Storms moving across Kentucky Saturday bring reports of possible tornado damage

Karla Ward
·3 min read
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Parts of Kentucky remained under a tornado watch Saturday night after a suspected tornado left damage in at least one Western Kentucky county Saturday afternoon.

Lexington and much of Central Kentucky was included in a Hazardous Weather Outlook statement issued by the National Weather Service in Louisville late Saturday afternoon.

“A strong weather system will move through the region this evening,” the statement said. “Widespread rain showers and scattered thunderstorms are expected. Some of the storms could be strong to severe with damaging winds being the main threat.”

South of Lexington, a number of counties were under a tornado watch until midnight. The weather service said the main threats were “scattered damaging winds and isolated spin-up tornadoes.”

A suspected tornado thought to have originated in Tennessee traveled through Logan County, then continued across a small section of northern Simpson County and into Warren County Saturday afternoon, said Kyle Wilkins, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Louisville.

“It was on the ground for a while,” Wilkins said.

While there were no reports of injuries early Saturday evening, Wilkins said “there definitely were houses and barns that had pretty good damage in Logan County,” particularly in the Olmstead community.

He said there were a few reports of damage in Bowling Green, including a roof reportedly blown off a hotel on Cumberland Trace.

Wilkins said the conditions favorable to tornadoes were decreasing Saturday evening, and “most of the favorable conditions now are pretty much at the Tennessee-Kentucky border.”

Sunday marks the two-year anniversary of the deadly tornado outbreak that claimed the lives of more than 80 Kentuckians.

Gov. Andy Beshear helped dedicate 10 homes to tornado survivors in Mayfield and Dawson Springs Saturday and participated in Mayfield’s Walk of Remembrance.

Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund has committed more than $21.6 million for building and repairing 300 homes as part of the tornado recovery, according to a news release. So far, 154 projects have been finished, are underway or are approved for construction, the release stated.

After a warm day Saturday, Wilkins said highs in Lexington Sunday would likely hit only the low 40s.