Alert archive / Kentucky / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 24, NWS Louisville, KY

April 16, 1998Adair County, Kentucky

NWS Louisville, KY issued this tornado warning at Apr 16, 1998, 5:04 PM CDT for Adair County, Kentucky. It was in force for 31 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: Apr 16, 1998, 5:04 PM CDT (22:04 UTC)
Expired: Apr 16, 1998, 5:35 PM CDT
In force: 31 min
Issued by: NWS Louisville, KY
Area: Whole counties

County Adair County, KY

The radar

The Louisville radar (KLVX), 113 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:03 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 16, 5:15 PM CDT	Tornado F3	Portland, 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 16, 4:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 160 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 76 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 585 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 180 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 162204 RRA
TORSDF
KYC001-162235-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
604 PM EDT (504 PM CDT) THU APR 16 1998

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  ADAIR COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY

* UNTIL 535 PM CDT (635 PM EDT)

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  WEED BY 510 PM CDT
  COLUMBIA BY 520 PM CDT

* AT 500 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 5 MILES WEST
OF EDMONTON...OR 55 MILES WEST OF SOMERSET.  THE STORM WAS MOVING
EAST AT 40 MPH.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY IN A REINFORCED
BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS AND OFF THE TELEPHONE. AVOID
DOWNED POWER LINES.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE
TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE NOTICE.

JA/CS

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, Apr 16, 2:47 PM CDT, 2 hours 17 minutes before

KYZ023>043-045>049-053>057-061>067-070>078-081-082-INZ076-079-083-
084-089>092-170900-

CENTRAL KENTUCKY AND SOUTH-CENTRAL INDIANA SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
330 PM EDT  THURSDAY  APRIL 16, 1998

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS INDICATED THAT A MODERATE RISK OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXISTS ACROSS CENTRAL KENTUCKY AND
SOUTH-CENTRAL INDIANA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

...THIS IS A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION...

A COLD FRONT ACROSS WESTERN PARTS OF KENTUCKY AND INDIANA WILL SWEEP
SOUTHEASTWARD ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA AND CENTRAL KENTUCKY LATE
THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EVENING. WARM MOIST AIR WILL BE DRAWN
NORTHWARD AHEAD OF THE FRONT. AS THE FRONT APPROACHES...NUMEROUS
THUNDERSTORMS WILL ERUPT ACROSS CENTRAL KENTUCKY AND SOUTH CENTRAL
INDIANA THROUGH THE EVENING.

SOMEWHAT UNSTABLE AIR ALONG WITH STRONG WIND SHEAR IN THE
ATMOSPHERE WILL RESULT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY WITH THESE STORMS...AND
ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGEST CELLS.

THIS IS A PRELIMINARY OUTLOOK.  STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO
FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OR THE MEDIA FOR THE LATEST
INFORMATION ON THIS POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION. SKYWARN
SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS EXPECTED LATER TODAY.

KOCH

Local storm report, Apr 16, 3:38 PM CDT, 1 hour 26 minutes before

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

4/16/98
325 PM CDT      LEWISBURG            KY      BASEBALL SIZE HAIL
                 LOGAN                       BETWEEN LEWISBURG AND
                                             EPLEY STATION

RNK

Local storm report, Apr 16, 4:36 PM CDT, 28 minutes before

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

4/16/98        BOWLING GREEN        KY       DAMAGE TO HOUSES
5PM EDT        WARREN                        TELEPHONE POLES
(4PM CDT)                                    SHEARED OFF
                                             WINDOWS BLOWN OUT OF
                                             CARS

RNK

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 16, 5:00 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Fayette	30 min
Apr 16, 5:17 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Green, Hart, Larue	38 min
Apr 16, 5:17 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Green, Hart, Larue	28 min
Apr 16, 5:24 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Clark, Madison	36 min
Apr 16, 5:35 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LMK	Trimble	85 min
Apr 16, 6:51 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Monroe	24 min
Apr 16, 6:51 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Monroe	34 min
Apr 16, 10:21 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Logan	39 min
Apr 16, 3:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Logan	31 min
Apr 16, 3:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LMK	Logan, Warren	49 min
Apr 16, 4:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LMK	Allen, Barren	46 min
Apr 16, 4:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Metcalfe	33 min
Apr 16, 5:35 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LMK	Adair	30 min
Apr 16, 5:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Clinton	31 min
Apr 16, 5:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Casey	27 min
Apr 16, 6:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Lincoln	35 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kentucky, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes in 1998

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.