Kentucky, 2005

Damaging Winds in Kentucky, July 4, 2005

July 4, 2005 · NWS LMK · 7 events in 6 counties and zones

Trees and power lines were downed by thunderstorm winds over much of south central Kentucky. The biggest impact of this holiday storm was at Dale Hollow Lake State Park.

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
$5,000
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.

What happened

The episode as NWS LMK wrote it up.

Trees and power lines were downed by thunderstorm winds over much of south central Kentucky. The biggest impact of this holiday storm was at Dale Hollow Lake State Park. Numerous trees were downed. Many tents at the campground were blown over, but the campground had been evacuated about 5 to 10 minutes before the storm arrived.

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 Jul 4, 2:00 PM EST, 1 hour 37 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 4, 2:00 PM EST, 1 hour 37 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
300 PM EDT MON JUL 4 2005

.SHORT TERM (TONIGHT AND TUESDAY)...
LATEST MODEL DATA SHOWS A DECENT SHORTWAVE MOVING ACROSS THE UPPER
OHIO VALLEY REGION LATER TONIGHT AN EVEN STRONG SYSTEM LAGGING
BEHIND THE FIRST SYSTEM AND FURTHER TO THE NORTH TOO. ASSOCIATED
WITH THESE IMPULSES IS A COLD FRONT THAT WILL DROP SOUTHEAST INTO
KY ON TUESDAY. LATEST SAT AND RADAR DATA SHOW SHOWERS AND TSTMS
ALREADY DEVELOPING ALONG AND AHEAD OF THIS FRONT AND THIS ACTIVITY
SHOULD SPREAD ACROSS MOST OF FA LATER TONIGHT ALTHOUGH WEAKENING IN
INTENSITY DURING THE LATE NIGHT HOURS.

ONGOING SCATTERED TSTMS ACROSS SRN AND ERN PORTION OF FA...OF
A DIURNAL MODE AND THIS ACTIVITY SHOULD DIMINISH AND END DURING THE
EARLY NIGHT HOURS.

WILL GO WITH 50 TO 70 PERCENT POPS ACROSS NWRN TWO THIRDS OF FA
ESPCY AFT MIDNIGHT...AND 30 TO 40 PERCENT POPS TO THE SOUTHEAST.
ON TUESDAY THE FRONT WILL PRESS ON TO THE SOUTHEAST WITH THE
MAIN FCST PROBLEM BEING JUST HOW FAR SOUTH DOES IF GET BEFORE
STALLING OUT. WILL GO WITH 40 TO 50 PECENT POPS ON TUE.

-AB

.LONG TERM (TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY)...
FRONT DROPPING SOUTHEAST ACROSS FA DURING THE DAY TUESDAY WILL BE
SOUTHEAST OF FA BY EVENING.

MAIN FORECAST PROBLEM IN THE EARLY PART OF THE LONG TERM IS
LINGERING SHOWERS INTO TUESDAY EVENING AND ANY REDEVELOPMENT DURING
THE DAY WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY.

NAM SEEMS TO HAVE A PRETTY GOOD HANDLE ON THE SHORT TERM AND WILL
USE NAM TIMING TO END SHOWERS TUESDAY EVENING THEN BLEND INTO ECMWF
BY THURSDAY.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON WILL BE DIMINISHING
AS FRONT MOVES TO THE SOUTHEAST. FRONT WILL HAVE MOVED INTO
SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY BY EARLY TUESDAY EVENING AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL
DECREASE RAPIDLY ACROSS THE NORTHWEST HALF OF FA. WILL KEEP SMALL
CHANCE OF SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS IN THE SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST THROUGH
THE EVENING HOURS.

BOTH NAM AND GFS TAKE FRONT TO THE SOUTH ON WEDNESDAY WITH ONLY
ECMWF SHOWING SIGNIFICANT MOISTURE. WILL KEEP SHOWERS OUT FOR
WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY WITH DRIER AIR OVERSPREADING THE LOWER OHIO
VALLEY AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS SLOWLY TO THE SOUTHEAST. TEMPERATURES
WILL BE IN THE MID AND UPPER 80S BOTH WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY.

FOR FRIDAY THROUGH  MONDAY...FAVOR THE 00Z ECMWF AND 00Z ENSEMBLE
MEAN.

06Z GFS DEEPENS THE TROUGH OVER THE GREAT LAKES AND NORTHEAST
FASTER AND IS FARTHER SOUTH THAN THEN 04/00Z ECMWF AND THE 00Z
ENSEMBLE MEAN. BOTH MODELS ARE SLOWER TO DEEPEN THE TROUGH OVER THE
NORTHEAST AND THE ECMWF IS FASTER TO MOVE THE TROUGH OUT. THE DGEX
ALSO KEEPS THE TROUGH SOMEWHAT WEAKER. THUS HAVE REJECTED THE 06Z
GFS.

WITH ALL MODELS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE OHIO VALLEY AND
SHOULD KEEP FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY DRY. THE ONLY PROBLEM WILL BE THE
TROPICAL DEPRESSION WITH LATEST HURRICANE CENTRAL FORECAST TAKING IT
INTO THE GULF COAST STATES THURSDAY NIGHT-FRIDAY THEN CURVING TO THE
EAST EARLY SATURDAY. ATTM WILL BRING SOME INCREASE IN CLOUDS NORTH
INTO MAINLY THE SOUTHERN HALF OF FA BUT KEEP PRECIPITATION SOUTH OF
THE AREA. IF TROPICAL SYSTEM TAKES A MORE NORTHERLY TRACK THEN MAY
HAVE TO CONSIDER PRECIPITATION OVER THE WEEKEND.  -MBS

&&

.LMK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...

.IN...NONE.
.KY...NONE.

&&
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 4, 12:00 PM EST, 3 hours 37 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
1 PM EDT MON JUL 4 2005

INZ076>079-083-084-089>092-KYZ023>043-045>049-053>057-061>067-
070>078-081-082-050830-
ADAIR KY-ALLEN KY-ANDERSON KY-BARREN KY-BOURBON KY-BOYLE KY-
BRECKINRIDGE KY-BULLITT KY-BUTLER KY-CASEY KY-CLARK IN-CLARK KY-
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 IN-HARRISON KY-HART KY-HENRY KY-
JEFFERSON IN-JEFFERSON KY-JESSAMINE KY-LARUE KY-LINCOLN KY-LOGAN KY-
MADISON KY-MARION KY-MEADE KY-MERCER KY-METCALFE KY-MONROE KY-
NELSON KY-NICHOLAS KY-OHIO KY-OLDHAM KY-ORANGE IN-PERRY IN-
RUSSELL KY-SCOTT IN-SCOTT KY-SHELBY KY-SIMPSON KY-SPENCER KY-
TAYLOR KY-TRIMBLE KY-WARREN KY-WASHINGTON IN-WASHINGTON KY-
WOODFORD KY-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ALBANY...BARDSTOWN...BEAVER DAM...
BOWLING GREEN...CAMPBELLSVILLE...COLUMBIA...CORYDON...CYNTHIANA...
DANVILLE...ELIZABETHTOWN...ENGLISH...FRANKFORT...FRANKLIN...
GEORGETOWN...GLASGOW...HARDINSBURG...HARRODSBURG...JAMESTOWN...
JASPER...JEFFERSONVILLE...LAWRENCEBURG...LEITCHFIELD...LEXINGTON...
LOUISVILLE...MADISON...MOUNT WASHINGTON...MUNFORDVILLE...
NEW ALBANY...PARIS...RICHMOND...RUSSELLVILLE...SCOTTSVILLE...
SHELBYVILLE...SPRINGFIELD...STANFORD...TAYLORSVILLE...TELL CITY...
TOMPKINSVILLE...VERSAILLES...WINCHESTER
1 PM EDT MON JUL 4 2005

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL KENTUCKY AND SOUTH
CENTRAL INDIANA.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE OUTLOOK AREA
THIS AFTERNOON WITH A BETTER CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT. THE
ACTIVITY OVERNIGHT WILL BE TRIGGERED BY A COLD FRONT DROPPING
SOUTHWARD INTO THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY. A FEW OF THESE STORMS TONIGHT
MAY BECOME SEVERE ACROSS SOUTHERN INDIANA WHERE THE STORM PREDICTION
CENTER HAS PLACED A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER. THE PRIMARY
SEVERE WEATHER THREAT WILL BE STRONG WINDS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE TUESDAY HOWEVER SEVERE
STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUESTED TONIGHT FOR SOUTHERN INDIANA.

AB

The radar

The Louisville radar (KLVX), 107 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:36 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Adair

When
July 4, 3:37 PM EST
Where
Adair County, 4 mi NW of Columbia
Measured
50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.133, -85.350

Thunderstorm Wind, Barren

When
July 4, 3:38 PM EST
Where
Barren County, Temple Hill
Measured
50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
36.883, -85.833

Thunderstorm Wind, Casey

When
July 4, 5:12 PM EST
Where
Casey County, Liberty
Measured
50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.317, -84.950

Thunderstorm Wind, Monroe

When
July 4, 6:11 PM EST
Where
Monroe County, Tompkinsville
Measured
50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.700, -85.683

Thunderstorm Wind, Cumberland

When
July 4, 6:23 PM EST
Where
Cumberland County, 4 mi E of Peytonsburg
Measured
52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
PARK/FOREST SERVICE
Coordinates
36.633, -85.317

Thunderstorm Wind, Clinton

When
July 4, 6:50 PM EST
Where
Clinton County, Albany
Measured
55 kt (63 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.683, -85.133

Thunderstorm Wind, Monroe

When
July 4, 8:45 PM EST
Where
Monroe County, Tompkinsville
Measured
50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.700, -85.683

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.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Kentucky in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, July 2005

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: 5464576, 5464575, 5464577, 5464642, 5464643, 5464644, 5464645.