Today we are going to talk about one of the worst tornado outbreaks across the Ohio and Middle-Mississippi River Valley and the worst weather event in Western KY during the 19th century.

Setup:

Just over two months after the Clinton, KY F-4 tornado another major low-pressure system moved northwest of the area. Tracking from near St. Louis through NW Ohio, bringing in moist and unstable air into the area. A very strong mid to low-level jet created significant wind shear and the supercelluar storm mode allowed for long-tracked tornadoes.

The Northern Supercell:

Based on the damage, timing of damage, damage pattern, and environment we feel confident that the first set of tornadoes starting in far Southeast Missouri and moving across the general Paducah to general Owensboro area were from one single supercell. The supercell started near Birds Point, Missouri shortly before 6pm doing a significant tornado in far SE Missouri before gradually weakening and striking Wickliffe. No fatalities occurred in Wickliffe.

The most significant tornado of this supercell and the outbreak in general occurred near the Ballard/McCracken County line just north of West Paducah and around the Ragland area. This storm crossed the Ohio River and struck Metropolis, IL head-on before crossing back into Livingston County and striking the Bayou and Hampton communities, with 4 dead in Livingston County. This storm then moved into Crittenden County and impacting the Sherdian and Mattoon areas, a house was struck in Sherdian causing 5 fatalities at one location and there was an additional death elsewhere in the county.

The worst damage of this tornado and probably the outbreak across Western Kentucky occurred throughout Webster County. According to Gen Disasters (which sadly is no longer functioning), this tornado hit the towns of Blackford, Dixon, and Sebree. At Blackford, many coal mining camps, homes, and miles of forestland were destroyed and leveled. In Sebree, a train derailed when a tornado pushed a tree on a railroad track and a passenger train struck it (we had passenger trains in our area back in 1890) this killed 3 people on that train. At least 11 to 21 people (according to various sources and Gen Disasters) lost their lives across Webster County and damages would be equivalent to a few million at least in 2024 dollars across the county. This is the most damaging tornado to ever hit Crittenden and Webster Counties. This tornado clipped the far NW part of McLean County just northwest of Beech Grove before striking the Delaware, St. Joseph, and West Louisville areas. Near Delaware (far SW Daviess County) a tornado killed a family of 5 when it destroyed their house. All and all this tornado was the 3rd deadiest tornado in our history with anywhere from 20 to 40 deaths. This supercell also dropped an EF-2 tornado across SE Daviess/Southern Hancock Counties killing 2.

The Middle Supercell:

The second supercell produced two F/EF-4 tornadoes. It appears by the timing of the tracks and sequence that these two tornadoes occurred with the same tornado, which occurred shortly after the northern supercell. The first tornado tracked across Marshall, Livingston, and Lyon Counties. This tornado was known for damaging 1/2 of Grand Rivers and damaging and destroying most of the bridges in this area over towards Kuttawa and Eddyville before it lifted. This tornado killed at least 7 people.

The second tornado touched down in Ohio County just east of Hartford. This tornado struck the Dundee and Sulphur Springs area. In this area, 2 people were killed and homes were wiped out. This tornado moved across Grayson and Hardin Counties.

Other Storms and Tornadoes:

Two other significant and deadly tornadoes occurred across south-central Kentucky. This struck the Caledonia area damaging many of the homes there before moving into Christian County and dissipating somewhere around the northwest side of Hopkinsville. In the Bellview area (modern-day Julien?) 3 deaths occurred according to the Kentucky New Era as a tornado struck a general store causing a fire as the folks were trapped in the ruins of the stores. Another tornado (EF-3) killed 4 (potentially up to 17) in Allen County from just southeast of Scottsville to the Tracy community.

Why Was It Significant:

If one were to ask me what tornado outbreak rivals the Dec 2021 tornado outbreak (which will be #2 on this list) then I would choose this outbreak.

• At least 39 deaths occurred in this tornado outbreak across our area, with likely more deaths that were not reported or confirmed because this occurred in 1890. It is possible that the true death toll was close to or even exceeded the Dec 2021 tornado outbreak. Property can be replaced but the lives of loved ones cannot be replaced.
• This is the only outbreak where we had multiple confirmed violent tornadoes in our history (F/EF-4 or higher) This tornado outbreak featured three of those tornadoes.
• This is the same day that the deadly Louisville tornado occurred. This tornado was the deadliest in the state’s history with anywhere from 76 to 150 deaths in Louisville. Overall this tornado outbreak was the deadliest tornado outbreak on record for the state of Kentucky.

Links:

https://kyclimate.org/topic/9014754493943728920 <—- A good link from Shane Holinde

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/284ab911251e4016b2794cb3a9c38354 <– Mostly focused on the Louisville tornado but talks about the environment at large.