Alert archive / Kentucky / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Louisville, KY

May 22, 1989Simpson County, Kentucky

NWS Louisville, KY issued this tornado warning at May 22, 1989, 7:07 PM CDT for Simpson County, Kentucky. It was in force for 38 min. 2 reports 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
May 22, 1989, 7:07 PM CDT (00:07 UTC)
Expired
May 22, 1989, 7:45 PM CDT
In force
38 min
Issued by
NWS Louisville, KY
Area
Whole counties

County Simpson 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
May 22, 7:15 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Simpson, KY
May 22, 7:50 PM CDTTornado F2Simpson, 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, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 68 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 1989-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 493 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1989-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 171 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
493 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1270 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
171 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
245 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
3.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KEVV 230009
TOREVV
KYC213-230045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EVANSVILLE IN
707 PM CDT MON MAY 22 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EVANSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY
          ...SIMPSON
 
AT 655 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED THAT A TORNADO WAS DEVELOPING ACROSS
SOUTHERN SIMPSON COUNTY. THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS FUNNEL CLOUD
SIGHTINGS BY KENTUCKY STATE POLICE...AND AN UNCOMFIRMED PUBLIC
TOUCHDOWN WEST OF FRANKLIN. THE STORM WILL MOVE INTO THE FRANKLIN AREA
BY 710 PM CDT.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDRER 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.
RUNNELS

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 22, 2:11 PM CDT, 4 hours 56 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LEXINGTON KY
210PM EDT MON MAY 22 1989

AT 210PM EDT WEATHER RADAR WAS SHOWING NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS OVER
THE EAST CENTRAL KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS AREA. STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
WERE LOCATED OVER SCOTT COUNTY EAST OF GEORGETOWN ABOUT 12 MILES
NORTHEAST OF LEXINGTON...ALSO, IN HARRISON COUNTY NEAR CYTHIANA
ABOUT 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF LEXINGTON...AND IN FAYETTE COUNTY
OVER THE CITY OF LEXINGTON.

ALL OF THE PRECIPITATION WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 TO 25
MILES AN HOUR. THE STRONG STORMS WILL LIKELY CONTAIN BRIEF VERY
HEAVY RAIN ALONG WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND LOTS OF LIGHTNING
GROUND STRIKES.

HENRICK
Special weather statement, May 22, 5:19 PM CDT, 1 hour 48 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND KENTUCKY SHORT RANGE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
615 PM EDT MON MAY 22 1989

THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS WERE MOVING EAST
THROUGH WESTERN KENTUCKY.  THE LINE OF STORMS EXTENDED FROM PADUCAH
TO THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE STATE.

SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE EARLY THIS EVENING AND PRODUCE
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING  WINDS.  THOSE LIVING IN WEST KENTUCKY SHOULD
MONITOR THE WEATHER CLOSELY AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE QUICKLY TO A SAFE
SHELTER.

ELSEWHERE IN KENTUCKY...SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ALSO CONTINUED
IN THE CENTRAL...NORTHEAST AND SOUTHEAST PARTS OF THE STATE.

ALL THE PRECIPITATION WAS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 25 TO 30 MPH.

TUCEK
Special weather statement, May 22, 6:11 PM CDT, 56 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND KENTUCKY SHORT RANGE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
710 PM EDT MON MAY 22 1989

THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS WERE MOVING EAST
THROUGH WESTERN KENTUCKY.  TWO LINES OF STORMS WERE LOCATED BETWEEN
PADUCAH...THE LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES...AND BOWLING GREEN.

SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE EARLY THIS EVENING AND PRODUCE
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING  WINDS.  THOSE LIVING IN WEST KENTUCKY SHOULD
MONITOR THE WEATHER CLOSELY AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE QUICKLY TO A SAFE
SHELTER.

ELSEWHERE IN KENTUCKY...SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED
IN THE CENTRAL...NORTHEAST AND SOUTHEAST PARTS OF THE STATE.

ALL THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 25 TO 30 MPH.

TUCEK

The office that day

Everything else NWS Louisville, KY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 22, 7:56 PM CDTTornado WarningLMKAllen, Simpson, Warren34 min
May 22, 9:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKMarion42 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kentucky, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes in 1989

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.