Alert archive / Kentucky / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Louisville, KY

May 5, 1999Breckinridge County, Meade County, Kentucky; Perry County, Indiana

NWS Louisville, KY issued this tornado warning at May 5, 1999, 7:44 PM CDT for Breckinridge County, Meade County, Kentucky; Perry County, Indiana. It was in force for 31 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 5, 1999, 7:44 PM CDT (00:44 UTC)
Expired
May 5, 1999, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Louisville, KY
Area
Whole counties

Counties Perry County, IN, Breckinridge County, KY, Meade County, KY

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 5, 6:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 202 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 1999-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1420 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 1999-05-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 193 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
1420 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-65 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
637 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
67 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
193 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
210 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.7
Supercell composite
4.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSDF 060045 RRA
TORSDF
INC123-KYC027-163-060115-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
844 PM EDT (744 PM CDT) WED MAY 5 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LOUISVILLE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN BRECKINRIDGE COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY
  NORTHERN MEADE COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY
  SOUTHEASTERN PERRY COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA

* UNTIL 815 PM CDT (915 PM EDT OR 815 PM EST)

* AT 743 PM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO NEAR THE OHIO RIVER...ABOUT 30 MILES WEST OF LOUISVILLE...
  MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  DERBY IMMEDIATELY
  DEXTER ApT 750 PM EST
  WOLF CREEK AT 855 PM EDT

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

VLD

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.

NWS Louisville, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at May 5, 2:42 PM CDT, 5 hours 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 5, 2:42 PM CDT, 5 hours 2 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE, KY
300 PM EDT WED MAY 5 1999

STG S/WV AND JET MAX ROTATING THRU BASE OF DEEP CNTRL U.S. UPR LOW
WL PLAY HAVOC WITH CNTRL KY AND SC IND WX TNGT. THIS IS MAIN FCST
PROBLEM. SHORT TERM MODELS IN BASIC AGREEMENT SHWG RPD EXPANSION OF
LARGE SCALE ASCENT AND HIGH MEAN RH AREA ACRS AR THIS AFTN AND THEN
ACRS OH AND TN VLYS TNGT. ASCENT ALG WITH VERY UNSTBL AMS (LI VALUES
BELOW -6 CURRENTLY) ACRS LWR MS VLY INTO LWR OH VLY AND INCRSG VERTICAL
SHEAR WITH APCH OF MID-LVL JET MAX ALREADY RESULTING IN RPD CNVCTV
DVLPMT OVR AR. WITH STG UPR-LVL FLOW...TSTMS WL RACE NEWD INTO WRN
PARTS OF CNTRL KY THIS EVNG THEN OVRSPREAD ENTIRE FCST AREA THEREAFTER.
ETA MODEL IS PREFERRED IN SHWG THIS EVOLUTION.

WIND DAMAGE AND HAIL POTNL SEEMS RATHER HIGH THIS EVNG OVR WRN
KY...AND HV INCLUDED MENTION OF SVR IN SW PORTION OF FCST AREA. LATE
THIS EVNG AND OVRNGT...HAIL POTNL WL DIMINISH AS ATMOS SATURATES UP
AND CNVCTN EVOLVES INTO LARGER SCALE MCS. WIND DAMAGE POTNTL ALSO
MAY DIMINISH SOME...BUT STILL STG/PERHAPS SVR WIND GUSTS STILL XPCTD
WITH STGR CELLS OVR MUCH OF THE REST OF CNTRL KY AND SC IND.
THUS...LOOKS LIKE AN ACTV EVNG AND NGT.

ETA/AVN ARE FAVORED THURS WHICH SHOW AGGRESSIVE UPR DRY SLOW QUICKLY
PUSHING RAIN OUT OF CNTRL KY DURG MRNG. NGM APRS TO LAG BACK MSTR
TOO LONG. HWVR...LO-LVL MSTR AND CLDS SHLD LINGER INTO AFTN BFR
BREAKS IN CLDS OCR. THEN THURS NGT...ANOTHER S/WV...ALBEIT WEAKER
AND FLATTER...ROTATES NEWD AGN ACRS OH/TN VLYS. AGN FEEL THAT NGM IS
DVLPG PCPN TOO FAR W AND FAVOR ETA/AVN GIVEN XPCTD POSN OF SFC "DRY
LINE" OVR CNTRL KY. THUS...HV INCLUDED MENTION OF SCT SHWRS/TSTMS
THURS NGT ONLY OVR SERN PORTION OF FCST AREA AT THIS TIME.

ON FRI...AVN SHOWS SOME MSTR WRAPPED ARND UPR LOW SCOOTING E ALG/NR
OH RVR DURG DAY. CLD SEE SOME MDT CU DVLPMT IN AFTN WITH A CHC OF
SHWRS. HV LEFT SC KY DRY ON FRI HWVR. GUIDANCE TEMPS LOOK REASONABLE
DURG FCST PD.

.SDF...NONE.
FUNK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 7:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKBreckinridge45 min
May 5, 10:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKAllen, Simpson32 min
May 5, 10:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKMonroe35 min
May 5, 11:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKClinton, Cumberland47 min
May 5, 11:15 PM CDTTornado WarningLMKLogan35 min
May 5, 7:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKHarrison32 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kentucky, 1999Tornado Warnings in Indiana, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes in 1999

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.