5 thunderstorm wind, 2 lightning, 2 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
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 May 25, 2:40 PM EST, 1 hour 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 340 PM EDT TUE MAY 25 2004 .SHORT RANGE (TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY)... HIGH CLOUDS HAVE MOVED OVER THE FA AHEAD OF AN AREA OF SHOWERS TO OUR WEST. THIS HAS HELD TEMPERATURES DOWN...ESPECIALLY OVER THE WESTERN HALF OF FA. SATELLITE SHOWED CU DEVELOPING IN THE EAST BUT RADAR INDICATED ONLY LIMITED SHOWERS ACROSS THE AREA AT MID AFTERNOON. AS HEATING CONTINUES, EXPECT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON. SERIES OF WEAK WAVES MOVING ACROSS THE AREA NOTED IN MODELS AT 700 MB AND 500 MB. SOME OF THIS IN GFS MAY BE DUE TO CONVECTIVE FEEDBACK. HOWEVER WITH MOIST UNSTABLE AIR IN PLACE ACROSS THE REGION WEAK IMPULSES WILL TRIGGER THUNDERSTORMS. AS FRONT SLIDES SLOWLY TO THE SOUTH TO NEAR OHIO RIVER DURING THE NEXT TWO DAYS, SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE. BOTH ETA AND GFS INDICATE INCREASING HUMIDITY ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY AND HAVE RAISED POPS INTO HIGH CHANCE AND LIKELY CATEGORIES. CHANCE OF SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE AGAIN FRIDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE A LITTLE COOLER WITH HIGHS MOSTLY IN THE 80 TO 85 DEGREE RANGE WITH GREATER CLOUD COVER. HAVE STAYED GENERALLY CLOSE TO A BLEND OF THE ETA AND GFS MOS GUIDANCE. EXTENDED (FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY)... LOWER OHIO VALLEY WILL REMAIN WARM AND UNSTABLE FOR THE WEEKEND WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. COLD FRONT APPROACHES ON MONDAY. SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPS ON TAP FOR TUESDAY OTHERWISE. NOT MANY CHANGES MADE TO EXTENDED FORECAST. && .LMK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IN...NONE. KY...NONE. && SCHOLZ/PYE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 445 PM EDT TUE MAY 25 2004 INZ076>079-083-084-089>092-KYZ023>043-045>049-053>057-061>067- 070>078-081-082-260800- ADAIR KY-ALLEN KY-ANDERSON KY-BARREN KY-BOURBON KY-BOYLE KY- BRECKINRIDGE KY-BULLITT KY-BUTLER KY-CASEY KY-CLARK KY-CLARK IN- CLINTON KY-CRAWFORD IN-CUMBERLAND KY-DUBOIS IN-EDMONSON KY- FAYETTE KY-FLOYD IN-FRANKLIN KY-GARRARD KY-GRAYSON KY-GREEN KY- HANCOCK KY-HARDIN KY-HARRISON KY-HARRISON IN-HART KY-HENRY KY- JEFFERSON KY-JEFFERSON IN-JESSAMINE KY-LARUE KY-LINCOLN KY-LOGAN KY- MADISON KY-MARION KY-MEADE KY-MERCER KY-METCALF KY-MONROE KY- NELSON KY-NICHOLAS KY-OHIO KY-OLDHAM KY-ORANGE IN-PERRY IN- RUSSELL KY-SCOTT KY-SCOTT IN-SHELBY KY-SIMPSON KY-SPENCER KY- TAYLOR KY-TRIMBLE KY-WARREN KY-WASHINGTON KY-WASHINGTON IN- WOODFORD KY- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...LOUISVILLE...LEXINGTON...BOWLING GREEN... WINCHESTER...VERSAILLES...STANFORD...SHELBYVILLE...RUSSELLVILLE... RICHMOND...HARRODSBURG...HARDINSBURG...GLASGOW...FRANKLIN... FRANKFORT...ELIZABETHTOWN...DANVILLE...CYNTHIANA...COLUMBIA... BARDSTOWN...NEW ALBANY...JASPER AND CORYDON 445 PM EDT (345 PM CDT) TUE MAY 25 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL KENTUCKY AND SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. VERY WARM MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR SOUTH OF A FRONTAL ZONE SETTLING SOUTH TOWARD THE OHIO RIVER WILL BE THE BREEDING GROUND FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA AND CENTRAL KENTUCKY THIS EVENING. THE NORTHERN TWO THIRDS OF KENTUCKY HAS BEEN UDGRADED TO A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE STORMS BY THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER...THE PRIMARY RISKS BEING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS. THE STRONGEST STORMS WILL MOVE EAST OF CENTRAL KENTUCKY BY AROUND MIDNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. AN UNSETTLED PATTERN WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA INTO THE UPCOMING WEEKEND, RESULTING IN CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS. PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN ARE POSSIBLE, PARTICULARLY ON WEDNESDAY, WHEN A STALLED FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL BE IN THE VICINITY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... TRAINED SPOTTERS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS ARE ENCOURAGED TO RELAY REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER OR FLOODING TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LOUISVILLE. EXAMPLES ARE DOWNED TREES OR STRUCTURAL DAMAGE DUE TO HIGH WINDS, HAIL LARGER THAN DIME SIZE, AND FLOODING THAT IS BLOCKING ROADWAYS. REITMEYER
The Louisville radar (KLVX), 49 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:36 UTC.
5 thunderstorm wind, 2 lightning, 2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous trees were downed. Some falling trees knocked down power lines and caused outages.
Lightning blew a three foot hole in the side of a house. Fire caused moderate damage to the second floor and attic of the house.
A house fire started due to a lightning strike in the 6700 block of Green Manor Drive. Details of damage were unavailable.
A semi trailer was blown over. Also many trees were downed.
Trees were downed.
Trees were downed. Some falling trees had knocked down power lines, causing power outages.
The Floyd Street and Third Street viaducts near the University of Louisville were flooded. Several inches of water covered parts of Westport Road in eastern Jefferson County.
Water covered parts of Highway 259 in southern Breckinridge County.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, May 2004
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: 5396389, 5396390, 5396391, 5396383, 5396384, 5396385, 5396386, 5396387, 5396388.