Written by WCPO’s PJ O’Keefe
Severe weather is headed to the Northern Kentucky area tonight, and there’s one part of our forecast that makes these incoming storms of particular concern: The Storm Prediction Center has the entire Tri-State under a “Significant Tornado Outlook.”
Backing up two steps: The Storm Prediction Center is usually responsible for issuing a threat level of incoming severe storms. That threat level is a 1-5 scale, 1 being a concern about a possible severe thunderstorm in the area designated, up to a 5, which means widespread severe weather is expected, including tornadoes, hail and thunderstorms.
The western portion of the Tri-State is under a 4, or moderate risk, while the rest of our region is under a 3, or enhanced risk.
As an added concern, the Storm Prediction Center has also put our entire region inside their Significant Tornado Outlook. This means that if a tornado does develop, it has a higher potential to become violent, meaning EF-2 strength or stronger.
For context, the storms we had Sunday produced four EF-0 tornadoes, the least powerful type of tornado there is, which spawned damage to buildings and flipped RVs in various parts of the Tri-State.
The Enhanced Fujita scale, or the measurement of the strength of tornadoes, goes from EF0 to EF5. Here are the wind gusts measured for each level of tornado:
EF0: 65-85mph
EF1: 86-110mph
EF2: 111-135mph
EF3: 136-165mph
EF4: 166-200mph
EF5: 200mph or more
As you can imagine, stronger winds in a tornado mean more damage and danger.
For the Tri-State area, the majority of tornadoes that are confirmed by the National Weather Service are EF1s or EF0s. From 1950-2021, out of more than 250 tornadoes reported in the Tri-State, only about 30% of those were rated higher than an EF1.
This story originally appeared at wcpo.com.