MAYFIELD - Tornado Horror in Kentucky

On the evening of December 10th, 2021 a tornado outbreak would devastate the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys. One of the tornadoes from this outbreak would go on to make history as it completely destroyed several towns in Western Kentucky including the city of Mayfield. In this video we are going back to that tragic night in December to relive the disaster as it happened and explain the meteorology behind it. Follow along as we retrace the entire 165 mile damage path of this devastating EF4 Tornado. Today we discuss the Western Kentucky Tornado.

Mayfield was not the only town impacted by this monster tornado. The communities of Cayce, Benton, Cambridge Shores, Princeton, Dawson Springs, Bremen, and many more were also heavily impacted by this tornado.

Links to further information and videos on this tornado outbreak:

Tornado Footage courtesy of Chris Riske and Eddie Knight

Meteorology of the event

Sources

NOT FOR REBROADCAST

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[wickedlyoddella]

I remember watching from the UK the fabulous Ryan Hall Y’all. His usual motto is “don’t be scared, be prepared” but when he saw the tornado just before it hit Mayfield, his words were “there are some tornadoes you just can’t hide from”

[katwashere]

A nighttime tornado seems like it would be one of the scariest experiences ever.

[dkoon]

We live in Dawson springs Ky we lost are precious 2 month old baby girl that night due to injuries from the tornado 😢 R.I.P. Oaklynn Koon We actually went to my mother in law’s house that night because we live in a mobile home out in the country and we thought we would be safer in her small house but we were wrong her house was completely gone the only thing left was the foundation blocks and the concrete front and back steps everything else was completely gone we all ended up on the other side of the neighbors house scattered in piles of debris that night change are live forever we now have a storm shelter that was just installed a couple weeks ago… even if we never truly need it after going threw such destruction and chaos it’s the only way I know I can protect my family from Mother Nature but great job on the video

[richarpadilla]

I survived this tornado, i was one of the 110 workers that were making candles that night at Mayfield Consumer Products, i worked on line 2 making boxes, it really was a monster, even today i don't know how i am alive, i were more than 3 hours under the rubbled without being able to move !

[zachreece]

I was one of the responders to the factory the tornado hit. I still have nightmares of the things I saw. Can’t imagine what those people went through.

[wj]

I live in Mayfield, I'll never forget that night... I remember hiding in my MIL's closet with my baby, thankfully her house was well out of the way of the tornado's path and we were unharmed. I'll never forget the news coverage, and hearing about the candle factory, and the workers who were trapped under debris for days. My SIl's husband's family house was destroyed, along with their entire neighbourhood. We couldn't go back to our house for over a week because there were power lines all over the roads.

[ArchTeryx]

That couplet is insane, before even seeing the damage. How the heck the Mayfield tornado managed to avoid an EF5 rating is beyond me. It's almost like the NWS is avoiding the rating if at all possible - if ANY tornado after El Reno was EF5 it was this monster. A December tornado. At night. EF4/EF5 strength.

[mrsjp]

This was very well done but so hard to watch through tears. I had our family prepared the best I could as I could with 5 small children. We live in the path these storms usually take when coming from the south west. But this one shifted just to the west of us, just south of Mayfield. This shift may have very well saved our lives but took the life of a dear friend and unborn child just before hitting the candle factory. It’s very hard to drive past their home and I must every time I go to town. It’s hard to even drive through that part of town knowing one of our older sons was taking cover in the police station, I can’t even look at that building anymore. It also came just a mile from my 80+year old grandparents who were hiding together in their tub. This night will forever be remembered in my heart and will always bring me to uncontrollable tears.

[juliekaye]

I live in Mayfield!! It was terrifying!! My mom, myself and my little dogs hid in a closet. Somehow it barely missed us. So we were fine. But the devastation was unbelievable. I can't even put into words what everything looked like. I've never seen anything like it. It was so heartbreaking. There are so many people here who are still in great need. Thank you for doing this video.

[tisteele]

One of my close friends moved to Kentucky after we graduated high school and started a new life out there, and we didn't talk very much. Checked in maybe twice a year, that type of thing. I'm a huge weather nerd and keep up to date on all the crazy new storms going on, so naturally when I heard about Mayfield, I texted him to make sure he was okay. He never responded, until the day after, I get a phone call from an unsaved number. It was him. Turned out that his new job was at the candle factory and he was one of the survivors, and he had to get a new phone because it was destroyed during the storm. I will never forget the sheer shock I felt hearing his voice explain the damage. You always feel so removed from it, until you don't.

[JohnnyKaintucky]

Thanks for putting this together. Excellent documentation of "The Beast That Ate Mayfield". I lived there until that night and was in the direct path. I was watching with neighbors and we knew it was time to seek shelter. I ran upstairs to get my dog and realized my chromebook had lagged and I was about 4 minutes behind the live news stream. What sounded like a train in the distance changed it's sound as it picked up all the cars and metal and concrete and bricks and trees and lives. As it was crashing together in the sky at 190 mph+ it became the loudest machine I ever heard. In a matter of seconds it hit and I know I shouldn't have survived but somehow God pulled me through. It took me a couple of hours to dig out. I lost my next door neighbor and pretty much all I owned that night but I am blessed.

[nathanellis]

I’m from Franklin, Ky, but I was at college in Lexington, Ky. I didn’t go to bed till 5am until I was 100% sure my hometown was spared. Seeing the damage in mayfield and other communities broke my heart. I love this state more than anything and seeing my fellow Kentuckians suffer hurts my heart.

[susanwahl]

The one thing that makes me angry is that candle company said no one can leave. After the tornado hit, they said no we didn’t.

[Qeowz]

I lived there that night and was at work, we all gathered in the freezer and the managers were getting calls from storm watchers saying we were not safe and all of us were most likely not going to make it, it went right beside us and it sounded like a train passing right through the building… we all lived but a ton of people there lost their houses and/or family… it was terrible.

Edit:what a lot of people don’t mention is that the court house in mayfield caught on fire during the tornado, I have videos from that night and all of the lights in the city were out… completely black… eerie.

[FriendlyKat]

I know the NWS doesn’t issue Tornado Emergencies unless it’s with a good reason, and they’re very rare, but they were, sadly, spot on for this. The fact that a photo was found in ANOTHER state is INSANE! I’m honestly shocked it wasn’t deemed a EF5 with the land scouring and wiping some buildings to their foundations. This tornado was coming and had no signs of slowing down for such a long time!!

This is such a well made video! Thank you for it!

[OriginalRaveParty]

The revisited comparison drone shots at the end are absolutely unique. I've watched just about every significant video of Mayfield, and yours is the only one that has that excellent narrative feature. It's great to see that 8 months on, many areas are clear and rebuilding. Great video 👍

[Crzyace]

I live in a small town just a few miles south of mayfield. After realizing that the tornado wasn't going to hit us my wife and I looked out the door and we were in complete disbelief at what we were seeing. With every lightning strike we saw the tornado it was mind blowing how huge it was. We didn't at first believe that was what we were seeing but quickly realized that it was in fact a giant mile wide wedge tornado. I still remember the feeling of the inflow winds damn near knocking me off my feet. I was wild and terrifying at the same time to fully witness nature's full wrath right in front of my eyes. It will be something that I will never forget. Afterwards we found out that some of our close friends were directly impacted by the tornado they lived just on the other side of downtown. I rushed to them minutes after the tornado was gone and what I saw will haunt my dreams for the rest of my life. You only see destruction on that scale in moves and to see it in person is humbling. It looked like a bomb had just been set off and everything was everywhere. Cars wrecked, houses gone, trees down and electric polls were down as far as the eye could see. I was able to make it to my friend's who thankfully had survived. Our community and many of the others are never going to be the same. But we will rebuild and we will prosper.

[rw]

Beautifully done, thank you for showing so many before and after pictures. Here in Mayfield, the general consensus is they're not doing enough fast enough. They've had plenty enough time to build a new apartment block by now to help those displaced by the storm, but they haven't even started. Unsure if that's even part of the plan but it needs to be if they don't want people to move away. They're still in demolition in a lot of places and It's been over 8 months. They sure were in a hurry to build a new bank though.

[summerm]

I was never truly afraid of tornados until this night.
My college classes just ended and I stayed up for almost 24hrs watching this because I was so scared. I had family in bowling green, and it’s so sad what’s happened. :(

[anthonybush]

“An unseen monster masked by the darkness of night” gave me the chills 😧😳