During the afternoon of July 16th, isolated severe thunderstorms caused tree damage and an isolated incident of flash flooding in Pike, Pulaski, and Wayne counties.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 episode as NWS JKL wrote it up.
During the afternoon of July 16th, isolated severe thunderstorms caused tree damage and an isolated incident of flash flooding in Pike, Pulaski, and Wayne counties.
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 Jackson, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 16, 9:40 AM EST, 2 hours 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 1040 AM EDT FRI JUL 16 2010 .SHORT TERM.../THE REST OF TODAY/...UPDATED COLD FRONTAL BOUNDARY BEARING DOWN ON OUR AREA STRETCHING ROUGHLY FROM CMH...TO CVG...TO PAH. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED IN A LINE AHEAD OF THE FRONT AND ARE ASSOCIATED WITH AN AREA OF WEAK SFC CONVERGENCE. EXPECT ISOLATED...TO SCATTERED CONVECTION TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ALONG THIS FEATURE AND WITH ANY OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES INTO THE AFTERNOON TIME FRAME. HOWEVER...SOLUTIONS SEEM TO SUGGEST SOME WEAKENING OF THIS NARROW AREA OF CONVERGENCE AS WELL. ADDITIONAL SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THROUGH THE AFTERNOON ALONG THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY ITSELF AS IT SAGS SOUTHWARD. BUT WITH LIMITED FORCING ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONT... EXPECT GENERALLY SCATTERED CONVECTION. BUT WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED OF BETTER COVERAGE WITH A FEW CLUSTERS. UPDATE TO THE ZONES THIS MORNING WAS MAINLY TO FRESHEN UP WORDING... TO REMOVE MORNING FOG. OTHERWISE...MADE A FEW TWEAKS TO ISC GRIDS FOR LATEST HOURLY TRENDS. FOR NOW DECIDED TO KEEP INHERITED SOLID CHANCE POPS...ESPECIALLY WITH THE HRRR SHOWING GENERALLY SCATTERED CONVECTION ACROSS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. THE PREVIOUS SHORT TERM FORECAST DISCUSSION FOLLOWS... /TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY/ THE CURRENT SYNOPTIC PATTERN FEATURES BOTH A WEAKENING AND RETREATING RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE...AND A DIFFUSE COLD FRONT MOVING IN FROM THE NORTHWEST. THE RIDGE WILL KEEP THE WEATHER WARM AND MUGGY THROUGHOUT THE DAY TODAY...AS THE FRONT SLOWLY SAGS SOUTHWARD. INITIALLY...HIGH AND MIDDLE LEVEL CLOUD COVER LEFT OVER FROM A DYING MCS WILL LEAD TO PARTLY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON. AS THE FRONT APPROACHES LATER TODAY...THE CLOUDS WILL INCREASE AND LOWER. THE CURRENT RUNS OF THE NAM12...SREF..CANADIAN...AND GFS MODELS ARE ALL HANDLING THE WEATHER TODAY AND TOMORROW VERY DIFFERENTLY. THE NAM12 IS KEEPING THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA ALMOST ENTIRELY DRY FOR THE NEXT 48 HOURS. THE SREF MODEL...HOWEVER...HAS WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND STORMS FIRING ALONG THE APPROACHING FRONT THROUGH LATE MORNING...BEFORE BACKING OFF ON CONVECTION THIS AFTERNOON WHEN IT SHOULD BE AT ITS PEAK. THE GFS AND CANADIAN MODELS BOTH HAVE NUMEROUS PERIODS OF SHOWERS AND STORMS OFF AND ON THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT...WITH LULLS IN BETWEEN. THE LATEST MAV/METMOS DATA IS ALSO HAVING TROUBLE RESOLVING WHEN PRECIPITATION WILL BEGIN AND END AND WHAT THE TIMING OF FRONTAL PASSAGE WILL BE TODAY AND TOMORROW. WITH THE AMOUNT OF UNCERTAINTY IN THE MODEL DATA...ONLY MINOR CHANGES WERE MADE TO THE FORECAST FOR DAYS 1-3. WENT WITH ONLY CHANCE POPS FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT AS IT APPEARS THE FRONT COULD BE SHEARING OUT A BIT IN THE LATEST SATELLITE IMAGERY. AS THE BOUNDARY STALLS ALONG THE TENNESSEE BORDER LATER TONIGHT...IT COULD PROVIDE A STRONGER AND MORE PERSISTENT TRIGGER FOR CONVECTION. THEREFORE...POPS WERE INCREASED FOR THE AREA SOUTH OF THE HIGHWAY 80 CORRIDOR AND NORTH OF THE TENNESSEE BORDER FOR THE PERIOD 12Z SATURDAY THROUGH 0Z SUNDAY. FOR THE PERIOD 0-6Z SUNDAY...DECIDED TO SLOW DOWN THE EASTWARD PROGRESSION OF THE FRONT...AS HIGH PRESSURE ALONG THE SOUTHEAST COAST MAY KEEP IT HUNG UP A BIT SATURDAY NIGHT. AFTER THAT SUNDAY LOOKS MOSTLY DRY THROUGH THE LATE MORNING HOURS...BEFORE A WEAK SURGE OF GULF MOISTURE INVADES THE AREA FROM THE SOUTH...PERHAPS SPARKING A FEW SHOWERS AND STORMS AS THE MOISTURE RIDES NORTHWARD OVER THE AFOREMENTIONED FRONTAL BOUNDARY WHICH BY THEN SHOULD BE STRETCHED ACROSS THE STATE OF TENNESSEE. THE COOLER METMOS IS STILL HANDLING DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURES MUCH BETTER THAN THE WARMER MAV NUMBERS. INCREASED EVAPORATIONAL COOLING IN THE MOIST BOUNDARY LAYER HAS SIMPLY NOT ALLOWED TEMPERATURES TO REACH THE MID 90S VALUES THE MAV CONTINUES TO PRODUCE. THEREFORE...CONTINUED WITH TREND OF ADJUSTING DAYTIME HIGHS TOWARD THE METMOS NUMBERS. WINDS AND DEW POINTS WERE IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE WITH NO MAJOR CHANGES REQUIRED THERE. ONCE NEW POP NUMBERS WERE CREATED...ALSO RERAN THE QPF AND WEATHER GRIDS TO REFLECT THESE CHANGES ACROSS THE BOARD. .LONG TERM.../SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/ ZONAL FLOW ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY WILL BE GRADUALLY SHUNTED NORTH BY A BUILDING RIDGE ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN CONUS BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. HAVE MAINTAINED CONTINUITY...CONTINUING WITH SOME SLIGHT CHANCE POPS THROUGH TUESDAY AS PASSING SHORT WAVE TROUGHS ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES AND OHIO VALLEY MAY BE ENOUGH TO PROVIDE A TRIGGER COMBINED WITH AFTERNOON HEATING. AS THE RIDGE AMPLIFIES BY THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK...DESPITE 90 DEGREE PLUS TEMPERATURES...EXPECT ANY COVERAGE TO BE LESS THAN 20 PERCENT...SO MAINTAINED NO WEATHER FOR WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. DID GO AHEAD A BUMP TEMPERATURES UP A BIT TOWARDS THE END OF THE PERIOD...AS MOS HAS COME IN WARMER...AND WOULD EXPECT MID 90S TO BE MORE COMMONPLACE BY THEN...ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THE GOOD POTENTIAL OF AVOIDING ANY WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION LEADING UP TO THAT TIME. && .AVIATION.../12Z TO 12Z/ A DIFFUSE AND ILL DEFINED COLD FRONT WILL BRING A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND STORMS TO THE TAF SITES LATER TODAY. THE BEST CHANCE FOR RAIN WILL LIKELY COME LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT...AS THE FRONT MOVES SLOWLY ACROSS THE AREA AND STALLS OUT NEAR THE TENNESSEE BORDER. BASED ON THE LATEST GFS AND SREF MODEL DATA...THE HIGHEST LIKELIHOOD FOR RAIN WILL BE FOR THE PERIOD 12-21Z SATURDAY. VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL TODAY...THOUGH LOW AND MIDDLE LEVEL CLOUD COVER WILL BE ON THE INCREASE. CLOUD BASES WILL BE AROUND 4.5K LATE THIS MORNING THROUGH THIS EVENING. AN OVERCAST LAYER OF CIRRUS CLOUDS IS ALREADY IN PLACE AND WILL REMAIN SO THROUGHOUT THE TAF PERIOD. && .JKL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && SHORT TERM...AR/RAY LONG TERM....GEOGERIAN AVIATION...AR
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 1130 AM EDT FRI JUL 16 2010 KYZ044-050>052-058>060-068-069-079-080-083>088-104-106>120-171100- FLEMING-MONTGOMERY-BATH-ROWAN-ESTILL-POWELL-MENIFEE-ROCKCASTLE- JACKSON-PULASKI-LAUREL-WAYNE-MCCREARY-WHITLEY-KNOX-BELL-HARLAN- ELLIOTT-MORGAN-JOHNSON-WOLFE-MAGOFFIN-FLOYD-LEE-BREATHITT-KNOTT- OWSLEY-PERRY-CLAY-LESLIE-LETCHER-MARTIN-PIKE- 1130 AM EDT FRI JUL 16 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE TODAY AND TONIGHT. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND GUSTY WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AT TIMES FROM SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...MAINLY DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. AR/RAY
The Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 70 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:37 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind, 1 heavy rain, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Four trees were blown down on KY 122 going toward Robinson Creek near Virgie.
A large branch was blown down and was blocking the road on KY 196.
A tree was blown down on KY 1247 near West Todd Rd.
One to two inches of rain fell in less than an hour. Pea sized hail and wind gusts to 30 mph were also reported.
High water on Main St in front of the Fire Dept caused temporary closure of the road. The water quickly receded.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, July 2010
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: 242668, 242669, 242671, 242674, 242675.