National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

The March 2, 2012 tornado outbreak will go down in the Eastern Kentucky record books. Prior to March 2, 2012 there had not been any recorded tornadoes in Martin County. Before March 2, 2012 only 1 weak tornado had been recorded in Johnson County and only 1 weak tornado had been recorded in Magoffin County. 

Prior to this year, the last F3/EF3 tornado to have affected any of the 33 Kentucky counties served by the Jackson National Weather Service Forecast Office was in 1988. On May 10, 1988 an F3 tornado hit downtown Middlesboro in Bell County and caused extensive damage.

The following maps and table provide historical information on tornadoes in eastern Kentucky. 

The following map shows the number of tornadoes that have occurred in each county in the Jackson Weather Forecast Office (WFO) service area from 1950 through 2012.

The following map shows the number of F2/EF2 tornadoes or greater intensity that have occurred in the Jackson WFO service area from 1950 through 2012. 

The following table is a record of tornadoes that have occurred in eastern Kentucky from 1950 to 2011. This includes all 33 counties in the WFO Jackson KY service area, as well as Lewis County in the WFO Wilmington OH service area, and Greenup, Carter, Boyd, and Lawrence Counties in the WFO Charleston service area.