Alert archive / Kentucky / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2012
Severe Thunderstorm Watch 238
The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 4, 2012, 2:29 PM EDT for 31 counties in Indiana; 34 counties in Kentucky. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 4, 2012, 2:29 PM EDT (18:29 UTC)
- Expired
- May 4, 2012, 7:41 PM EDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 2 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 65 counties
Bartholomew County, IN, Brown County, IN, Clark County, IN, Crawford County, IN, Daviess County, IN, Dearborn County, IN, Decatur County, IN, Dubois County, IN, Floyd County, IN, Gibson County, IN, Greene County, IN, Harrison County, IN, Jackson County, IN, Jefferson County, IN, Jennings County, IN, Knox County, IN, Lawrence County, IN, Martin County, IN, Monroe County, IN, Ohio County, IN, Orange County, IN, Perry County, IN, Pike County, IN, Posey County, IN, Ripley County, IN, Scott County, IN, Spencer County, IN, Switzerland County, IN, Vanderburgh County, IN, Warrick County, IN, Washington County, IN, Anderson County, KY, Boone County, KY, Boyle County, KY, Breckinridge County, KY, Bullitt County, KY, Carroll County, KY, Daviess County, KY, Fayette County, KY, Franklin County, KY, Gallatin County, KY, Garrard County, KY, Grant County, KY, Grayson County, KY, Hancock County, KY, Hardin County, KY, Henderson County, KY, Henry County, KY, Jefferson County, KY, Jessamine County, KY, Larue County, KY, Marion County, KY, McLean County, KY, Meade County, KY, Mercer County, KY, Nelson County, KY, Ohio County, KY, Oldham County, KY, Owen County, KY, Scott County, KY, Shelby County, KY, Spencer County, KY, Trimble County, KY, Washington County, KY, Woodford County, KY
The radar
The Louisville radar (KLVX), 64 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:31 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 SPC expected
The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.
- Two or more tornadoes
- 20%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 5%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 50%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 30%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 30%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 20%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 80%
Warnings issued inside it
8 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 4, 2:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PAH | Gibson, Posey | 30 min |
| May 4, 2:56 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PAH | Gibson, Pike | 52 min |
| May 4, 3:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LMK | Dubois | 45 min |
| May 4, 3:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LMK | Crawford, Dubois, Orange, Perry | 31 min |
| May 4, 4:09 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LMK | Crawford, Floyd, Harrison, Orange, Perry, Washington | 36 min |
| May 4, 4:33 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LMK | Clark, Floyd, Harrison | 27 min |
| May 4, 4:57 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LMK | Harrison | 33 min |
| May 4, 5:23 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LMK | Bullitt, Nelson, Spencer | 37 min |
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 12:00Z, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 245 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 476 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -12 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 540 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 20 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 88 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 44 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 11:29 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Benton, Jasper, Lake, Newton, Porter | 61 min |
| May 4, 12:34 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Benton, Jasper, Newton | 5 hr |
| May 4, 3:16 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Benton, Jasper, Newton, Pulaski, White | 119 min |
| May 4, 12:36 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clark, Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Floyd, Gibson and 11 more | 84 min |
| May 4, 4:16 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clark, Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Floyd, Gibson and 19 more | 59 min |
| May 4, 7:52 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Boone, Delaware, Fayette, Franklin, Hamilton, Hancock and 12 more | 53 min |
| May 4, 1:26 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Trumbull | 2 hr |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Kentucky, 2012Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Indiana, 2012Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2012
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.