Paducah sets new annual tornado record already in April

The National Weather Service office in Paducah has turned up a unique statistic for this turbulent spring season.

There have already been 41 tornadoes that have touched down across their 58-county coverage area this year.

Those tornadoes have covered a total of 473.5 miles of damage on the ground, which breaks the record for the most number of miles of tornado damage in one year during the history of the Paducah office.

The previous record was 449.8 miles set in 2011.

On March 14-15 there were 241.4 miles of tornado damage surveyed, and on April 2 the tracks totaled 195.1 miles.

Those totals are second and third all-time for the most miles of tornado damage in one storm event, behind 255.6 miles on May 26, 2024.