Alert archive / Kentucky / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Louisville, KY

August 9, 1987Clinton County, Kentucky

NWS Louisville, KY issued this tornado warning at Aug 9, 1987, 8:19 PM CDT for Clinton County, Kentucky. It was in force for 41 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 9, 1987, 8:19 PM CDT (01:19 UTC)
Expired
Aug 9, 1987, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Louisville, KY
Area
Whole counties

County Clinton 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, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 147 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 1987-08-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3791 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1987-08-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 66 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
3791 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1341 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
66 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
104 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 100119
TORSDF
KYC053-100200-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
919 PM EDT SUN AUG 9 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY
          ...CLINTON
 
SHORTLY AFTER 9PM EDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND IN
SHIPLEY...43 MILES NORTH OF CROSSVILLE TENNESSEE.
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. ACT QUICKLY. MOVE TO THE BASEMENT...
OR...GO TO AN INTERIOR WINDOWLESS HALLWAY...ROOM...OR CLOSET ON
THE LOWEST FLOOR. GET UNDER SOMETHING STURDY AND COVER YOUR HEAD.
LEAVE CARS AND MOBILE HOMES AND MOVE TO A REINFORCED BUILDING...
OR LIE FLAT IN A DITCH. YOUR IMMEDIATE ACTION CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE.
 
IF YOU ARE OUTDOORS...IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS...REMEMBER...
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WIND. LEAVE YOUR CAR AND GOc TO A STRONG
BUILDING.  IF NO STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR
LOW SPOT...LIE FLAT AND COVER YOUR HEAD.

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, Aug 9, 3:37 PM CDT, 4 hours 42 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LEXINGTON KY
435PM EDT SUN AUG 9 1987

AT 435PM EDT A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY ACROSS
NORTH KENTUCKY. THE LINE EXTENDED FROM\ MAYSVILLE ON THE OHIO RIVER
NORTHEAST OF LEXINGTON SOUTHWEST TO NEAR OWENSBORO. THESE THUNDERSTORMS
WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AND WILL ENTER THE CENTRAL BLUEGRASS REGION
AROUND 530PM EDT BRINGING BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.
Special weather statement, Aug 9, 5:27 PM CDT, 2 hours 52 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LEXINGTON KY
630PM EDT SUN AUG 9 1987

AT 630PM EDT RADAR SHOWED NUMEROUS HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS CENTRAL
KENTUCKY. THUNDERSTORM GUSTS TO NEAR 50 MPH WERE RECORDED IN LEXINGTON
KENTUCKY SHORTLY AFTER 6PM EDT.
ANOTHER LINE OF HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WAS FORMING FROM NEAR MAYSVILLE
ON THE OHIO RIVER NORTHEAST OF LEXINGTON SOUTHWEST TO NEAR BOWLING
GREEN KENTUCKY. THIS LINE OF STORMS WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST INTO THE
CENTRAL BLUEGRASS REGION AFFECTING LEXINGTON AROUND 7PM EDT.
STRONG GUSTY WINDS WITH HEAVY RAIN AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING WILL BE
COMMON WITH MANY OF THE STORMS.
Special weather statement, Aug 9, 6:07 PM CDT, 2 hours 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LEXINGTON KY
705PM EDT SUN AUG 9 1987

AT 705PM EDT A LINE OF VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM NEAR
MAYSVILLE ON THE OHIO RIVER SOUTHWEST TO NEAR LEXINGTON ON TO
BOWLING GREEN KENTUCKY. RADAR INDICATED THE HEAVIES RAINFALL OVER
SCOTT AND FAYETTE COUNTIES WITH OTHER HEAVY STORMS OVER WOODFORD
AND MERCER COUNTIES OF CENTRAL KENTUCKY. STORMS WILL LIKELY CONTINUE
ACROSS THE REGION FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS AND PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN
WITH STRONG WINDS AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING.
Special weather statement, Aug 9, 7:04 PM CDT, 1 hour 15 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
800 PM EDT SUN AUG 9 1987

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS PUSH INTO SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY

AT 745 PM EDT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING THROUGH NORTHERN
PULASKI...ROCKCASTLE AND NORTHERN LAURAL COUNTIES.  THE STORMS
MOVED THROUGH LINCOLN AND CASEY COUNTIES AROUND 730 PM THIS EVENING.
THE STANFORD POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORTED HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG WIND
...ESTIMATED AT 40 TO 45 MPH IN STANFORD...30 MILES SOUTH OF
LEXINGTON.  IN CASEY COUNTY...POLICE IN LIBERTY...40 MILES WEST OF
LONDON REPORTED TREE BRANCHES DOWN AND SCATTERED POWER OUTAGES IN
ADDITION TO THE HEAVY RAIN.

THESE STROMS WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH EAST ACROSS SOUTHCENTRAL AND
SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

KLEIN

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.