Alert archive / Kentucky / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2025

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 211, NWS Jackson, KY

May 20, 20255 counties in Kentucky

NWS Jackson, KY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 2025, 9:47 PM EDT for 5 counties in Kentucky. It was in force for 28 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 20, 2025, 9:47 PM EDT (01:47 UTC)
Expired: May 20, 2025, 10:15 PM EDT
In force: 28 min
Issued by: NWS Jackson, KY
Area: Storm-based polygon
Tornado: Possible
Hail: 0.75 in
Wind: 60.0 mph

Counties Bell County, KY, Clay County, KY, Knox County, KY, Laurel County, KY, Whitley County, KY

The radar

The Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:47 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 watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 20, 7:27 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 370 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1250 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -19 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 57 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 20, 6:43 PM EDT, 3 hours 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 20, 6:43 PM EDT, 3 hours 4 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, May 20, 7:55 PM EDT, 1 hour 52 minutes before

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In the hours before

Local storm report, May 20, 6:22 PM EDT, 3 hours 25 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 20, 6:28 PM EDT, 3 hours 19 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 20, 6:42 PM EDT, 3 hours 5 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 20, 6:45 PM EDT, 3 hours 2 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 20, 6:53 PM EDT, 2 hours 54 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 20, 6:59 PM EDT, 2 hours 48 minutes before

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The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 20, 8:25 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	JKL	Jackson, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Wayne	65 min
May 20, 8:43 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Estill, Jackson, Rockcastle	62 min
May 20, 8:48 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Jackson, Laurel, Pulaski, Rockcastle	57 min
May 20, 9:04 PM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	JKL	Clay, Estill, Jackson, Laurel, Lee, Menifee and 6 more	3 hr
May 20, 9:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Laurel, McCreary, Pulaski, Wayne, Whitley	54 min
May 20, 9:21 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Bell, Knox, McCreary, Wayne, Whitley	54 min
May 20, 9:25 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Clay, Jackson, Laurel, Owsley, Pulaski, Rockcastle	50 min
May 20, 9:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Breathitt, Estill, Jackson, Lee, Magoffin, Menifee and 4 more	56 min
May 20, 9:57 PM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	JKL	Breathitt, Clay, Jackson, Johnson, Knott, Lee and 7 more	2 hr
May 20, 10:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Bell, Breathitt, Clay, Harlan, Knott, Knox and 5 more	45 min
May 20, 10:20 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Breathitt, Floyd, Johnson, Knott, Magoffin, Martin and 4 more	55 min
May 20, 10:32 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Bell, Harlan, Leslie, Letcher, Perry	43 min
May 20, 10:38 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	JKL	Knott, Perry	37 min
May 20, 11:13 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	JKL	Martin, Pike	47 min
May 20, 11:13 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Harlan, Letcher, Pike	47 min
May 20, 11:14 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Floyd, Pike	46 min
May 21, 10:56 AM EDT	River Flood Advisory	JKL	Estill	9 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kentucky, 2025 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2025

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.