Hail and Damaging Winds in Kentucky, September 23, 2001

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in Kentucky, September 23, 2001
Start: 2001-09-23T18:30
End: 2001-09-23T20:10
Location: Kentucky

September 23, 2001 · NWS LMK · 6 events in 5 counties and zones

Trees and power lines were downed by thunderstorm winds over much of North Central Kentucky. A tree was blown on to a vehicle at Dexterville in Butler County.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $15,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS LMK wrote it up.

Trees and power lines were downed by thunderstorm winds over much of North Central Kentucky. A tree was blown on to a vehicle at Dexterville in Butler County. Another tree was blown on to a house at Pleasure Ridge Park in Jefferson County. Also in Jefferson County, 1.75 inch hail fell along Preston Highway near the state fairgrounds in Louisville.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, 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 the first event at Sep 23, 2:00 PM EST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 23, 2:00 PM EST, 4 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
300 PM EDT SUN SEP 23 2001

MAJOR PATTERN CHG NOW UNDERWAY ACRS MISSISSIPPI VLY... WHICH WILL
GRDLY SHFT INTO THE OH VLY...AND OUR FORECAST AREA (FA) ... THRU
NXT WEEK.

CDFNT IS PROGGED TO SWEEP THRU OUR FA TNGT...WHILE UPR TROF
CONTINUES TO AMPLIFY.  ETA/AVN TIMING DIFFERENCES SEEM TO STEM
FM ETA PUTTING ALL ITS MONEY ON A PRE-FRONTAL TROF (FASTEST OF
THE 2 MODELS)...WHILE AVN KEEPS PCPN TUCKED WITH MAIN SFC FNT.
MSAS DATA SEEMS TO BE POINTING TO THE PRE-FRONTAL TROF BCMG ACTIVE.
REGARDLESS OF WHICH SFC INSTRUMENT WILL BE THE FOCUS...VERY FAVORABLE
JET STRUCTURE (RGT ENTRANCE RGN OF INTENSIFYING 300 MB JET) SHUD
GRTLY ENHANCE LFTG MECHANISM...AND WORK ON MOISTURE STREAMING BACK
INTO OUR RGN FOR NUMEROUS SHWRS AND TSTMS. CERTAINLY NEED TO KEEP AN
EYE OF SVR WX POTENTIAL...WITH ENHANCED WND FIELDS SPRDG ACRS FA AND
LWRG FREEZING LVLS.  LOOKS LIKE TIME FRAME FM 22-04Z...SPCLY OVR OUR
WRN FA...FOR POTENTIAL.

DEEP MOISTURE THEN RPDLY SHFTS EWD ON MONDAY... WITH POSITIVE TILTED
SYS...HOWEVER SHARP UPR TROF STILL YET TO PLOW THRU. WE WILL RUN SCT
POPS (50 PCT ERN PARTS ON MONDAY) AND 30 PERCENT CHC LGT RAIN WRN
SECTIONS ... IN LINGERING LOW LVL MOISTURE AND TROF ROTATING THRU.

VERY DECENT NLY GRADIENT SHUD LOCK LOW CLOUDS ACRS RGN MON
NITE...BEFORE ENTIRE UPR SYS STARTS TO SLOLY LFT TWD THE NE. WE WILL
KEEP MON NITE DRY...ALTHOUGH SOME PTCHY LGT RAIN NOT OUT OF THE
QUESTION LEX AREA. THEN AS UPR SYS AND COLD TROF ALOFT SHIFT EWD ON
TUE...EXPECT CLDS TO BREAK AS WELL.

NOTE...IF SLOWER AVN VERIFIES (LATTER PERIODS) CLRG WILL BE DELAYED
BY ABOUT 12 TO 24 HOURS.

MOS TEMPS FM NGM/AVN AS WELL AS RAW TEMP DATA FM ETA...ALL WITHIN
A FEW DEGREES ON ONE ANOTHER THIS FCST CYCLE. ALL TRENDS CLEARLY
SIMILIAR IN MUCH COOLER CONDS ON TAP.

.SDF...NONE.
STUREY

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 23, 5:45 PM EST, 45 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
645 PM EDT SUN SEP 23 2001

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

615  PM    CELESTINE                 IN   HAIL
09/23/01   DUBOIS                         ONE HALF TO THREE QUARTER
                                          INCH HAIL...ALSO REPORTED
                                          AT FERDINAND AND BIRDSEYE.
                                          EVENT DURATION 20 MINUTES.
                                          REPORTED BY STORM SPOTTER.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Ohio

When: September 23, 6:30 PM EST
Where: Ohio County, Centertown
Measured: 70 kt (81 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.417, -87.000

Thunderstorm Wind, Breckinridge

When: September 23, 6:40 PM EST
Where: Breckinridge County, 7 mi N of Hardinsburg
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.883, -86.467

Thunderstorm Wind, Butler

When: September 23, 7:20 PM EST
Where: Butler County, Countywide
Measured: 70 kt (81 mph)
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.200, -86.667

Thunderstorm Wind, Grayson

When: September 23, 7:28 PM EST
Where: Grayson County, Caneyville
Measured: 70 kt (81 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.417, -86.500

Thunderstorm Wind, Jefferson

When: September 23, 8:00 PM EST
Where: Jefferson County, Pleasure Ridge Park
Measured: 70 kt (81 mph)
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.150, -85.783

Hail, Jefferson

When: September 23, 8:10 PM EST
Where: Jefferson County, Louisville
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.233, -85.783

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.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Kentucky in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Kentucky, September 2001

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: 5267747, 5267748, 5267749, 5267750, 5267751, 5267827.