The tornado that struck in Pulaski County Friday night — and into the early morning hours continuing through neighboring Laurel County — has been officially determined to have been an EF-4.
The rating was assigned to the tornado according to the National Weather Service Office in Jackson, Kentucky, as they announced on their Facebook page late Tuesday afternoon.
The tornado resulted in 19 deaths, and the destruction of multiple homes and other buildings. In Somerset, it hit particularly hard in the southern and eastern parts of the community, destroying notable structures like Redeemer Lutheran Church, South Kentucky RECC, and Baxter’s Coffee South in the area of Parkers Mill Road and stoplight no. 22 on South U.S. 27.
The EF Scale, or Enhanced Fujita Scale, rates tornadoes from 0 to 5 based on wind speeds as determined through surveying damage. An EF-4 would have winds in the range of 166 to 200 miles per hour.
According to the National Weather Service, this tornado reached a maximum wind speed of 170 miles per hour, covering a path stretching 55.6 miles. The tornado had a maximum width of 1,700 yards.
On Monday morning, survey teams with the National Weather Service were in in the Pulaski/Laurel County area. While their assessments had not been completed at that time, representatives from the NWS out of Jackson said that indications were the tornado was at least an EF 3, “if not higher.”