A funnel cloud that was not associated with a thunderstorm occurred during the late afternoon. East surface winds brought cool air associated with high pressure over the Great Lakes region.
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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 episode as NWS PAH wrote it up.
A funnel cloud that was not associated with a thunderstorm occurred during the late afternoon. East surface winds brought cool air associated with high pressure over the Great Lakes region. In the upper levels, a 500 mb closed low over Missouri resulted in colder air aloft and steep lapse rates.
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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 4, 1:27 PM CST, 3 hours 38 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 227 PM CDT FRI SEP 4 2009 .SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... LATEST REGIONAL RADAR MOSAIC SHOWS A CYCLONIC CIRCULATION CENTER ALONG THE KANSAS/MISSOURI BORDER SOUTH OF KANSAS CITY. RATHER WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND STORMS EXTEND EAST FROM THE LOW ACROSS CENTRAL MISSOURI. FURTHER EAST...CONVECTION IS MUCH MORE ISOLATED FROM WESTERN KENTUCKY INTO ARKANSAS. THE CONVECTION OVER WESTERN KENTUCKY IS DIURNALLY DRIVEN AND SHOULD FADE WITH LOSS OF DAYTIME HEATING. HOWEVER...THE MORE CONCENTRATED STORMS OVER NORTHERN ARKANSAS MAY BE RELATED TO A WEAK LOW LEVEL TROUGH/WARM FRONT. THIS ACTIVITY COULD AFFECT SE MISSOURI AND NEARBY IL/KY THROUGH THE NIGHT. 20 TO 30 PERCENT POPS WILL SUFFICE THERE. SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...THE MAIN FEATURE OF INTEREST WILL BE THE 500 MB SYSTEM TO OUR WEST. THOUGH THE SYSTEM CURRENTLY APPEARS TO BE A CLOSED LOW...THE MODELS ARE IN VERY GOOD AGREEMENT THAT IT WILL BE IN THE FORM OF A POSITIVELY TILTED TROUGH/SHEAR AXIS BY SATURDAY. THE SYSTEM WILL ADVANCE SLOWLY EASTWARD ACROSS MISSOURI/ILLINOIS TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY. THE COVERAGE OF PRECIP IS RATHER IMPRESSIVE TO OUR WEST...AND LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IS PLENTIFUL /AS EVIDENCED BY EARLY MORNING FOG AND AFTERNOON STORMS THE PAST FEW DAYS/. THIS MAKES IT HARD TO IGNORE THE INCREASING MOS POPS...WHICH ARE IN THE LIKELY CATEGORY AT SOME STATIONS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. MEASURABLE PRECIP APPEARS LIKELY IN SE MISSOURI ON SATURDAY...SPREADING EAST ACROSS THE REGION SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THAT THE TROUGH WILL WEAKEN AND/OR LOSE IDENTITY SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY AS IT CROSSES THE FORECAST AREA. A CORRESPONDING DECREASE IN POPS IS FORECAST DURING THIS PERIOD. THROUGH THE SHORT TERM...LOW LEVEL FLOW WILL REMAIN RATHER WEAK AND NON DESCRIPT...WHICH WILL NEGATE WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAINFALL. RELATIVELY WEAK INSTABILITY /CAPES NEAR OR BELOW 1000 J/KG/ WILL WORK AGAINST STRONG UPDRAFTS AND ASSOCIATED SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL. THIS IS REFLECTED IN THE HWO. TEMPS ARE A BLEND OF GFS/NAM MOS...WHICH ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT. COOLEST DAYTIME HIGHS WILL CORRESPOND WITH HIGHEST POPS AND CLOUD COVER. .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... MODELS IN GENERAL AGREEMENT THAT WE WILL BE BETWEEN SYSTEMS MID WORK WEEK. THEREFORE...HAVE PULLED POPS FOR MID WEEK...ALTHOUGH CANT RULE OUT VERY ISOLATED PRECIP POSSIBLE. ATTM THINK CHC IS TOO SMALL TO MENTION. BOTH THE GFS AND ECMWF DIG UPPER LOW INTO THE CENTRAL US OR UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY NEXT WEEKEND. THUS PUMPING MOISTURE INTO THE MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. THIS WILL BRING PRECIP CHC BACK INTO THE FORECAST FOR LATE WEEK AND NEXT WEEKEND. THE ECMWF IS STILL ADVERTISING A COLD FROPA FRIDAY/FRIDAY NIGHT. THIS HAS BEEN CONSISTENT FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS NOW AND MAY BE ABLE TO UP POPS IF RUNS CONTINUE THIS PATH. AS FOR TEMPS AND TDS...ONLY MINOR TWEAKS FOR COLLABORATION PURPOSES. && .AVIATION... FOG BURNED OFF BY 15Z...FOLLOWED QUICKLY BY SCATTERED TO BROKEN CUMULUS DECK. THE BASES OF THE CU WILL RISE INTO THE VFR CATEGORY EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. SOME ISOLATED SHOWERS OR A THUNDERSTORM MAY OCCUR THROUGH 00Z...BUT COVERAGE WILL BE TOO SMALL FOR MENTION IN TAFS. THE MAIN CONCERN FOR TONIGHT IS HOW MUCH FOG WILL DEVELOP. WITH SIMILAR WINDS AND DEW POINTS AS LAST NIGHT...DECIDED TO LOWER THE VSBY FORECAST TO IFR AFTER MIDNIGHT. EVEN SO...THE FOG SHOULD NOT BE AS THICK AS EARLY THIS MORNING DUE TO MORE CLOUDINESS. THE CLOUD BASES SHOULD BE VFR. FOG SHOULD AGAIN BURN OFF QUICKLY BY 14Z. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...NONE. MO...NONE. IL...NONE. IN...NONE. && SHORT TERM...MY LONG TERM...KH AVIATION...MY
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 930 AM CDT FRI SEP 4 2009 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-051430- JEFFERSON-WAYNE IL-EDWARDS-WABASH-PERRY IL-FRANKLIN-HAMILTON- WHITE-JACKSON-WILLIAMSON-SALINE-GALLATIN-UNION IL-JOHNSON-POPE- HARDIN-ALEXANDER-PULASKI-MASSAC-GIBSON-PIKE-POSEY-VANDERBURGH- WARRICK-SPENCER-FULTON-HICKMAN-CARLISLE-BALLARD-MCCRACKEN-GRAVES- LIVINGSTON-MARSHALL-CALLOWAY-CRITTENDEN-LYON-TRIGG-CALDWELL- UNION KY-WEBSTER-HOPKINS-CHRISTIAN-HENDERSON-DAVIESS-MCLEAN- MUHLENBERG-TODD-PERRY MO-BOLLINGER-CAPE GIRARDEAU-WAYNE MO-CARTER- RIPLEY-BUTLER-STODDARD-SCOTT-MISSISSIPPI-NEW MADRID- 930 AM CDT FRI SEP 4 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A SMALL CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS...BUT SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE THE PRIMARY HAZARDOUS WEATHER THREAT FROM THUNDERSTORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY A DAILY CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AS THE PRIMARY HAZARDOUS WEATHER THREAT WILL OCCUR EACH DAY. SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. MY/DH
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
An off-duty meteorologist spotted a cold air funnel cloud while travelling on Interstate 24 west of Hopkinsville.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, September 2009
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: 193014.