Alert archive / Kentucky / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Louisville, KY

March 12, 1986Bullitt County, Nelson County, Kentucky

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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 12, 6:00 AM ESTHail 1Bullitt, 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1986-03-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1986-03-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 109 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 12, 1:05 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKCalloway, Graves60 min
Mar 12, 4:03 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKLogan, Muhlenberg, Todd27 min
Mar 12, 4:03 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKButler27 min
Mar 12, 4:28 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKSimpson, Warren32 min
Mar 12, 5:00 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKEdmonson, Grayson, Hart30 min
Mar 12, 5:15 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKBullitt, Hardin, Meade60 min
Mar 12, 6:40 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKAnderson, Franklin, Woodford60 min
Mar 12, 7:25 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKBourbon, Nicholas35 min
Mar 12, 7:25 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKFleming35 min
Mar 12, 7:25 AM ESTTornado WarningLMKBourbon, Fleming, Nicholas35 min
Mar 12, 8:00 AM ESTTornado WarningLMKFayette30 min
Mar 12, 8:00 AM ESTTornado WarningLMKFleming30 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.