NWS reclassifies 1995 storm that damaged Jessamine Co. school as F2 tornado

On Tuesday, the National Weather Service Office in Louisville announced the findings of a detailed review into what caused severe damage to a school back in 1995.

On the morning of May 18, 1995, strong thunderstorms moved through Central Kentucky. The storm killed seven horses on a farm in Jessamine County, also causing severe damage to property.

That same storm caused more than $2 million in structural damage to West Jessamine High School and left as many as 30 people with injuries. The storm hit right as students arrived at school on buses. The storm damaged 11 of those buses and flattened a tobacco barn and greenhouse at the school used by the agriculture program.

Initially, the National Weather Service ruled straight-line winds caused the damage. On Tuesday, they reclassified that ruling as a high-end F2 tornado. The NWS used a combination of eyewitnesses, video and photo evidence, as well as a damage analysis to change the decision.

The NWS will make more information available on the ruling by June 30.