Alert archive / Kentucky / Flash Flood Watches in 2016

Flash Flood Watch 5, NWS Paducah, KY

May 26, 201619 counties in Kentucky; 11 counties in Illinois; 11 counties in Missouri

NWS Paducah, KY issued this flash flood watch at May 26, 2016, 11:29 AM CDT for 19 counties in Kentucky; 11 counties in Illinois; 11 counties in Missouri. It took effect at May 26, 2016, 12:00 PM CDT. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 26, 2016, 11:29 AM CDT (16:29 UTC)
In effect from
May 26, 2016, 12:00 PM CDT
Expired
May 26, 2016, 5:20 PM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
NWS Paducah, KY
Flood severity
None
All 41 counties

Alexander County, IL, Gallatin County, IL, Hardin County, IL, Jackson County, IL, Johnson County, IL, Massac County, IL, Pope County, IL, Pulaski County, IL, Saline County, IL, Union County, IL, Williamson County, IL, Ballard County, KY, Caldwell County, KY, Calloway County, KY, Carlisle County, KY, Christian County, KY, Crittenden County, KY, Fulton County, KY, Graves County, KY, Hickman County, KY, Hopkins County, KY, Livingston County, KY, Lyon County, KY, Marshall County, KY, McCracken County, KY, Muhlenberg County, KY, Todd County, KY, Trigg County, KY, Union County, KY, Webster County, KY, Bollinger County, MO, Butler County, MO, Cape Girardeau County, MO, Carter County, MO, Mississippi County, MO, New Madrid County, MO, Perry County, MO, Ripley County, MO, Scott County, MO, Stoddard County, MO, Wayne County, MO

The radar

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 12 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:32 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 4.5 hours before the alert went out and 231 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 12:00Z on 2016-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 265 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 12:00Z on 2016-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 166 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
265 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-140 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1187 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
166 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
181 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

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

NWS Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood watch went out at May 26, 11:10 AM CDT, 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 26, 11:10 AM CDT, 19 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Paducah KY
1110 AM CDT THU MAY 26 2016

.UPDATE...
Issued at 1110 AM CDT Thu May 26 2016

Mesoscale update for convective trends... The convective complex
continues to sink slowly south and east across the forecast area.
The outflow boundary along the leading edge has been making good
eastward progress across the Wabash Valley. However, the trailing
end of the boundary has become elongated east to west over southeast
Missouri. There is some concern that the trailing end of the
boundary will slow or stall over se Missouri and extreme sw Kentucky
this afternoon. This would allow storms to repeatedly train along
and north of the boundary, fed by a very moist southwest low-level
flow of 70 degree dew points. WPC mesoscale precip discussion 239
focuses on this region very well. A Flash Flood Watch is being
considered for much of the mpd area.

&&

.SHORT TERM...(Today through Saturday night)
Issued at 124 AM CDT Thu May 26 2016

High confidence in scattered thunderstorms in the short term.

The models are in fair agreement with their solutions through the
short term. Basically warm or slightly above normal with scattered
thunderstorms. The main weakness will be with spatial and temporal
parameters of the storms. The models both short and medium range
do not have a good handle on timing or location with too much
precip at initiation. The common strength or persist solution
continues to be a southwest flow with weak perturbation in the
flow. Also they agree that at least in the short term the best
chance of storms remains west of the Mississippi River today and
northwest of the Ohio River after today. This is mainly due to the
upper ridge to our southeast which will mitigate chances and qpf
especially in the Pennyrile region. However that does not in any
way preclude rain in that area...mainly less chance and less
coverage. There is ample instability for an isolated strong or
severe thunderstorm but the moisture is limited to the lower
levels. This may not seem apparent with PW's >1.5 but aloft it is
very dry. The Pacific connection the models were forecasting for
this period last week did not materialize.

.LONG TERM...(Sunday through Wednesday)
Issued at 124 AM CDT Thu May 26 2016

Above average confidence that the long term period will be wet, but
below average confidence when the precipitation will occur due to
model differences.

Warm and humid conditions will continue through the long term. The
main forecast challenge continues to lie with precipitation
probabilities and timing of such. Deep-layer southwest flow will
decrease over the remainder of the holiday weekend as mid level
ridging takes place. As a result, the flow pattern will become weak
by Memorial Day. There will likely be a corresponding decrease in
convective coverage over the latter part of the holiday weekend as
the flow weakens.

Precipitation coverage through most of the period will be dependent
on mesoscale features such as outflow boundaries and/or convectively-
induced vorticity centers. Given the lack of model skill at longer
time ranges with such features, the forecast will continue with
generally 20 to 40 percent chance pops. Given the moist environment
and rather high PWAT values, locally heavy rain is likely in any
thunderstorms that do manage to form.

By the end of the period the rather stagnant pattern begins to break
down as a progressive system emerges from the plains giving the best
chances for precipitation in the long term period.

High temperatures in the long term period will generally top out in
the mid 80s with overnight lows bottoming out in the low to mid 60s.

&&

.AVIATION...
Issued at 549 AM CDT Thu May 26 2016

Introduced a vicinity thunderstorm all sites today. Kept vfr cigs
and vsby. Also introduced gusty southerly winds through the
daylight hours mainly but kept some wind in overnight. Will have
to monitor radar closely for introducing prevailing ts should the
need arise.

&&

.PAH Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
IL...None.
MO...None.
IN...None.
KY...None.
&&

UPDATE...MY
SHORT TERM...KH
LONG TERM...JP
AVIATION...KH
Hazardous weather outlook, May 26, 3:25 AM CDT, 8 hours 4 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
325 AM CDT THU MAY 26 2016

ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-
100-107>112-114-271000-
JEFFERSON-WAYNE IL-EDWARDS-WABASH-PERRY IL-FRANKLIN-HAMILTON-
WHITE-JACKSON-WILLIAMSON-SALINE-GALLATIN-UNION-JOHNSON-POPE-
HARDIN-ALEXANDER-PULASKI-MASSAC-GIBSON-PIKE-POSEY-VANDERBURGH-
WARRICK-SPENCER-FULTON-HICKMAN-CARLISLE-BALLARD-MCCRACKEN-GRAVES-
LIVINGSTON-MARSHALL-CALLOWAY-CRITTENDEN-LYON-TRIGG-CALDWELL-
UNION KY-WEBSTER-HOPKINS-CHRISTIAN-HENDERSON-DAVIESS-MCLEAN-
MUHLENBERG-TODD-PERRY MO-BOLLINGER-CAPE GIRARDEAU-WAYNE MO-CARTER-
RIPLEY-BUTLER-STODDARD-SCOTT-MISSISSIPPI-NEW MADRID-
325 AM CDT THU MAY 26 2016

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN
ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST
MISSOURI.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A FEW STRONG STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE TODAY AND TONIGHT...LOCALLY
HEAVY RAINFALL AND LIGHTNING WILL BE THE PRIMARY CONCERNS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

ALMOST DAILY CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST FOR ALL OR
PART OF THE AREA THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. HEAVY RAIN AND
LIGHTNING SHOULD BE THE PRIMARY STORM HAZARDS. HOWEVER...AN
ISOLATED STRONG OR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CANNOT BE RULED OUT.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME BUT SPOTTERS
SHOULD STAY TUNED FOR ANY UPDATES TO THE FORECAST.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 26, 10:17 AM CDT, 1 hour 12 minutes before
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Local storm report, May 26, 10:19 AM CDT, 1 hour 10 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
1019 AM CDT THU MAY 26 2016

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1011 AM     HAIL             HERRIN                  37.80N 89.03W
05/26/2016  E0.75 INCH       WILLIAMSON         IL   BROADCAST MEDIA

            WSIL REPORTS DIME SIZED HAIL IN HERRIN

&&

DAVIDH
Special weather statement, May 26, 10:37 AM CDT, 52 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
1037 AM CDT THU MAY 26 2016

INZ081-261600-
GIBSON IN-
1037 AM CDT THU MAY 26 2016

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR GIBSON COUNTY UNTIL 1100 AM
CDT...

AT 1037 AM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER
FORT BRANCH...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH.

DIME SIZE HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.

LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
PRINCETON...FORT BRANCH...OAKLAND CITY...HAUBSTADT...OWENSVILLE...PATOKA...
FRANCISCO...SOMERVILLE AND MACKEY.

LAT...LON 3847 8746 3846 8744 3844 8744 3844 8741
      3838 8741 3839 8734 3838 8732 3826 8732
      3816 8756 3817 8767 3837 8777 3850 8746
TIME...MOT...LOC 1537Z 240DEG 49KT 3826 8762
Local storm report, May 26, 10:44 AM CDT, 45 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
1044 AM CDT THU MAY 26 2016

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1012 AM     HAIL             1 N HERRIN              37.82N 89.03W
05/26/2016  E0.88 INCH       WILLIAMSON         IL   TRAINED SPOTTER

            PEA TO NICKEL SIZE HAIL AND TORRENTIAL RAIN

&&

BP2
Local storm report, May 26, 10:58 AM CDT, 31 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
1058 AM CDT THU MAY 26 2016

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1027 AM     HAIL             PRINCETON               38.36N 87.57W
05/26/2016  E0.50 INCH       GIBSON             IN   PUBLIC

&&

BP2

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 26, 11:37 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementPAHDaviess23 min
May 26, 1:46 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningPAHBallard, McCracken3 hr
May 26, 2:21 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningPAHCarlisle3 hr
May 26, 2:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHHickman31 min
May 26, 2:34 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningPAHGraves3 hr
May 26, 2:53 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningPAHFulton, Hickman3 hr
May 26, 3:10 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningPAHCalloway3 hr
May 26, 3:23 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementPAHCalloway, Trigg37 min
May 26, 10:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHWilliamson27 min
May 26, 11:32 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementPAHUnion28 min
May 26, 12:29 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningPAHJohnson, Union3 hr
May 26, 12:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHAlexander25 min
May 26, 1:17 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningPAHAlexander, Pulaski3 hr
May 26, 1:26 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementPAHAlexander, Pulaski49 min
May 26, 12:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHCape Girardeau35 min
May 26, 12:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHCape Girardeau, Scott42 min
May 26, 1:40 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningPAHBollinger, Carter, Stoddard, Wayne3 hr
May 26, 4:22 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningPAHScott113 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Watches in Kentucky, 2016Flash Flood Watches in Illinois, 2016Flash Flood Watches in Missouri, 2016Every flash flood watch in 2016

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.