A thunderstorm produced a lightning strike that disabled a moving vehicle. The storm occurred along a weak cold front that extended from the Lower Great Lakes region to the Lower Ohio Valley.
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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 thunderstorm produced a lightning strike that disabled a moving vehicle. The storm occurred along a weak cold front that extended from the Lower Great Lakes region to the Lower Ohio Valley.
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 Aug 5, 1:08 PM CST, 2 hours 24 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 208 PM CDT SUN AUG 5 2012 .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT) ISSUED AT 127 PM CDT SUN AUG 5 2012 LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS DEPICTS THE PRE FRONTAL WIND SHIFT TO THE NW ALREADY THROUGH THE FA. THE MSL GRADIENT AND THE NORTH WIND SHIFT WAS ALONG THE OHIO RIVER WHICH IS WHERE I WOULD PLACE THE FRONT. DEW POINTS WERE FALLING THROUGH THE 60S ALONG OUR NW FA BOUNDARY WITH 50S INTO THE LSX AREA. REGIONAL RADAR LOOP DID NOT DETECT ANY ECHOES WITH THIS SYSTEM THUS FAR THIS AFTN. VISIBLE SATELLITE SHOWED THE BACK EDGE OF THE CLOUD SHIELD ENTERING THE FA WITH CLEAR SKIES IN ITS WAKE. THE CLOUDS HAD DECREASED EXPECTED INSTABILITY PARAMETERS A BIT THIS AFTN WITH FORECAST CAPES MORE ABOUT 1K J/KG LESS THAN WHAT WAS EXPECTED OR 1K TO 1.5K J/KG. LI'S WERE DOWN TO ABOUT NEGATIVE 1 TO 2. WILL NOT RULE OUT TSRA LATE THIS AFTERNOON. THE ATMOSPHERE HAS BEEN SUFFICIENTLY WORKED OVER ENOUGH TO HOLD OFF CONVECTION AT LEAST FOR NOW. WILL HOWEVER KEEP POPS SOUTH AND EAST OF THE OHIO RIVER AS PER SWODY1. BUT CONFIDENCE IS DECREASING BY THE MINUTE. OTHERWISE EXPECT COOLER AND DRIER AIR TO FILTER INTO THE AREA WITH CLEARING SKIES IN THE FRONTS WAKE. .LONG TERM...(TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY) ISSUED AT 127 PM CDT SUN AUG 5 2012 THE AIRMASS WILL BE MODIFYING AGAIN WEDNESDAY...WITH DEW POINTS RISING INTO THE MID-UPPER 60S...AND HIGHS RISING AGAIN INTO THE LOW-MID 90S. THIS WILL SET THE STAGE FOR INCOMING POPS IN THE WARMING/MOISTENING/DESTABILIZING ENVIRONS...STILL SLATED FOR THUR-FRI TIME FRAME. THAT IS WHEN AN UPPER TROF WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE REGION...ALTHOUGH IT LOOKS LIKE BEST CHANCE FOR RAIN WITH IT WILL STAY TO OUR EAST. THEREFORE SMALLISH CHANCES THU-FRI AND THEN NICE AND DRY/COOLER AIR WORKS IN ON THE BACKSIDE OF THIS DEPARTING SYSTEM FOR NEXT WEEKEND. MODEL RUNS ARE HOLDING UP SUPPORT FOR MID 80S EVEN FOR HIGHS NEXT WEEKEND FOR NERN PTNS FA (EVV AREA) WITH DEW POINTS DOWN INTO THE L60S. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z MONDAY AFTERNOON) ISSUED AT 1129 AM CDT SUN AUG 5 2012 THE FRONT IS LOCATED APPROXIMATELY ALONG THE LOWER WABASH/LOWER OHIO RIVER VALLEY...WITH WINDS OUT OF THE NORTHWEST AT KCGI...W-NW AT KPAH...AND STILL A SLY COMPONENT AT KEVV/KOWB. MVFR CIGS COME IN BEHIND THE FRONT...WHILE CONVECTIVE CHANCES LOOK TO ACCOMPANY AND PRECEDE ITS PASSAGE. WE'LL KEEP ALL OF THE ABOVE GOING FOR THE AFOREMENTIONED THRU THE FIRST 6 HOURS...WITH PCPN AND LOWER CIGS IN THE CONDITIONAL GROUPS. AFTER 00Z...SKIES SHOULD CLEAR WITH FROPA...AND WE SHOULD SEE DIMINISHING WINDS AND FOG FORMING OVERNIGHT. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...NONE. MO...NONE. IN...NONE. KY...NONE. && SHORT TERM...KH LONG TERM....DH
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 431 AM CDT SUN AUG 5 2012 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-060945- 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- 431 AM CDT SUN AUG 5 2012 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 SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS PARTS OF WESTERN KENTUCKY. THE MAIN HAZARDS WITH THESE STORMS WILL BE ISOLATED DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHWEST INDIANA...SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI TODAY. THUNDERSTORMS IN THESE AREAS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LEVELS. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WILL OCCUR IN THUNDERSTORMS. TWO TO THREE INCHES OF RAIN FELL IN JUST A FEW HOURS LAST NIGHT IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. THESE KINDS OF RAINFALL RATES CAUSE FLOODING OF STREETS AND LOW LYING AREAS. THUNDERSTORMS WILL END BY THIS EVENING AS A COLD FRONT EXITS WESTERN KENTUCKY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THUNDERSTORMS WILL RETURN TO THE FORECAST THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY AS A COLD FRONT AFFECTS OUR REGION. ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CANNOT BE RULED OUT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUESTED THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS WESTERN KENTUCKY. MY
The Paducah radar (KPAH), 25 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:31 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a vehicle on the westbound off-ramp of Interstate 24 at exit 16. The electrical system of the car malfunctioned, causing the operator of the vehicle to lose control. The driver and three passengers were treated at a local hospital for non life-threatening injuries.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, August 2012
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: 398270.