Alert archive / Kentucky / Tornado Warnings in 1987
Tornado Warning 4, NWS Louisville, KY
NWS Louisville, KY issued this tornado warning at May 24, 1987, 9:10 PM EDT for Hardin County, Kentucky. It was in force for 50 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 24, 1987, 9:10 PM EDT (01:10 UTC)
- Expired
- May 24, 1987, 10:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 50 min
- Issued by
- NWS Louisville, KY
- Area
- Whole counties
County Hardin County, KY
The radar
The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.
The nearest sounding before it
Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 183 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
- 531 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -55 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1101 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 11 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 49 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 36 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 250105
TORSDF
KYC093-250200-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
910 PM EDT SUN MAY 24 1987
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN NORTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY
...HARDIN
AT 905 PM EDT...NUMMEROUS REPORTED OF FUNNEL CLOUDS WERE RECEIVED
IN THE ELIZABETHTOWN AREA...29 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF LOUISVILLE.
THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTH AT AROUND 30 MILES.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.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, May 24, 7:33 PM EDT, 1 hour 37 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LEXINGTON KY 7:30 PM EDT SUN MAY 24 1987 AT 7:30 PM RADAR SHOWED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN EAST CENTRAL KENTUCKY. THE LARGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS IN SOUTHERN FLEMING COUNTY AND EASTERN BATH COUNTY...45 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF LEXINGTON NEAR GRANGE CITY. ANOTHER LARGE THUNDERSTORM WAS NEAR WINCHESTER IN CLARK COUNTY...20 MILES EAST OF LEXINGTON. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO IN JESSAMINE COUNTY NEAR HIGH BRIDGE ON THE KENTUCKY RIVER...13 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF LEXINGTON AND SOUTHWEST OF HARRODSBURG IN MERCER COUNTY...25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LEXINGTON. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 12 MILES AN HOUR. < PERSONS OUTDOORS SHOULD SEEK SHELTER INDOORS FOR PROTECTION FROM DANGEROUS AND VERY DEADLY LIGHTNING STRIKES WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS. BOATERS MAY EXPERIENCE DANGEROUS WIND GUSTS ON AREA LAKES. THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE IN THE AREA AROUND LEXINGTON THROUGH 8:30 PM EDT THIS EVENING. MHOON
Special weather statement, May 24, 8:57 PM EDT, 13 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 855 PM EDT SUN MAY 24 1987 AT 845 PM EDT...A LINE OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTH OVER PORTIONS OF CENTRAL KENTUCKY. THE LINE EXTENDED FROM NEAR HODGENSVILLE IN LARUE COUNTY...35 MILES SOUTH OF LOUISVILLE ...TO SOUTH OF HARDINSBURG IN BRECKINRIDGE COUNTY...40 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LOUISVILLE. AT 840 PM EDT...A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC FROM THESE STORMS EAST OF GLENDALE IN HARDIN COUNTY...35 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF LOUISVILLE...BUT THEN QUICKLY RETURNED BACK INTO THE CLOUDS. THESE STORMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTH THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS ...POSSIBLY REACHING THE LOUISVILLE AREA BY 11 PM EDT. PEOPLE IN PATH OF THESE STORMS SHOULD PREPARE FOR SMALL HAIL... GUSTY WINDS...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING. GOETSCH
The office that day
Everything else NWS Louisville, KY issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 8:10 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | LMK | Jefferson | 3 hr |
| May 24, 8:10 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | LMK | Bullitt | 3 hr |
| May 24, 11:15 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | LMK | Jefferson | 45 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Kentucky, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes in 1987
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.