Thunderstorm Wind, Shelby
- When
- May 9, 2:00 PM CST
- Where
- Shelby County
- Coordinates
- 38.230, -85.200
Tornado and Hail in Kentucky, May 9, 1988
3 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 15
- Property damage
- $25 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 7
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
Event by event
3 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, Jefferson
- When
- May 9, 2:05 PM CST
- Where
- Jefferson County
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 38.200, -85.650
Hail, Jefferson
- When
- May 9, 2:22 PM CST
- Where
- Jefferson County
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 38.200, -85.650
Hail, Butler
- When
- May 9, 3:12 PM CST
- Where
- Butler County
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 37.200, -86.670
Thunderstorm Wind, Pulaski
- When
- May 9, 5:10 PM CST
- Where
- Pulaski County
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Coordinates
- 37.120, -84.580
Thunderstorm Wind, Powell
- When
- May 9, 5:30 PM CST
- Where
- Powell County
- Measured
- 50 kt (58 mph)
- Coordinates
- 37.850, -83.870
Tornado, Bell
- When
- May 9, 8:17 PM CST
- Where
- Bell County
- Rating
- F3
- Path length
- 5 mi
- Path width
- 500 yd
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Injuries
- 15 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $25 million
- Coordinates
- 36.600, -83.750
The people who died
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tornado, Bell | 1988-05-09 | Direct |
What these are
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Hail in Alabama, May 9, 1988
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Ohio, May 9, 1988
- Hail in Texas, May 9, 1988
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Tennessee, May 9, 1988
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, May 9, 1988
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Indiana, May 9, 1988
- Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, May 9, 1988
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Arkansas, May 9, 1988
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Michigan, May 9, 1988
More
Every storm in Kentucky in 1988Every state in 1988This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Kentucky, 1988Warnings in Kentucky, May 1988
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 10029423, 10029424, 10029425, 10029426, 10029427, 10029428, 10029429.