During the early morning hours on July 5th, an individual thunderstorm developed over the Shively neighborhood in Louisville. Although the storm was not long lived, it produced several reports of wind damage.
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 LMK wrote it up.
During the early morning hours on July 5th, an individual thunderstorm developed over the Shively neighborhood in Louisville. Although the storm was not long lived, it produced several reports of wind damage.
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, 11:52 PM EST, 2 hours 1 minute earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
1252 AM EDT THU JUL 05 2012
...Updated Aviation Discussion...
.Forecast Update...
Issued at 1128 PM EDT Wed Jul 4 2012
Forecast continues to be in pretty good shape. Have been watching
the convection over Ohio as it advances to the south. Mesoscale
analysis suggests that this activity will weaken as it attempts to
move towards and south of the Ohio River, and most of the activity
should stay to the east of the LMK CWA. ILN radar trends support
this idea, and the storms are already showing signs of weakening and
becoming outflow dominated even though they are still well north of
the river. Will hang on to the pre-dawn 20% PoP in the east in case
a few rogue cells, such as the one that developed in IND's eastern
CWA earlier this evening, can make it into the LMK forecast area.
Issued at 738 PM EDT Wed Jul 4 2012
Minor update, mostly to adjust cloud cover and to tweak temperatures
in rain-cooled areas. Will allow a couple more hours for isolated
thunderstorms in the west, and the outside chance of an isolated
thunderstorm towards morning in the Blue Grass in case a cell or two
slides in from overnight activity to our north. Overall, though, it
looks like a quiet night.
&&
.Short Term (Tonight through Thursday Night)...
Issued at 300 PM EDT Wed Jul 4 2012
Well advertised hot holiday ongoing, with temperatures nearing 100
degrees in a few spots. Atmosphere slow to fire up so far this
afternoon, with no real boundaries out there to develop from. There
may be some differential heating boundaries soo with some patches of
clear skies still out there. Expect we will get isolated to
scattered coverage by late afternoon.
A few high res models are still developing storms on a trajectory
toward our region later tonight. The SPC NMM is the strongest with a
system that should now be over western Lake Erie. The ARW has a
better handle on current activity, and it has a system crossing WV
from northeast to southwest and getting toward our Bluegrass region
around daybreak. A look at model soundings does indicate some
residual instability through the night, so if any system does get
organized it should be able to maintain itself into at least the
eastern part of region. Will keep isolated pops through the night
there and taper them off by midnight over the west.
Thursday, the ridge over the Mid Mississippi Valley will strengthen
some, bringing higher heights into our region as well. Think
coverage will be more isolated than with today's storms, and
combined with those higher thicknesses, expect highs to go up a
degree or two from today's values, which again will bring record
temperatures, see below, but only because the records for Thursday
are low compared to last weeks numbers.
Forecast High Temperatures (with record and year that occurred)
SDF...102 (98, multiple times, last occurred in 1994)
LEX...99 (96, multiple times, last occurred in 1988)
BWG...101 (102, 1901)
FFT...98 (99, 1934)
Thursday night looks dry, and expect temperatures will fall to a
degree or two warmer than tonight.
.Long Term (Friday through Wednesday)...
Issued at 305 PM EDT Tue Jul 4 2012
...Continued Hot Conditions, then Relief and Solid Rain Chances...
Strong upper level ridging will control the majority of the CONUS at
the start of the forecast period with the center just to our west.
Expecting near record and record breaking heat Friday and Saturday
as this feature holds strong over the area. Will keep Friday and
Saturday dry, although there is some indication from forecast
soundings and model QPF output that capping will not be quite as
strong and that we could see some isolated to scattered diurnally
driven convection. Given the lack of any noticeable trigger, am not
confident we will be able to get much at this point. May need to add
some low chance pops at a later date.
Expecting highs to range in the 100-104 degree range along and west
of I-75 on Friday with the highest values west of I-65. This will
put max heat indices in the 105-110 range west and up to 105 east.
Saturday's forecast has potential to be the same, however will not
go as high due to uncertainty in the breakdown of the ridge. Faster
solutions suggest this is possible by Saturday, although the
consensus would be to hold off until Sunday. If the ridge holds,
Saturday will likely be as hot, if not hotter, in a few spots. Will
keep ongoing Excessive Heat Warning and Advisory the same through
Saturday. Will also keep Saturday dry, although the faster solution
would bring in thunderstorm chances. Some records are likely to fall
Friday and maybe Saturday. Below is the breakdown.
HI FRI RECORD FRI JUL 6TH HI SAT RECORD SAT JUL 7TH
SDF 102 97/1991 101 102/1874
BWG 103 100/1930 101 104/1874
LEX 100 97/1936 99 101/1936
FFT 101 99/1997 100 102/1936
An interesting side note, should the forecast highs at SDF fall on
the 5th and 6th...every record temperature for the month of July
would be 100 degrees or greater! Right now, this looks like a good
bet.
A change in the pattern will begin on Sunday, which will gradually
bring relief from the incredible heat and solid chances for showers
and thunderstorms. Upper ridge begins to break down in response to
troughing over eastern Canada and New England. The associated
surface features will bring a cool front south toward the CWA which
will begin to bring solid thunderstorm chances. Again,
timing/placement is a bit in question. Will only see a bit of relief
on Sunday, more from increased cloud cover and convection. Look for
highs in the mid and upper 90s. At this point, thinking the best
chance for thunderstorms will be on Monday with highs around 90.
Tuesday and Wednesday are expected to bring continued scattered
thunderstorm chances mainly across the southern half of the CWA as
the frontal boundary hangs up a bit. Look for highs generally in the
upper 80s.
Lows on Saturday and Sunday night will be plenty mild and
solidly in the 70s, before dropping off to the upper 60s and low 70s
for Monday and Tuesday nights.
One last note, may have to watch for strong or severe storms early
next week as there will be plenty of instability ahead of the front,
and overall deep layer shear will gradually increase with troughing
developing over eastern CONUS.
&&
.Aviation (06Z TAF Issuance)...
Issued at 1250 AM EDT Thu Jul 5 2012
Skies will remain mostly clear overnight, becoming partly cloudy
under the influence of an upper ridge. Light and variable winds
overnight will shift to northwesterly today and remain fairly light
at 7 knots or less. Isolated thunderstorms will be possible across
the region both early this morning and this afternoon. Coverage will
be isolated enough to not warrant mention in the TAFs at this time.
With rain near BWG yesterday evening, will continue to mention
visibility dropping to MVFR there off and on this morning.
&&
.LMK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
IN...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING UNTIL 9 PM EDT /8 PM CDT/ SATURDAY FOR
INZ076>079-083-084-089>092.
KY...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING UNTIL 9 PM EDT /8 PM CDT/ SATURDAY FOR
KYZ023>034-038-045-053-061>063-070>072.
HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 9 PM EDT /8 PM CDT/ SATURDAY FOR KYZ035>037-
039>043-046>049-054>057-064>067-073>078-081-082.
Update...........13
Short Term.......RJS
Long Term........BJS
Aviation.........EERHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 1134 PM EDT WED JUL 4 2012 INZ076>079-083-084-089>092-KYZ023>034-038-045-053-061>063-070>072- 060645- ORANGE IN-WASHINGTON IN-SCOTT IN-JEFFERSON IN-DUBOIS IN-CRAWFORD IN- PERRY IN-HARRISON IN-FLOYD IN-CLARK IN-HANCOCK KY-BRECKINRIDGE KY- MEADE KY-OHIO KY-GRAYSON KY-HARDIN KY-BULLITT KY-JEFFERSON KY- OLDHAM KY-TRIMBLE KY-HENRY KY-SHELBY KY-SPENCER KY-NELSON KY- LARUE KY-BUTLER KY-EDMONSON KY-HART KY-LOGAN KY-WARREN KY-SIMPSON KY- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...PAOLI...SALEM...SCOTTSBURG...MADISON... JASPER...MARENGO...TELL CITY...CORYDON...NEW ALBANY... JEFFERSONVILLE...HAWESVILLE...HARDINSBURG...BRANDENBURG... BEAVER DAM...LEITCHFIELD...ELIZABETHTOWN...FORT KNOX... MOUNT WASHINGTON...SHEPHERDSVILLE...LOUISVILLE...LA GRANGE... BEDFORD...NEW CASTLE...SHELBYVILLE...TAYLORSVILLE...BARDSTOWN... HODGENVILLE...MORGANTOWN...BROWNSVILLE...MUNFORDVILLE... RUSSELLVILLE...BOWLING GREEN...FRANKLIN 1134 PM EDT WED JUL 4 2012 /1034 PM CDT WED JUL 4 2012/ ...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM EDT /8 PM CDT/ SATURDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA AND CENTRAL KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE EAST OF INTERSTATE 65 BEFORE DAWN. SOME OF THE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND LIGHTNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THURSDAY AND SATURDAY AFTERNOONS. A BETTER CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY AS A FRONT SLOWLY MOVES SOUTH THROUGH THE AREA. ANY THUNDERSTORM THAT DEVELOPS WILL PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON ALSO WILL BE HOT EACH DAY...WITH HEAT INDICES LIKELY PEAKING BETWEEN 105 TO 110 DEGREES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS SHOULD REPORT ANY INSTANCES OF HAIL OR THUNDERSTORM WIND DAMAGE TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE THIS EVENING. && MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LOUISVILLE (ALL LOWER CASE) KYZ035>037-039>043-046>049-054>057-064>067-073>078-081-082-060645- FRANKLIN KY-SCOTT KY-HARRISON KY-ANDERSON KY-WOODFORD KY-FAYETTE KY- BOURBON KY-NICHOLAS KY-WASHINGTON KY-MERCER KY-JESSAMINE KY-CLARK KY- MARION KY-BOYLE KY-GARRARD KY-MADISON KY-GREEN KY-TAYLOR KY-CASEY KY- LINCOLN KY-ALLEN KY-BARREN KY-MONROE KY-METCALFE KY-ADAIR KY- RUSSELL KY-CUMBERLAND KY-CLINTON KY- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...FRANKFORT...GEORGETOWN...CYNTHIANA... LAWRENCEBURG...VERSAILLES...LEXINGTON...PARIS...CARLISLE... SPRINGFIELD...HARRODSBURG...NICHOLASVILLE...WINCHESTER...LEBANON... DANVILLE...LANCASTER...RICHMOND...GREENSBURG...CAMPBELLSVILLE... LIBERTY...STANFORD...SCOTTSVILLE...GLASGOW...TOMPKINSVILLE... EDMONTON...COLUMBIA...JAMESTOWN...BURKESVILLE...ALBANY 1134 PM EDT WED JUL 4 2012 /1034 PM CDT WED JUL 4 2012/ ...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM EDT /8 PM CDT/ SATURDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE EAST OF INTERSTATE 65 BEFORE DAWN. SOME OF THE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND LIGHTNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THURSDAY AND SATURDAY AFTERNOONS. A BETTER CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY AS A FRONT SLOWLY MOVES SOUTH THROUGH THE AREA. ANY THUNDERSTORM THAT DEVELOPS WILL PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON ALSO WILL BE HOT EACH DAY...WITH HEAT INDICES LIKELY PEAKING BETWEEN 100 TO 105 DEGREES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS SHOULD REPORT ANY INSTANCES OF HAIL OR THUNDERSTORM WIND DAMAGE TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE THIS EVENING. && MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LOUISVILLE (ALL LOWER CASE) 13
The Louisville radar (KLVX), 26 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:53 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The local broadcast media reported several trees and large limbs down in the St. Dennis neighborhood near Shively. Several neighborhoods lost power.
Local broadcast media relayed a report of an uprooted tree and several other limbs down near the intersection of Gageland Road and Sky Blue Avenue. Quarter sized hail was also observed.
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, July 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: 381234, 381236.