Weather officials say the tornado that hit Mt. Vernon this week was historic. WNIN’s John Gibson explains:
July and August are historically quite months for tornadoes in the Tri-State.
The National Weather Service says the EF-3 twister that caused damage on the east end of Mt. Vernon was the strongest July tornado to occur in the area since at least 1950.
Officials say the six twisters hat developed in Union, Posey and Gibson counties on Tuesday set a new record for number of tornadoes to occur in July.
The weather service notes it’s the kind of records we want to be breaking, but they are glad that nobody was hurt.
The National Weather Service says six separate tornadoes developed Tuesday afternoon and evening, as the remnants of Hurricane Beryl (barrel) rolled through the Tri-State.
Assessment teams say the strongest twister struck the east end of Mt. Vernon and was rated EF-3.
The next strongest, rated EF-2, was on the ground for more than eight miles from Poseyville to Johnson in Posey County.
The other 4 tornadoes were rated EF-1.
They included two twisters in Union County, Kentucky, one in Springfield in Posey County, and a tornado that struck the west side of Patoka in Gibson County.
The storms caused damage but no deaths or injuries were reported.