Alert archive / Kentucky / Tornado Warnings in 1986
Tornado Warning 4, NWS Louisville, KY
NWS Louisville, KY issued this tornado warning at Mar 12, 1986, 5:42 AM EST for Bullitt County, Nelson County, Kentucky. It was in force for 58 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 12, 1986, 5:42 AM EST (10:42 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 12, 1986, 6:40 AM EST
- In force
- 58 min
- Issued by
- NWS Louisville, KY
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Bullitt County, KY, Nelson County, KY
The radar
The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 12, 6:00 AM EST | Hail 1 | Bullitt, KY |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.
The nearest sounding before it
Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 215 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1997 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 58 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 109 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 146 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KSDF 121045 TORSDF KYC029-179-121140- BULLETIN-IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 542 AM EST WED MAR 12 1986 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 640 AM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF NORTHCENTRAL KENTUCKY...NELSON..BULLITT AT 540 AM EST KENTUCKY STATE POLICE REPORTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR EASTVIEW..15 MILES WEST OF ELIZABETHTOWN KY. GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL WAS ALSO REPORTED OVER HARDIN COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 TO 50 MILES AN HOUR. PERSONS IN NELSON AND BULLITT COUNTIES SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES...YOU SHOULD GO TO A SAFE PLACE IMMEDIATELY. A BASEMENT OFFERS THE BEST PROTECTION. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A BASEMENT GO TO A WINDOWLESS INTERIOR HALLWAY..ROOM OR CLOSET. TAKE SHELTER UNDER A STURDY OBJECT AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. REPORT ANY SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICbE THROUGH YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. KLEIN
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Mar 12, 12:43 AM EST, 4 hours 59 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 1140 PM CST TUE MAR 11 1986 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN FAR WEST KENTUCKY... AT 11 30 PM CENTRAL TIME STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING OVER FAR WEST KENTUCKY FROM NEAR MAYFIELD SOUTHWEST THROUGH HICKMAN IN FULTON COUNTY THEN SOUTH INTO TENNESSEE. STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL ARE LIKELY WITH THESE STORMS. MARBLE SIZED HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED BY STATE POLICE IN MAYFIELD FROM THESE STORMS. TO THE SOUTH IN TENNESSEE HAIL THE SIZE OF GULF BALLS HAS BEEN OBSERVED. THESE STORMS WERE ALL MOVING RAPIDLY TO THE NORTHEAST AND VERY STRONG STORMS IN TENNESSEE WILL LIKELY BE MOVING NORTH INTO KENTUCKY BEFORE 2 AM CENTRAL TIME. PERSONS IN WEST KENTUCKY ARE ADVISED TO STAY ALERT AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER IF THE WEATHER BECOMES UNUSUALLY THREATENING. SCHOLZ
Special weather statement, Mar 12, 4:23 AM EST, 1 hour 19 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 420 AM EST WED MAR 12 1986 STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVE THROUGH KENTUCKY AT 4AM EST..3AM CST STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAVE CONTINUED TO PRODUCE HAIL..STRONG WINDS AND DANGAEROUS LIGHTENING OVER WEST KENTUCKY. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR MUHLENBURG..OHIO.. LOGAN..BUTLER AND TODD COUNTIES OF SOUTHCENTRAL KENTUCKY UNTIL 330 AM CST THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING. OTHER THUNDERSTORMS HAVE MOVED INTO CENTRAL KENTUCKY AND RAIN HAD SPREAD AS FAR EAST AS LEXINGTON. TEMPERATURES WERE MOSTLY IN THE 40S AND THE WIND WAS FROM THE EAST AT 10 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR WITH HIGHER GUSTS IN THE THUNDERSTORMS. PERSONS IN WEST KENT$UCKY ARE ADVISED TO STAY ALERT AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER IF THE WEATHER BECOMES UNUSUALLY THREATENING. < THE REMAINDER OF KENTUCKY CAN EXPECT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO BECOME MORE NUMEROUS LATER THIS MORNING. KLEIN
Special weather statement, Mar 12, 5:26 AM EST, 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND KENTUCKY WEATHER SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 520 AM EST WED MAR 12 1986 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY RAINS FOR MUCH OF KENTUCKY TODAY... FOR THE SECOND DAY THIS WEEK SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING ACROSS WEST KENTUCKY. THE STORMS MOVED INTO AROUND MIDNIGHT AND WERE MOVING EAST INTO CENTRAL KENTUCKY DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. NUMEROUS REPORTS OF LARGE HAIL AND WIND DAMAGE HAVE BEEN RECEIVED AND WARNINGS WERE ISSUED FOR SEVERAL SOUTHWEST KENTUCKY COUNTIES DURING THE NIGHT. STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AGAIN TODAY AND SOME OF THE STORMS OF THE WEST HALF OF THE STATE MAY BECOME SEVERE. HEAVY RAINS WILL OCCUR WITH THESE STORMS AND SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS MAY RISE TO NEAR BANKFUL. PONDING OF WATER IN LOW AREAS IS ALSO LIKELY. THE RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING ALONG AND AHEAD OF A WARM FRONT THAT WAS MOVING NORTH INTO TENNESSEE THIS MORNING. THIS FRONT WILL MOVE NORTH INTO KENTUCKY TODAY..BRINGING MILD BUT WET WEATHER TO THE COMMONWEATH. THE RAIN WILL DIMINISH SOME OVER THE WEST TONIGHT AND THURSDAY BUT WILL CONTINUE OVER THE CENTRAL AND EAST INTO TOMORROW. PERSONS OVER WEST KENTUCKY..PARTICULARLY OVER THE WEST HALF OF THE STATE..ARE ADVISED TO STAY ALEART TO THIS WEATHER SITUATION TODAY. STRONG AND POSSIBLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS COULD OCCUR AND HEAVY RAINS MAY PRODUCE RAPID RISES ON STREAMS AND CREEKS OVER THE WERST HALF OF THE STATE. SCHOLZ
The office that day
Everything else NWS Louisville, KY issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 12, 1:05 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LMK | Calloway, Graves | 60 min |
| Mar 12, 4:03 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LMK | Logan, Muhlenberg, Todd | 27 min |
| Mar 12, 4:03 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LMK | Butler | 27 min |
| Mar 12, 4:28 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LMK | Simpson, Warren | 32 min |
| Mar 12, 5:00 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LMK | Edmonson, Grayson, Hart | 30 min |
| Mar 12, 5:15 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LMK | Bullitt, Hardin, Meade | 60 min |
| Mar 12, 6:40 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LMK | Anderson, Franklin, Woodford | 60 min |
| Mar 12, 7:25 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LMK | Bourbon, Nicholas | 35 min |
| Mar 12, 7:25 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LMK | Fleming | 35 min |
| Mar 12, 7:25 AM EST | Tornado Warning | LMK | Bourbon, Fleming, Nicholas | 35 min |
| Mar 12, 8:00 AM EST | Tornado Warning | LMK | Fayette | 30 min |
| Mar 12, 8:00 AM EST | Tornado Warning | LMK | Fleming | 30 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Kentucky, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes in 1986
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.