Alert archive / Kentucky / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2025

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 241, NWS Louisville, KY

May 20, 20254 counties in Kentucky

NWS Louisville, KY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 2025, 7:38 PM EDT for 4 counties in Kentucky. It was in force for 38 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, 7:38 PM EDT (23:38 UTC)
Expired: May 20, 2025, 8:16 PM EDT
In force: 38 min
Issued by: NWS Louisville, KY
Area: Storm-based polygon
Hail: 0.75 in
Wind: 60.0 mph

Counties Hardin County, KY, Hart County, KY, Larue County, KY, Nelson County, KY

The radar

The Louisville radar (KLVX), 46 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:37 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, 3:36 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	8 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 179 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: 1162 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -41 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 904 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 114 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 137 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.9
Supercell composite: 3.9

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 Louisville, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 20, 5:37 PM EDT, 2 hours 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 20, 5:37 PM EDT, 2 hours 1 minute before

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Hazardous weather outlook, May 20, 4:46 PM EDT, 2 hours 52 minutes before

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In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 20, 7:15 PM EDT, 23 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 20, 7:24 PM EDT, 14 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 20, 7:25 PM EDT, 13 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 20, 7:31 PM EDT, 7 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 20, 7:32 PM EDT, 6 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 20, 7:36 PM EDT, 2 minutes before

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The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 20, 12:37 PM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	LMK	Allen, Barren, Monroe	3 hr
May 20, 12:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Cumberland, Metcalfe, Monroe	34 min
May 20, 2:04 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	LMK	Garrard, Lincoln	26 min
May 20, 2:22 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	LMK	Madison	38 min
May 20, 2:31 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Garrard, Madison	29 min
May 20, 6:20 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Butler, Ohio	40 min
May 20, 6:23 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Logan, Simpson, Warren	39 min
May 20, 6:25 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Butler, Logan	34 min
May 20, 6:36 PM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	LMK	Ohio	83 min
May 20, 6:46 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Breckinridge, Butler, Grayson, Ohio	14 min
May 20, 7:01 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	LMK	Barren, Metcalfe	44 min
May 20, 7:12 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	LMK	Warren	110 min
May 20, 7:15 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	LMK	Allen, Barren, Edmonson, Simpson, Warren	45 min
May 20, 7:32 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	LMK	Allen, Barren	90 min
May 20, 7:33 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Allen, Barren, Monroe	30 min
May 20, 7:45 PM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	LMK	Allen, Simpson	77 min

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.