A stratiform area of rain and embedded thunderstorms occurred north of an area of intense convection over northwest Tennessee.
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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 stratiform area of rain and embedded thunderstorms occurred north of an area of intense convection over northwest Tennessee.
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 May 16, 5:25 PM CST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 625 PM CDT SUN MAY 16 2010 .UPDATE... UPDATED AVIATION SECTION FOR 00Z TAFS && .DISCUSSION... BIGGEST CHALLENGE WILL BE POPS...TIMING AND QPF ASSOCIATED ONGOING SYSTEM AND A MID WEEK SYSTEM. AT THE TIME OF THIS WRITING AN E-W STATIONARY FRONT EXTENDED FROM CENTRAL TENNESSEE TO NORTHWEST ARKANSAS AND AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WAS MOVING OUT OF THE PLAINS AND TAKING AIM ON THE REGION. THE MAIN FOCUS FOR PRECIPITATION TONIGHT SHOULD BE OVER THE WESTERN AND NORTHERN SECTIONS OF THE REGION AS THE LIFT ASSOCIATED WITH THE SHORT WAVE MOVES ACROSS THOSE AREAS. THE FRONT AND ASSOCIATED SFC TROUGH WILL BE LIFTED NORTHWARD INTO THE SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF OUR CWA BY 12Z MONDAY WITH THE APPROACH OF THE UPPER TROF. MODELS INDICATE THAT THE UPPER TROF WILL INDUCE A SFC LOW ON THE BOUNDARY OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF OF OUR CWA. ALTHOUGH MODELS ARE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT ON THE PLACEMENT OF THE LOW...BEST POP CHANCES SHOULD BE ALONG AND NORTH OF ITS TRACK...SO KEPT HIGHEST POPS ON MONDAY OVER THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE CWA. AS THE SYSTEM FINALLY MOVES OFF TO THE EAST...MONDAY NIGHT PRECIP SHOULD BE LIMITED TO THE NORTHEAST SECTIONS WHERE WRAP AROUND MOISTURE WILL BE BEST. YESTERDAY LONG RANGE MODELS WERE AT ODDS ABOUT WHAT TO DO WITH A SYSTEM DEVELOPING OVER THE HIGH PLAINS AROUND THE MIDDLE OF THE UPCOMING WEEK. THE GFS BROUGHT THE SYSTEM OVER OUR AREA...BUT THE ECMWF AND THE ENSEMBLES DIDNT. NOW THERE IS SOMEWHAT BETTER AGREEMENT...ALTHOUGH THE ECMWF IS THE LEAST AGGRESSIVE. ADDED SCHC POPS STARTING WEDNESDAY AS OVERRUNNING OF AN APPROACHING SYSTEM BEGINS. PRECIP CHANCES WILL SLOWLY INCREASE FROM THE WEST AND WORK EASTWARD WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY. PRECIP CHANCES LOOK GOOD FOR MOST AREAS THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY AS THIS SYSTEM PUSHES ACROSS OUR AREA. BY FRIDAY NIGHT THIS SYSTEM SHOULD BE EAST OF THE REGION SO HAVE NO POPS FROM THEN THROUGH THE END OF THE CYCLE. && .AVIATION... GENERAL TREND WILL BE FOR DETERIORATING CIGS AND VSBYS TONIGHT AS SHOWERS AND STORMS SPREAD EAST. THOUGH MOST OF THE THUNDER SHOULD BE OVER BY 06Z...A COMBINATION OF LIGHT WINDS AND HIGH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL PROMOTE IFR CIGS LATE TONIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING. THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE AT KOWB...WHERE A LONG PERIOD OF RAIN HAS SATURATED THE LOWER LEVELS. FOLLOWING THE PASSAGE OF A COLD FRONT...DRIER NORTHWEST WINDS MONDAY AFTERNOON WILL BRING IMPROVEMENT TO VFR VSBYS AND MVFR CIGS. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...NONE. MO...NONE. IL...NONE. IN...NONE. && JAP/MY
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 310 PM CDT SUN MAY 16 2010 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-172015- 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- 310 PM CDT SUN MAY 16 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS FORECAST THROUGHOUT THE REGION TODAY AND TONIGHT. THE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LEVELS...BUT LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE A CONCERN. FLOODING WILL CONTINUE ON A FEW AREA RIVERS. PLEASE REFER TO THE RIVER FLOOD WARNINGS AND STATEMENTS FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE OVER ALL OF THE REGION ON MONDAY...THEN OVER ALL OR PART OF THE REGION AGAIN WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. THE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LEVELS...BUT LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE A CONCERN. FLOODING WILL CONTINUE ON A FEW AREA RIVERS. PLEASE REFER TO THE RIVER FLOOD WARNINGS AND STATEMENTS FOR DETAILS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. JP
The Paducah radar (KPAH), 38 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:40 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A bolt of lightning struck a large oak tree over a hundred years old. The tree crashed onto three vehicles parked in a driveway. A full-size pickup truck was totalled, another older truck was extensively damaged, and a sports car was heavily damaged. Phone lines were taken down by the tree.
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, May 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: 229992.