM     HAIL             1 NE BOWLING GREEN      36.99N 86.43W
03/02/2020  U0.75 INCH       WARREN             KY   PUBLIC

            REPORT FROM MPING: DIME (0.75 IN.).

1057 PM     HAIL             PLUM SPRINGS            37.02N 86.38W
03/02/2020  E1.00 INCH       WARREN             KY   TRAINED SPOTTER



1105 PM     HAIL             2 ESE PLUM SPRINGS      37.01N 86.35W
03/02/2020  E1.00 INCH       WARREN             KY   PUBLIC



1220 AM     FLASH FLOOD      2 SSW HISEVILLE         37.07N 85.83W
03/03/2020                   BARREN             KY   911 CALL CENTER

            2 ROADS WERE CLOSED WITH FLOWING WATER OVER
            THEM AT CORAL HILL ROAD AND EVANS ROAD, AND
            ON CORAL HILL HALFWAY ROAD.

1238 AM     HAIL             4 N GRADYVILLE          37.14N 85.42W
03/03/2020  U0.75 INCH       ADAIR              KY   PUBLIC

            REPORT FROM MPING: DIME (0.75 IN.).

1251 AM     HAIL             3 SE COBURG             37.17N 85.26W
03/03/2020  U0.50 INCH       ADAIR              KY   PUBLIC

            REPORT FROM MPING: HALF-INCH (0.50 IN.).

0115 AM     TORNADO          2 SE ALVATON            36.85N 86.32W
03/03/2020                   WARREN             KY   NWS STORM SURVEY

            EF-2 TORNADO THAT HAD AN OVERALL PATH LENGTH OF 2.2 MILES
            AS IT TRAVELED INTO FAR NORTHWEST ALLEN COUNTY. AT ITS 
            WIDEST POINT IT WAS 250 YARDS AND IT WAS ON THE GROUND FOR
            4 MINUTES. THE TORNADO FORMED WITHIN AN AREA OF STRAIGHT-
            LINED WINDS AND THEN STRENGTHENED AS IT MOVED INTO THE 
            2400 BLOCK OF WG TALLEY ROAD. THREE BARNS WERE DESTROYED
            HERE, WITH TWO OF THEM CONCRETED IN STRONG FIRM FOOTERS.
            A VERY WELL BUILT HOME TOOK A DIRECT HIT...WITH THE FRONT
            SIDE OF THE HOME HAVING THE PLYWOOD EXPOSED AND WITH MOST
            SHINGLES GONE. AT A ONE-MILE STRETCH IN THE TRACK, THE
            SURVEY TEAM ESTIMATED OVER 500 TREES WERE EITHER 
            UPROOTED, SNAPPED, OR PUSHED OVER. THE TORNADO LIFTED
            JUST NORTH OF BAILEY SCHOOL ROAD.            

0117 AM     TSTM WND DMG     2 SE ALVATON            36.84N 86.32W
03/03/2020                   WARREN             KY   BROADCAST MEDIA

            MULTIPLE TREES DOWN, SIGNIFICANT ROOF DAMAGE
            TO TWO HOMES.

0123 AM     TSTM WND DMG     4 SE CLAYPOOL           36.86N 86.20W
03/03/2020                   ALLEN              KY   EMERGENCY MNGR

            MULTIPLE TREES DOWN NEAR CEMETERY ROAD AND
            SHOCKLEY ROAD.

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