KENTUCKY — Friday’s severe weather system produced straight line wind gusts approaching 90 mph, and reports of tornadoes started rolling in just after 11 a.m. CT in western Kentucky.
Gov. Andy Beshear reported at least five weather-related deaths as a result of the extreme weather. In a Team Kentucky update on Saturday, he cautioned that if Kentuckians are safe, getting power back on would be the biggest obstacle going forward.
The National Weather Service did confirm an EF-1 tornado that touched down somewhere between Lexington and Hanover, with winds as strong as 100 mph.
Update: NWS Louisville survey team has now determined an EF-1 tornado with 100mph winds touched down between Lexington and Hanover (Indiana). Survey is still ongoing and overall strength of the tornado may change as the survey crew encounters more damage. #inwx pic.twitter.com/0izV3Xhew2
— NWS Louisville (@NWSLouisville) March 4, 2023
As of 8 a.m. Monday, over 124,000 power outages were reported, according to poweroutage.us. Outages are concentrated mostly in the central part of the state, with almost half the outages in Fayette and Jefferson Counties.
Follow Spectrum News 1’s live blog for the latest weather updates and road conditions around the Commonwealth.
