Bowling Green Tornado - The Forgotten Nightmare

On the evening of December 10th, 2021 a tornado outbreak would devastate the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys. By 10:30pm A devastating EF4 tornado has been on the ground for nearly 100 miles, destroying everything in its path and obliterating the town of Dawson Springs Kentucky, however today is not that story. The tornadoes associated with the Quad State Supercell deservedly get a lot of attention, however, the December 10 2021 tornado outbreak was much more than just the quad state supercell. Just to the south the ongoing Western Kentucky Tornado, the same potent atmosphere is coming together with deadly precision to unleash another family of devastating tornadoes. This is their story..

This video explores the story of the Bowling Green Tornado that occurred on Dec 10-11th 2021.

EF Scale explanation:
EF0 Light Damage (65-85mph)
EF1 Moderate Damage (86-110mph)
EF2 Considerable Damage (111-135mph)
EF3 Severe Damage (136-165mph)
EF4 Devastating Damage (166-200mph)
EF5 Incredible Damage (201mph+)

Sources:

NOT FOR BROADCAST

[derekharvey]

The entire family of 7 that died in creekwood was the same picture with the orange s15 pickup that you showed in the video. That was also my best friend's family. It was his mom, his sister, husband and their 4 kids ages 4 8 10 and 13. May God rest their souls. This video really made me break down again. Gone a year and this feels like last night calling and calling trying to get ahold of them. My everyone say a prayer for them. Amen ):

[zachhenderson]

I live in bowling green. The air felt very weird that night. I believe it was in the high 70’s and you could feel the electricity in the air. It was very unique and unsettling for some reason. We’ve had tornado watches and warnings in the past but the storms always seemed to dissipate or go around bowling green. People from here call it the “bowling green bubble.” I was downtown picking up a friend from the bar when the cow bells starting going off. People were running down the streets trying to get to there homes. We had to go through the intersection of scottsville road and 31w bypass to get to my house. The light was red and we blew through it. The tornado directly hit that intersection destroying the fatted calf butcher shops and several other businesses. My house is in the hartland bent tree area but luckily it missed us. I don’t know how close we were to being intercepted by the tornado in that intersection but it was very unsettling when we woke up the next day and saw the devastating damage and loss of life to our town. The damage is more than physical. It’s mental for the entire community as well. Everyone is on high alert and riddled with anxiety during weather events now. This was a historical event for us and I thank you for shining some light on this for others to see.

[ksfishchannel]

I live in BG and I just gotta say despite the intensity of the storm, it was amazing how everyone banded together to rebuild. I think we raised like $100, 000 for victims in a couple days, and thats not even counting all of the people and businesses that volunteered relief.

[michaelbunch]

I live in Bowling Green. I sat outside for the majority of the tornado. I didn't have a clue how bad it was until the next morning. I'll never take another tornado warning for granted again.

[BeeM]

Being 🇬🇧I had no idea what was to come from the warm weather we were experiencing in BG that day. My 🇺🇸husband and I hid in our bath tub. He covered my ears as the tornado tore through, shaking the walls as we listened to neighbours screaming in the dark. So grateful for the sirens and alerts that gave us minutes to get to safety. Though we moved out of state, BG will always hold a special place in my heart ❤️The community really came together within hours to help each other.

[paintrain]

At one point, the Bowling Green tornado was upgraded to EF4, with winds of 170 mph in the Creekwood Subdivision due to the overwhelming totality of the destruction. However, after finding evidence of poor construction in the subdivision, it was downgraded back to high-end EF3.

[ThePhildozer]

I live in Bowling Green and this had to have been one of my most terrifying experiences. Luckily the tornadoes missed my apartment. A lot of businesses right down the road from me were absolutely destroyed. It was a tragedy.

[hannahgroves]

I don't live in the area anymore, but my family does. I was very pregnant and insomniac that night, and as a result, I stayed up to keep in contact with my mom and watch the storms. As the night wore on, I noticed the trajectory of this storm and that it could easily hit either my parents' or my grandparents' home. My mom was torn between staying home and going to get my grandparents, who wouldn't likely be able to get down to my parents' basement even if she got them to her home in time. I didn't realize how fast the storm was moving, and when it was in the next county over, realized it was heading toward my grandparents' town, thought they would be in bed and a call wouldn't wake them, and that it would be about fifteen minutes before it would be in their town. No point in staying up worrying. I went and lay down for about five minutes, and when I checked radar again, it had already moved past. My mom had some difficulty getting through to my grandparents the next morning, but did succeed. They were fine, their home untouched, but the tornado had passed within, I think, three miles of their home. This would be the second strong tornado to pass within a few miles of them, the first being during the Super Outbreak of 1974.

[Ethcon]

Just incredible how potent that environment was that night... Great coverage on the Bowling Green Cell Tornado Family!

[ericablaire]

I am from Breman, Kentucky, and it's sad that a year later, it still looks eerily similar to the day after the deadly tornados. We are a small town, so getting help has shown to be extremely difficult, which is very unfortunate for so many who lost literally everything. It's going to take a very long time to rebuild from the damage our town experienced. We have a population of roughly 200 people, and we lost 12 people that December night. Including our county district judge and an infant. It was/is truly devastating.

[alissacook]

I was on Russellville road that night. Had the tornado not made a slight change in direction at the very last second it would have went directly over where I was… houses maybe 50 ft away were completely destroyed. I remember holding hands with my boyfriend and his family and because of the noise and intensity, I actually mentally prepared to die… so devastating that a family lost their lives that night I can’t even imagine the terror. Rest in peace to the victims of the 2022 tornado outbreak and prayers of comfort for their families. I was a part of the class of 2021 WKU, this was the night before our scheduled graduation which was obviously cancelled. One of our graduates lost his life that night 💔 may he rest in peace.
Btw- thank you for making this video, I actually learned a lot about the conditions of that night!

[jamespalmore]

I know everyone might not watch these videos with bass speakers or ear buds but the music you use is incredibly haunting! The bass rumbling and all! It makes already scary enough tornadoes, even more scary! Especially knowing this historic event happened at night! So well done, & i appreciate you talking about the storms that are very significant yet get over looked! Rest easy to all those lost! 🙏

[ayjay]

I lived in Bowling Green at the time and this was a very scary experience. I never took tornado alarms seriously and now I always panic when I hear them.

[chrisduffy]

I live in Bowling Green. Thank you for telling the story. I was at work when the tornado hit, just across Veterans Memorial from the Creekwood subdivison.

[ryanwatern]

Wow I’m astonished by this video. This is better then some tornado documentaries I’ve seen on TV. The editing and the narration is TV quality if not better.

[EOSWEYLAND]

Before this video was published I always thought the bowling green EF3 was overlooked because of Mayfield. I did not realise how bad it actually was.

[faithphillips]

I am from here and you did amazing with this video! That night was so terrifying and the storm was so loud that I thought my house was going to cave in. Recently, the siren went off out of a glitch that happened and people thought another tornado was happening. This was very hard on our community but we have rebuilt and grown. Thank you for this video!

[ARHigdon]

I used to live in Bowling Green. I moved away in Spring 2021. One of my best friends still lives there and was nearly hit. The paths the tornadoes took were where I spent a lot of time during my five years there. Before moving away, I was living on the west side of Bowling Green, so hearing there was a nasty storm in progress sent chills down my spine. Several old co-workers of mine were spared damage, but I know one that was affected. Thankfully she's alright.

I'm fascinated by tornadoes, but having one come through so close to where you used to be is just... It's wild.

[farmishcitygirl]

I live in BG… it was quite the night and the stories were heart breaking. My close coworker is one whose home was fully gone when the sun came up. I think everyone here knew someone impacted. A year later and we all still have anxiety from it

[hansdiedeutsch]

Thank you for covering this. It was horrifying being right in the middle of it, especially since many consider it to have been an EF4. We've had a bunch of scares since because our weather alert system barely works now after it got wrecked by the Dec10 Tornado. Everyone is still on edge a year later. This recent Tornado here a couple days gave me anxiety waiting for it to cause even more damage. Thankfully it didn't.