Alert archive / Kentucky / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 318

May 27, 20044 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 27, 2004, 10:30 PM EDT for 4 states. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 27, 2004, 10:30 PM EDT (02:30 UTC)
Expired
May 28, 2004, 4:00 AM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 60 counties

Bell County, KY, Boyle County, KY, Breathitt County, KY, Casey County, KY, Clay County, KY, Clinton County, KY, Estill County, KY, Floyd County, KY, Garrard County, KY, Harlan County, KY, Jackson County, KY, Johnson County, KY, Knott County, KY, Knox County, KY, Laurel County, KY, Lawrence County, KY, Lee County, KY, Leslie County, KY, Letcher County, KY, Lincoln County, KY, Madison County, KY, Magoffin County, KY, Martin County, KY, McCreary County, KY, Menifee County, KY, Morgan County, KY, Owsley County, KY, Perry County, KY, Pike County, KY, Powell County, KY, Pulaski County, KY, Rockcastle County, KY, Russell County, KY, Wayne County, KY, Whitley County, KY, Wolfe County, KY, Pickett County, TN, Bland County, VA, Buchanan County, VA, City of Norton, VA, City of Radford, VA, Dickenson County, VA, Giles County, VA, Montgomery County, VA, Russell County, VA, Tazewell County, VA, Wise County, VA, Boone County, WV, Fayette County, WV, Greenbrier County, WV, Lincoln County, WV, Logan County, WV, McDowell County, WV, Mercer County, WV, Mingo County, WV, Monroe County, WV, Nicholas County, WV, Raleigh County, WV, Summers County, WV, Wyoming County, WV

The radar

The Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 12 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:33 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.

Warnings issued inside it

26 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 10:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLPowell56 min
May 27, 10:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKGarrard, Jessamine43 min
May 27, 10:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKMadison52 min
May 27, 10:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLEstill48 min
May 27, 11:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLMenifee45 min
May 27, 11:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLWolfe58 min
May 27, 11:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLMorgan42 min
May 27, 11:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLMagoffin41 min
May 27, 11:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLBreathitt51 min
May 27, 11:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLBreathitt48 min
May 28, 12:02 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLLee43 min
May 28, 12:05 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLJohnson40 min
May 28, 12:25 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningJKLBreathitt, Estill, Lee, Powell, Wolfe6 hr
May 28, 12:44 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLBreathitt, Knott61 min
May 28, 12:49 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLPerry41 min
May 28, 12:56 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLFloyd49 min
May 28, 1:13 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLPike47 min
May 28, 2:02 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKCasey43 min
May 28, 2:08 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLPulaski52 min
May 28, 2:18 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningJKLClay, Jackson, Laurel, Owsley, Pulaski, Rockcastle4 hr
May 28, 2:21 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLRockcastle54 min
May 28, 2:22 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLPulaski38 min
May 28, 2:36 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXRaleigh39 min
May 28, 2:51 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKSummers39 min
May 28, 2:52 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningJKLPerry3 hr
May 28, 3:17 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningJKLBell, Floyd, Harlan, Knott, Knox, Leslie and 6 more3 hr

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 00:00Z, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 221 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2004-05-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 290 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2004-05-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 197 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
290 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-54 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1105 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
67 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
197 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
353 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
5.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 8:12 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Ballard, Barren, Breckinridge, Bullitt, Butler and 37 more93 min
May 27, 8:40 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCBreckinridge, Bullitt, Butler, Caldwell, Crittenden, Daviess and 17 more5 hr
May 27, 9:53 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBoyle, Breathitt, Casey, Clay, Estill, Floyd and 21 more97 min
May 27, 10:39 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Bath, Bourbon, Boyd, Carter, Elliott and 15 more96 min
May 27, 11:27 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBreckinridge, Bullitt, Butler, Caldwell, Crittenden, Daviess and 16 more93 min
May 28, 12:17 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Bath, Bell, Bourbon, Boyd, Boyle and 50 more58 min
May 27, 9:01 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlbemarle, Arlington, Augusta, Caroline, Clarke, Culpeper and 33 more89 min
May 28, 12:29 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Braxton, Cabell, Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge and 21 more3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Kentucky, 2004Tornado Watches in West Virginia, 2004Tornado Watches in Virginia, 2004Every tornado watch in 2004

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.