Alert archive / Kentucky / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 81, NWS Jackson, KY

May 9, 2002Lee County, Wolfe County, Kentucky

NWS Jackson, KY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 9, 2002, 11:39 AM EDT for Lee County, Wolfe County, Kentucky. It was in force for 36 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 9, 2002, 11:39 AM EDT (15:39 UTC)
Expired: May 9, 2002, 12:15 PM EDT
In force: 36 min
Issued by: NWS Jackson, KY
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Lee County, KY, Wolfe County, KY

The radar

The Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 41 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:40 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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 9, 11:15 AM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 12:00Z, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 193 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: 648 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -46 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 950 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 332 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 334 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.4
Supercell composite: 6.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS53 KJKL 091539
SVRJKL
KYC129-237-091615-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY
1138 AM EDT THU MAY 9 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON KY HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  WOLFE COUNTY
  LEE COUNTY

* UNTIL 1215 PM EDT

* AT 1138 AM EDT...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER
  BEATTYVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  CAMPTON AROUND 1145 AM EDT
  TRENT AROUND 1150 AM EDT

THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WINDS UP TO 60 
MPH...WHICH COULD BLOW DOWN TREES AND BREAK OFF LARGE LIMBS.

IF YOU ARE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM...MOVE TO A SUBSTANTIAL
SHELTER UNTIL THE STORM PASSES.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 400 PM EDT THURSDAY AFTERNOON
FOR EASTERN KENTUCKY.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. THEY
WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE JACKSON WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE.

LAT...LON 3764 8396 3752 8380 3776 8345 3792 8365

HAL

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Jackson, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 9, 10:35 AM EDT, 1 hour 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 9, 10:35 AM EDT, 1 hour 4 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY
1035 AM EDT THU MAY 9 2002

13Z SFC CHART SHOWS LARGE TROFF AHEAD OF THE MAIN FRONT MOVING
ACROSS CENTRAL KY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED ALONG
THE PREFRONTAL TROFF. BRIEF...BUT HEAVY RAINS ARE OCCURRING ALONG
THE TROFF. GUSTY WINDS ALSO. BRIEF SHOWERS EARLIER THIS MORNING THAT
LOOKED VERY INNOCENT ON RADAR WERE PRODUCING RAINFALL RATES OF 0.25
TO 0.35 INCHES IN 15 MINUTES. RADAR WAS UNDERESTIMATING THE RATES ON
THESE.

ALL SAID AND DONE...WE ARE VERY WET AND JUST CANT HANDLE ANY MORE
HEAVY RAINS...BRIEF OR NOT. WE HAVE ISSUED A FLOOD WATCH FOR THE
ENTIRE CWA UNTIL 8 PM. MAY BE ABLE TO DROP THE WATCH BEFORE
THEN...NOT SURE IF THE MAIN FRONT WILL PRODUCE A SECOND ROUND OF
TSRA OR NOT BUT THE FIRST ROUND WILL DO ENUFF DAMAGE-HYDRO WISE...AS
IT IS. SOME QUESTION ATTM AS TO ANY MORE HEAVY PCPN DEVELOPING ALONG
THE MAIN FRONT OR NOT. SPC NOW TALKING ABOUT A WATCH SHORTLY.
FFA HAS ALREADY BEEN ISSUED. WILL WAIT JUST A MINUTE OR TWO BEFORE
UPDATING ZONES TO SEE ABOUT A SVR TSRA WATCH.

.JKL...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 8 PM FOR ALL OF EASTERN KENTUCKY.

HALL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 9, 10:43 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Montgomery, Powell	32 min
May 9, 10:53 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	McCreary, Wayne	37 min
May 9, 11:03 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Menifee	27 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kentucky, 2002 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2002

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.