Alert archive / Kentucky / Wind Advisories in 2026

Wind Advisory 4, NWS Paducah, KY

March 15, 202622 counties in Kentucky; 19 counties in Illinois; 11 counties in Missouri

NWS Paducah, KY issued this wind advisory at Mar 15, 2026, 12:59 PM CDT for 22 counties in Kentucky; 19 counties in Illinois; 11 counties in Missouri. It was in force for 18 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 15, 2026, 12:59 PM CDT (17:59 UTC)
Expired
Mar 16, 2026, 7:00 AM CDT
In force
18 hr
Issued by
NWS Paducah, KY
All 52 counties

Alexander County, IL, Edwards County, IL, Franklin County, IL, Gallatin County, IL, Hamilton County, IL, Hardin County, IL, Jackson County, IL, Jefferson County, IL, Johnson County, IL, Massac County, IL, Perry County, IL, Pope County, IL, Pulaski County, IL, Saline County, IL, Union County, IL, Wabash County, IL, Wayne County, IL, White County, IL, Williamson County, IL, Ballard County, KY, Caldwell County, KY, Calloway County, KY, Carlisle County, KY, Christian County, KY, Crittenden County, KY, Daviess County, KY, Fulton County, KY, Graves County, KY, Henderson County, KY, Hickman County, KY, Hopkins County, KY, Livingston County, KY, Lyon County, KY, Marshall County, KY, McCracken County, KY, McLean 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), 31 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:03 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, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 232 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 2026-03-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2026-03-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 67 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1402 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
67 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
161 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this wind advisory 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 wind advisory went out at Mar 15, 12:52 PM CDT, 7 minutes earlier. Its key messages:

  • There is an enhanced risk of severe storms late this afternoon into this evening, with damaging winds and isolated tornadoes the main anticipated hazards.
  • A high wind warning is in effect for portions of southern Illinois and southeast Missouri, with a wind advisory elsewhere. 35-45 mph gusts will be common, with isolated higher wind gusts possible.
  • Rain will transition to snow Sunday night into Monday before ending as much colder air plunges across the area. Little to no impactful accumulation is expected, but a light dusting of snowfall on grassy surfaces is possible.
  • Winter-like cold temperatures will start the new work week. Lows Monday night will drop into the teens to lower 20's and with a northwest wind will translate to wind chills in the single digits to lower teens.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 15, 12:52 PM CDT, 7 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Paducah KY
1252 PM CDT Sun Mar 15 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- There is an enhanced risk of severe storms late this afternoon
  into this evening, with damaging winds and isolated tornadoes
  the main anticipated hazards.

- A high wind warning is in effect for portions of southern
  Illinois and southeast Missouri, with a wind advisory
  elsewhere. 35-45 mph gusts will be common, with isolated
  higher wind gusts possible.

- Rain will transition to snow Sunday night into Monday before
  ending as much colder air plunges across the area. Little to
  no impactful accumulation is expected, but a light dusting of
  snowfall on grassy surfaces is possible.

- Winter-like cold temperatures will start the new work week.
  Lows Monday night will drop into the teens to lower 20's and
  with a northwest wind will translate to wind chills in the
  single digits to lower teens.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 1159 AM CDT Sun Mar 15 2026

A large scale trough is digging into the plains early this
afternoon with a 150+ knot upper jet on the upshear side of the
trough axis leading to further amplification. The amplified
pattern is producing increasing southerly flow in the low levels
with NAEFS showing increased V-component wind anomalies. A
992mb surface low is moving into NE KS/SE Iowa early this
afternoon with a cold front that extends into southwest
Missouri. Southerly flow will continue this afternoon with winds
gusting to 40+ mph ahead of and behind the cold front. Some
areas have gusted to between 50-60 mph where a high wind warning
has been issued into the early afternoon. A wind advisory
remains in effect for the entire area until 12Z Monday. It is
possible the high wind warning may need to be expanding in area
and time and we will continue to monitor.

An 18z sounding from SGF shows the cap lifting and eroding indicating
the dynamic lift and moistening taking place to our west.
Moisture advection has led to dewpoints in the low to mid 50s as
of this writing. Continued moisture advection will occur ahead
of a cold front with surface dewpoints expected to increase into
the upper 50s to near 60 degrees. A majority of the CAMs are
now showing dewpoints reaching the lower 60s immediately along
and ahead of the front. Higher dewpoints have resulted in
modeled thermodynamic fields a bit higher than previous runs
with MLCAPE values now near 500 Joules or higher. Shear remains
exceptional with very strong wind magnitudes throughout the
column. A broad area of 50+ knot 0-6km shear will be in place,
with 0-1km shear 30-40 knots. Ingredients are certainly in place
for an active severe weather event with the entire Quad State
in an enhanced risk. The expected evolution is development of
storms occurring across Missouri and quickly consolidating into
a line as its moves across the Quad State. Guidance remains in
good agreement on timing, with little change from earlier
forecasts. Some CAMs show isolated development out ahead of the
front and it remains to be seen how intense this activity will
be. The thinking is that it may struggle given the capping
inversion with the more intense updrafts along the front.
Widespread damaging winds will remain the greater threat with
winds of 60-70 mph. QLCS tornadoes will also remain a threat
(some even strong) given the very strong low level shear. LCL
heights are a bit high owing to the larger dewpoint depressions
across the boundary layer and it remains to be seen how this
impacts the tornado risk going forward. It may be just enough to
keep us from seeing a higher end event on the tornado side of
things.

The front will be quick to move through, with temperatures
quickly falling behind it. By 12z 850mb temperatures will have
fallen to between -10 and -14C. Some moisture on the back end of
the system may fall as light snow on Monday, mainly across the
north and east. Still expecting this to be non-impactful with
any light accumulations mostly on grassy surfaces. The more
impactful story will be the cold temperatures. Highs on Monday
will remain in the 30s with lows dropping into teens. Brisk
northwest winds will keep wind chills in the 20s during the day
Monday and fall into the single digits to teens by Tuesday
morning. Gradual warming occurs Tuesday and Wednesday and by
Thursday temperatures will be back into the 70s. A disturbance
may bring a chance for light precipitation Tuesday night into
early Wednesday but amounts will be light. Much nicer weather
carries from Thursday into the weekend with highs in the 70s.

&&

.AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z MONDAY/...
Issued at 1248 PM CDT Sun Mar 15 2026

Strong south winds will continue ahead of the front that will
move across the terminals this afternoon into tonight. The front
will bring with it restricted cigs/visbys with a line of
convection. Some of this convection may be strong to severe.
Behind the front, winds turn to the northwest and will continue
to be strong. Time heights indicate MVFR cigs remaining a good
portion of the night and into early Monday before returning to
VFR.

&&

.PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
IL...High Wind Warning until 1 PM CDT this afternoon for ILZ075-076-
     080>082-084>086-088-089.
     Wind Advisory until 7 AM CDT Monday for ILZ077-078-083-087-
     090>094.
MO...High Wind Warning until 1 PM CDT this afternoon for MOZ076-086-
     087.
     Wind Advisory until 7 AM CDT Monday for MOZ100-107>112-114.
IN...Wind Advisory until 7 AM CDT /8 AM EDT/ Monday for INZ081-082-
     085>088.
KY...Wind Advisory until 7 AM CDT Monday for KYZ001>022.

&&
Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 15, 3:19 AM CDT, 9 hours 40 minutes before
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In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 15, 10:30 AM CDT, 2 hours 29 minutes before
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Local storm report, Mar 15, 10:57 AM CDT, 2 hours 2 minutes before
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Local storm report, Mar 15, 11:38 AM CDT, 1 hour 21 minutes before
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Local storm report, Mar 15, 12:03 PM CDT, 56 minutes before
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 15, 10:45 AM CDTHigh Wind WarningPAHBallard, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Crittenden, Fulton and 10 more8 hr
Mar 15, 6:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHFulton39 min
Mar 15, 6:45 PM CDTTornado WarningPAHFulton28 min
Mar 15, 6:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHBallard38 min
Mar 15, 5:50 PM CDTTornado WarningPAHPerry40 min
Mar 15, 6:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHJefferson, Perry51 min
Mar 15, 6:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHFranklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Perry, Williamson39 min
Mar 15, 6:42 PM CDTTornado WarningPAHJackson, Union, Williamson48 min
Mar 15, 4:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatPAHCarter, Ripley63 min
Mar 15, 4:57 PM CDTTornado WarningPAHCarter, Ripley48 min
Mar 15, 5:29 PM CDTTornado WarningPAHRipley31 min
Mar 15, 5:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHButler, Carter, Wayne44 min
Mar 15, 5:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHButler, Ripley48 min
Mar 15, 5:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHPerry29 min
Mar 15, 5:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHBollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Scott, Stoddard, Wayne46 min
Mar 15, 6:02 PM CDTTornado WarningPAHBollinger30 min
Mar 15, 6:22 PM CDTTornado WarningPAHCape Girardeau, Perry23 min
Mar 15, 6:24 PM CDTTornado WarningPAHBollinger, Cape Girardeau51 min
Mar 15, 6:44 PM CDTTornado WarningPAHCape Girardeau, Perry16 min

Nearby

Wind Advisories in Kentucky, 2026Wind Advisories in Illinois, 2026Wind Advisories in Missouri, 2026Every wind advisory in 2026

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.