The December 10, 2021 tornado
EF4Obion, Fulton, Hickman, Graves, Marshall, Lyon, Caldwell, Hopkins, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Breckinridge and Grayson counties, Kentucky and Tennessee
An EF4 tornado on a 168.5-mile path that killed 57 and injured 515. It was one of 33 tornadoes recorded in the U.S. that day, 5 of them rated F3/EF3 or stronger.
Watch how it happenedEF4 tornado · December 10, 2021
How it happened
Follow the tornado’s path, minute by minute.
The tornado
- Rating
- EF4
- Enhanced Fujita scale
- Path length
- 168.5 mi
- Width up to 2,600 yards
- Killed
- 57
- Along the whole path
- Injured
- 515
- Along the whole path
- Date and time
- Friday, December 10, 2021
- 8:54 PM CST
The National Weather Service account
Written by the local Weather Service office after its damage survey.
This historic EF-4 tornado was associated with a very long-track supercell that originally formed over eastern Arkansas. The supercell produced a nearly continuous tornado damage path from northeast Arkansas across western Tennessee and western Kentucky. The starting point of this particular tornado was in northwest Tennessee, northwest of Union City (see Storm Data, Tennessee, Western for information on this and other tornadoes associated with the supercell). This tornado crossed from Obion County, Tennessee into Fulton County, Kentucky about 6 miles southeast of Hickman, close to the communities of State Line, KY and Woodland Mills, TN. The tornado rapidly widened, becoming over a mile wide across northeast Fulton County. The primary impact to Fulton County was on the community of Cayce, where the tornado achieved a rating of EF-4. This community was the site of the only fatality in Fulton County. A 57-year-old male occupant of a mobile home was killed. On the southwest edge of Cayce, a house was demolished (DI 2, DOD 9). This demolished house was assigned an estimated wind speed of 170 mph, the highest in the county. A small retail building in the center of town was demolished (DI 8, DOD 8). A total of 61 structures were affected in Fulton County, with 21 of those totally destroyed or uninhabitable. A number of vehicles were thrown and destroyed, including some farm equipment. Nearly total tree destruction was observed in the Cayce area. The average path width was a mile. The tornado exited Fulton County into Hickman County in a rural area about 7 miles northwest of Fulton.
The storm system that day
On the evening of Friday, December 10, 2021, a potent storm system moving across the central United States resulted in significant long-track tornadoes. A violent EF-4 tornado began in far northwest Tennessee, and moved across western Kentucky, resulting in dozens of lost lives and a swath of destruction. The tornado was on the ground for 128 miles within the NWS Paducah forecast area, and the total path length was about 165 miles from Obion County, TN to Breckinridge County, KY. Another long-track EF-3 tornado started in Dyer County, TN, and traveled about 125 miles through northwest Tennessee and into Christian and Todd Counties in western Kentucky. A strong upper-level trough over the western Plains induced a deepening surface low that tracked northeast across the Iowa/Illinois border. A very strong and deep southwest wind flow brought moist and unstable air into the Tennessee and lower Ohio Valleys. Record high temperatures were recorded, including a high of 73 at Paducah. The combination of very strong winds aloft, unseasonably warm conditions, and a strong low pressure system were ideal for this tornado outbreak.
NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
Counties on its path
Other notable tornadoes that day
- EF4, Craighead County8 killed
- EF3, Madison County6 killed
Storm Prediction Center severe weather database. Path drawn as a straight line from the recorded start to end point.