Alert archive / Kentucky / Tornado Watches in 2025

Tornado Watch 269

May 16, 20258 counties in Indiana; 83 counties in Kentucky; 40 counties in Ohio

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 16, 2025, 7:17 PM EDT for 8 counties in Indiana; 83 counties in Kentucky; 40 counties in Ohio. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 16, 2025, 7:17 PM EDT (23:17 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 2025, 2:44 AM EDT
In force: 7 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected: 3 in
Strongest gust expected: 70 kt

All 131 counties

Dearborn County, IN, Fayette County, IN, Franklin County, IN, Ohio County, IN, Ripley County, IN, Switzerland County, IN, Union County, IN, Wayne County, IN, Adair County, KY, Allen County, KY, Anderson County, KY, Barren County, KY, Bath County, KY, Bell County, KY, Boone County, KY, Bourbon County, KY, Boyd County, KY, Boyle County, KY, Bracken County, KY, Breathitt County, KY, Campbell County, KY, Carroll County, KY, Carter County, KY, Casey County, KY, Clark County, KY, Clay County, KY, Clinton County, KY, Cumberland County, KY, Elliott County, KY, Estill County, KY, Fayette County, KY, Fleming County, KY, Floyd County, KY, Franklin County, KY, Gallatin County, KY, Garrard County, KY, Grant County, KY, Green County, KY, Greenup County, KY, Harlan County, KY, Harrison County, KY, Hart County, KY, Henry County, KY, Jackson County, KY, Jessamine County, KY, Johnson County, KY, Kenton County, KY, Knott County, KY, Knox County, KY, Larue County, KY, Laurel County, KY, Lawrence County, KY, Lee County, KY, Leslie County, KY, Letcher County, KY, Lewis County, KY, Lincoln County, KY, Madison County, KY, Magoffin County, KY, Marion County, KY, Martin County, KY, Mason County, KY, McCreary County, KY, Menifee County, KY, Mercer County, KY, Metcalfe County, KY, Monroe County, KY, Montgomery County, KY, Morgan County, KY, Nelson County, KY, Nicholas County, KY, Owen County, KY, Owsley County, KY, Pendleton County, KY, Perry County, KY, Pike County, KY, Powell County, KY, Pulaski County, KY, Robertson County, KY, Rockcastle County, KY, Rowan County, KY, Russell County, KY, Scott County, KY, Shelby County, KY, Spencer County, KY, Taylor County, KY, Washington County, KY, Wayne County, KY, Whitley County, KY, Wolfe County, KY, Woodford County, KY, Adams County, OH, Athens County, OH, Auglaize County, OH, Brown County, OH, Butler County, OH, Champaign County, OH, Clark County, OH, Clermont County, OH, Clinton County, OH, Darke County, OH, Delaware County, OH, Fairfield County, OH, Fayette County, OH, Franklin County, OH, Gallia County, OH, Greene County, OH, Hamilton County, OH, Hardin County, OH, Highland County, OH, Hocking County, OH, Jackson County, OH, Lawrence County, OH, Licking County, OH, Logan County, OH, Madison County, OH, Meigs County, OH, Mercer County, OH, Miami County, OH, Montgomery County, OH, Morgan County, OH, Perry County, OH, Pickaway County, OH, Pike County, OH, Preble County, OH, Ross County, OH, Scioto County, OH, Shelby County, OH, Union County, OH, Vinton County, OH, Warren County, OH

The radar

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:20 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: 80%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes: 60%
Ten or more severe wind reports: 80%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more: 70%
Ten or more severe hail reports: 70%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more: 70%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports: 95%

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 16, 7:31 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILN	Dearborn, Franklin, Ripley	44 min
May 16, 7:46 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILN	Fayette, Franklin, Union, Wayne	44 min
May 16, 7:47 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Bullitt, Hardin, Jefferson, Nelson, Shelby, Spencer	28 min
May 16, 7:49 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILN	Dearborn, Ohio, Ripley	41 min
May 16, 8:04 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ILN	Dearborn, Franklin, Ripley	26 min
May 16, 8:08 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILN	Franklin, Union	52 min
May 16, 8:12 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Anderson, Bullitt, Franklin, Nelson, Scott, Shelby and 2 more	33 min
May 16, 8:13 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILN	Wayne	47 min
May 16, 8:18 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ILN	Fayette, Wayne	8 min
May 16, 8:22 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	LMK	Barren, Butler, Edmonson, Logan, Warren	38 min
May 16, 8:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILN	Fayette, Union, Wayne	17 min
May 16, 8:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Anderson, Bourbon, Fayette, Franklin, Nicholas, Scott and 1 more	45 min
May 16, 8:46 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILN	Butler, Clinton, Greene, Montgomery, Warren	44 min
May 16, 8:55 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LMK	Barren, Warren	38 min
May 16, 8:56 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILN	Champaign, Clark, Greene, Logan, Madison, Miami and 3 more	49 min
May 16, 8:59 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	LMK	Barren, Edmonson, Green, Hart, Metcalfe, Warren	46 min
May 16, 9:08 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILN	Hardin, Logan, Union	37 min
May 16, 9:19 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILN	Clark, Clinton, Fayette, Greene, Highland, Madison and 3 more	41 min
May 16, 9:24 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LMK	Adair, Barren, Cumberland, Metcalfe	51 min
May 16, 9:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILN	Champaign, Clark, Delaware, Franklin, Logan, Madison and 2 more	64 min
May 16, 9:31 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	LMK	Adair, Casey, Cumberland, Green, Hart, Metcalfe and 2 more	44 min
May 16, 9:33 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Bourbon, Clark, Nicholas	27 min
May 16, 9:36 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Bath, Fleming, Montgomery, Rowan	24 min
May 16, 9:37 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Destructive damage threat	ILN	Clinton, Fayette, Highland	23 min
May 16, 9:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Elliott, Morgan, Rowan	34 min
May 16, 9:50 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILN	Fayette, Union, Wayne	40 min
May 16, 9:55 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	LMK	Bullitt, Hardin, Jefferson, Meade, Nelson, Oldham and 2 more	35 min
May 16, 9:56 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Bath, Fleming, Montgomery, Rowan	49 min
May 16, 9:57 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	ILN	Clinton, Fayette, Greene, Highland, Madison, Pickaway and 1 more	48 min
May 16, 10:00 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	JKL	Bath, Fleming, Montgomery, Rowan	30 min
May 16, 10:01 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILN	Butler, Clinton, Warren	44 min
May 16, 10:03 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Estill, Jackson, Lee, Menifee, Powell, Rockcastle and 1 more	27 min
May 16, 10:05 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LMK	Adair, Russell	40 min
May 16, 10:09 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	LMK	Bullitt, Grayson, Hardin, Hart, Larue, Meade and 1 more	51 min
May 16, 10:09 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILN	Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Licking	51 min
May 16, 10:12 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LMK	Breckinridge, Grayson, Hardin, Hart, Larue	33 min
May 16, 10:14 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILN	Wayne	36 min
May 16, 10:19 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	LMK	Anderson, Bullitt, Franklin, Henry, Jefferson, Nelson and 6 more	41 min
May 16, 10:22 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	LMK	Barren, Butler, Edmonson, Grayson, Hart, Larue and 2 more	38 min
May 16, 10:25 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	JKL	Breathitt, Estill, Lee, Magoffin, Menifee, Morgan and 2 more	35 min
May 16, 10:25 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILN	Fairfield, Franklin, Hocking, Pickaway, Ross	65 min
May 16, 10:26 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	JKL	Elliott, Rowan	34 min
May 16, 10:29 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	JKL	Pulaski, Wayne	46 min
May 16, 10:32 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILN	Clinton, Fayette, Highland, Ross	43 min
May 16, 10:33 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Breathitt, Estill, Jackson, Lee, Owsley, Rockcastle	27 min
May 16, 10:36 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	LMK	Casey, Russell	12 min
May 16, 10:37 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	RLX	Carter	23 min
May 16, 10:40 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	LMK	Adair, Barren, Boyle, Casey, Edmonson, Green and 10 more	50 min
May 16, 10:43 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	LMK	Anderson, Bourbon, Clark, Fayette, Franklin, Harrison and 7 more	47 min
May 16, 10:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	LMK	Allen, Logan, Simpson, Warren	45 min
May 16, 10:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Perry	30 min
May 16, 10:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Athens, Morgan, Perry, Vinton	23 min
May 16, 10:54 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Breathitt, Elliott, Floyd, Johnson, Magoffin, Martin and 1 more	36 min
May 16, 10:54 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LMK	Allen, Logan, Simpson, Warren	36 min
May 16, 10:55 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	JKL	Elliott	20 min
May 16, 10:57 PM EDT	Tornado Warning Tornado observed	JKL	Pulaski	32 min
May 16, 10:57 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	ILN	Fayette, Highland, Pickaway, Ross	48 min
May 16, 11:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	RLX	Boyd, Carter, Lawrence	30 min
May 16, 11:07 PM EDT	Tornado Warning Tornado observedConsiderable damage threat	JKL	Knox, Laurel, Pulaski, Rockcastle	53 min
May 16, 11:14 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	LMK	Adair, Boyle, Casey, Garrard, Jessamine, Lincoln and 3 more	46 min
May 16, 11:14 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Athens, Morgan, Perry, Washington	31 min
May 16, 11:16 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	JKL	Clay, Estill, Jackson, Laurel, Lee, Owsley and 2 more	5 hr
May 16, 11:18 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Floyd, Martin, Pike	42 min
May 16, 11:18 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Lawrence	27 min
May 16, 11:21 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LMK	Allen, Monroe, Simpson, Warren	24 min
May 16, 11:25 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Bath, Elliott, Fleming, Menifee, Montgomery, Morgan and 2 more	50 min
May 16, 11:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	LMK	Adair, Allen, Barren, Cumberland, Edmonson, Green and 6 more	49 min
May 16, 11:29 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILN	Hocking	46 min
May 16, 11:32 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Athens, Vinton	28 min
May 16, 11:35 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Breathitt, Clay, Estill, Jackson, Laurel, Lee and 5 more	40 min
May 16, 11:38 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	JKL	Breathitt, Clay, Floyd, Knott, Lee, Leslie and 5 more	5 hr
May 16, 11:42 PM EDT	Tornado Warning Tornado observedConsiderable damage threat	JKL	Clay, Knox, Laurel, Leslie, Owsley	48 min
May 16, 11:43 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Athens, Morgan, Washington	32 min
May 16, 11:48 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	JKL	Laurel, Pulaski, Rockcastle	27 min
May 16, 11:51 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Destructive damage threat	LMK	Adair, Casey, Clinton, Cumberland, Green, Hart and 2 more	39 min
May 16, 11:58 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	LMK	Allen, Clinton, Cumberland, Metcalfe, Monroe, Russell	47 min
May 17, 12:01 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Athens, Morgan, Vinton, Washington	29 min
May 17, 12:07 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	JKL	Clay, Jackson, Laurel, Pulaski, Rockcastle	53 min
May 17, 12:09 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Estill, Jackson, Laurel, Lee, Owsley, Powell and 2 more	27 min
May 17, 12:09 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	LMK	Adair, Russell	21 min
May 17, 12:17 AM EDT	Tornado Warning Tornado observedConsiderable damage threat	JKL	Clay, Knott, Leslie, Letcher, Perry	43 min
May 17, 12:19 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	JKL	Laurel, McCreary, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Wayne, Whitley	41 min
May 17, 12:25 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	JKL	McCreary, Pulaski, Wayne	12 min
May 17, 12:47 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Floyd, Johnson, Martin, Pike	28 min
May 17, 12:52 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Knott, Leslie, Letcher, Perry	23 min
May 17, 12:54 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Clay, Jackson, Laurel, Leslie, Owsley, Perry	36 min
May 17, 1:22 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Knott, Letcher, Pike	23 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, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 76 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: 267 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -100 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 915 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 68 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 35 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 231 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 15, 9:30 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Carroll, Cass, Elkhart, Fountain, Fulton, Grant and 18 more	3 hr
May 16, 2:46 AM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Posey, Vanderburgh	119 min
May 16, 3:28 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Clark, Crawford, Floyd, Harrison, Perry, Posey and 3 more	9 hr
May 16, 7:35 AM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Harrison, Perry, Spencer	115 min
May 16, 3:59 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Bartholomew, Boone, Brown, Carroll, Clark, Clay and 49 more	8 hr
May 16, 6:06 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Clark, Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Floyd, Gibson and 14 more	114 min
May 16, 6:47 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Adams, Allen, Benton, Blackford, Cass, Fulton and 12 more	3 hr
May 16, 6:51 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bartholomew, Brown, Clark, Crawford, Dearborn, Decatur and 24 more	114 min
May 16, 7:56 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bartholomew, Brown, Clark, Clay, Crawford, Daviess and 29 more	2 hr
May 16, 6:32 AM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Ballard, Breckinridge, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle and 24 more	58 min
May 16, 8:40 AM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Anderson, Ballard, Boyle, Breckinridge, Bullitt, Butler and 36 more	2 hr
May 16, 10:26 AM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bath, Bell, Breathitt, Clay, Elliott, Estill and 24 more	2 hr
May 16, 11:10 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Bath, Bell, Boyd, Breathitt, Carter, Clay and 29 more	6 hr
May 16, 12:06 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Adair, Allen, Casey, Clinton, Cumberland, Laurel and 10 more	2 hr
May 16, 12:59 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bell, Clay, Floyd, Harlan, Knott, Knox and 8 more	2 hr
May 16, 3:08 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Ballard, Carlisle, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, Livingston and 2 more	2 hr
May 16, 4:36 AM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and 2 more	84 min
May 16, 4:38 AM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and 2 more	97 min
May 16, 1:41 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Arlington, Clarke, Fairfax, Fauquier, Frederick, Loudoun and 12 more	3 hr
May 16, 2:32 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Frederick and 14 more	5 hr
May 16, 2:35 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Botetourt, Brunswick and 35 more	2 hr
May 16, 3:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Accomack, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Botetourt and 65 more	5 hr
May 16, 4:14 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Arlington, Clarke, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William and 7 more	2 hr
May 16, 6:13 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Accomack	92 min
May 16, 6:53 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Greensville, Isle of Wight, Southampton, Surry, Sussex, City of Chesapeake and 7 more	97 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Kentucky, 2025 Tornado Watches in Ohio, 2025 Tornado Watches in Indiana, 2025 Every tornado watch 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.