Alert archive / Kentucky / Mesoscale Discussions in 2026

Mesoscale Discussion 802

May 20, 202632 counties in Kentucky; 7 counties in Ohio; 32 counties in West Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 20, 2026, 1:06 PM EDT for 32 counties in Kentucky; 7 counties in Ohio; 32 counties in West Virginia. It was in force for 114 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 20, 2026, 1:06 PM EDT (17:06 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT
In force
114 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Concerning
Severe potential...watch possible
Chance of a watch
40%
All 71 counties

Bath County, KY, Boyd County, KY, Breathitt County, KY, Carter County, KY, Clark County, KY, Clay County, KY, Elliott County, KY, Estill County, KY, Fleming County, KY, Floyd County, KY, Garrard County, KY, Greenup County, KY, Jackson County, KY, Johnson County, KY, Knott County, KY, Lawrence County, KY, Lee County, KY, Leslie County, KY, Lewis County, KY, Madison County, KY, Magoffin County, KY, Martin County, KY, Menifee County, KY, Montgomery County, KY, Morgan County, KY, Owsley County, KY, Perry County, KY, Pike County, KY, Powell County, KY, Rockcastle County, KY, Rowan County, KY, Wolfe County, KY, Athens County, OH, Gallia County, OH, Jackson County, OH, Lawrence County, OH, Meigs County, OH, Scioto County, OH, Washington County, OH, Barbour County, WV, Boone County, WV, Braxton County, WV, Cabell County, WV, Calhoun County, WV, Clay County, WV, Doddridge County, WV, Fayette County, WV, Gilmer County, WV, Harrison County, WV, Jackson County, WV, Kanawha County, WV, Lewis County, WV, Lincoln County, WV, Logan County, WV, Mason County, WV, Mingo County, WV, Nicholas County, WV, Pleasants County, WV, Pocahontas County, WV, Putnam County, WV, Raleigh County, WV, Randolph County, WV, Ritchie County, WV, Roane County, WV, Tyler County, WV, Upshur County, WV, Wayne County, WV, Webster County, WV, Wirt County, WV, Wood County, WV, Wyoming County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 32 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:07 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 watches that followed

Watches SPC issued over any of the same counties within four hours of this discussion.

The nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 12:00Z, 5.1 hours before the alert went out and 187 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 2026-05-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 115 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 2026-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -31 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
115 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-89 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
744 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
8 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

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SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 20, 7:50 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBath, Bourbon, Boyd, Boyle, Bracken, Breathitt and 41 more115 min
May 20, 1:34 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Allen, Barren, Casey, Clinton, Cumberland and 12 more116 min
May 20, 3:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBell, Breathitt, Clay, Floyd, Harlan, Johnson and 9 more5 hr
May 20, 4:55 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBell, Breathitt, Clay, Floyd, Harlan, Johnson and 8 more95 min
May 19, 8:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCClinton, Delaware, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Hocking and 3 more38 days
May 20, 12:23 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBerkeley, Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, Mineral and 4 more97 min
May 20, 12:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBerkeley, Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, Mineral and 2 more7 hr
May 20, 3:09 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBerkeley, Jefferson96 min
May 20, 7:14 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Gilmer, Grant, Hardy, Lewis, Pendleton and 3 more31 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Kentucky, 2026Mesoscale Discussions in West Virginia, 2026Mesoscale Discussions in Ohio, 2026Every mesoscale discussion 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.