Isolated severe thunderstorms occurred in the vicinity of a weak stationary front that extended from the Missouri Bootheel northeast across 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.
Isolated severe thunderstorms occurred in the vicinity of a weak stationary front that extended from the Missouri Bootheel northeast across 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 Jul 11, 2:15 PM CST, 2 hours 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 315 PM CDT WED JUL 11 2012 .UPDATE... ISSUED AT 315 PM CDT WED JUL 11 2012 A WEAK MID-LEVEL DISTURBANCE NEAR KSTL HAS HELPED KEEP WINDS A BIT MORE VEERED OVER THE AREA...LEADING TO MORE LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE REGION THAN YESTERDAY AND PREVIOUSLY EXPECTED FOR TODAY. BOTTOM LINE IS THAT THERE ARE ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ROAMING WESTWARD ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA FROM I-64 TO THE TENNESSEE BORDER. UPDATED ONE LAST TIME WITHIN THE LAST HOUR TO ADD THE ISOLATED CONVECTION TO THE NORTH. .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT) ISSUED AT 315 PM CDT WED JUL 11 2012 THE MODELS CERTAINLY HAVE HAD THEIR PROBLEMS WITH OUR SUBTLE...WEAKLY FORCED ENVIRONMENT THE LAST FEW DAYS...BUT CONFIDENCE IS IMPROVING IN A WET PERIOD...ESPECIALLY IN THE EAST...OVER THE NEXT 2 DAYS. CURRENT WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS AND UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH PIVOTING EASTWARD THROUGH EASTERN OKLAHOMA. AS THIS TROUGH PUSHES SLOWLY EAST INTO ARKANSAS LATER TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY IT SHOULD DRAW CONSIDERABLE MOISTURE CURRENTLY LOCATED JUST SOUTH OF KMEM NORTHWARD INTO THE PENNYRILE. WOULD EXPECT SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER AT LEAST THE SOUTHERN PENNYRILE IN THE MORNING...POSSIBLY BEGINNING BY 12Z. AN INVERTED SURFACE TROUGH WILL BECOME MORE DISTINCT OVER THE QUAD STATE THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...AS THE UPPER TROUGH LINGERS OVER THE REGION. WITH A HIGH PRECIPITABLE WATER AIRMASS IN PLACE SHOULD SEE GOOD COVERAGE OF CONVECTION CONTINUE THROUGH AT LEAST FRIDAY. THE SURFACE TROUGH SHOULD RESULT IN A MARKED DOWNWARD GRADIENT FROM SOUTHEAST TO NORTHWEST. MAXED POPS IN THE SOUTHEAST AND EAST AT LIKELY LEVELS...BUT CATEGORICALS WILL MOST LIKELY BE NEEDED. THERE SHOULD BE A SLIGHT DIURNAL INCREASE IN CONVECTIVE COVERAGE AND INTENSITY EACH AFTERNOON. GIVEN THE AMOUNT OF CONVECTION EXPECTED AND GENERALLY WEAK WIND FIELDS...WOULD NOT BE OVERLY CONCERNED WITH SEVERE WEATHER THREAT...BUT A STRAY PULSY STRONG STORM CANNOT BE RULED OUT IN THE HEAT OF THE DAY THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. OF MORE CONCERN WILL BE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL...ESPECIALLY OVER THE PENNYRILE REGION...WHERE QPF AMOUNTS TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY TOP 2 INCHES. LOCAL AMOUNTS COULD BE EVEN HIGHER. SIGNIFICANT FLOODING IS NOT ANTICIPATED...BUT LOCALIZED PROBLEMS COULD DEVELOP IN AREAS THAT EXPERIENCE TRAINING OF STORMS. THERE ARE NO PLANS FOR A FLOOD WATCH OR SPS AT THIS TIME. LOW TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE CLOSE TO CONSENSUS MOS WHICH IS NEAR NORMAL LEVELS FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL BE HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION...AND SIGNIFICANT EAST TO WEST GRADIENTS ARE LIKELY. AREAS THAT MANAGE TO SEE CONSIDERABLE SUNSHINE SHOULD CONTINUE TO CLIMB INTO THE 90S THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...BUT THIS MAY BE ONLY ON THE FAR WEST AND NORTHWEST BORDER REGIONS. SOME AREAS OF WEST KENTUCKY MAY STRUGGLE TO CLIMB ABOVE 80 DEGREES. .LONG TERM...(SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY) ISSUED AT 315 PM CDT WED JUL 11 2012 CONVECTION THROUGH THE PERIOD WILL EITHER BE THE RESULT OF DIURNAL HEATING AND/OR UPPER LEVEL ENERGY. THERE MAY BE SOME OUTFLOW BOUNDARY INTERACTION BUT NO SYNOPTIC SCALE KICKERS DETECTED IN THE EXTENDED. SATURDAY ON THE GULF WILL BE OPEN FOR BUSINESS AND SHOULD SUPPLY AMPLE MOISTURE FOR CONVECTION. BUT THE KICKER WILL BE THE KEY AS TO WHEN AND WHERE. SATURDAY DOES STILL APPEAR THE BEST CHANCE AS POSITIVE VORTICITY ADVECTION ADVANCES FROM THE SOUTH JUST AHEAD OF AN UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVE ENERGY MAX. IF THE TIMING ALLOWS THESE TWO FEATURES TO PHASE SATURDAY WITH THE ADDITION OF GULF MOISTURE COULD YIELD THE BEST CONVECTION AND COVERAGE. AFTER THIS HOWEVER THE OPERATIONAL GFS AND ECMWF START TO PART WAYS A BIT WITH THE UPPER LEVEL ENERGY. THE 00Z WED ECMWF KEEPS THIS TROUGH OVER THE ARE THROUGH THE EXTENDED WHILE THE GFS LIFTS IT NORTH AND OUT OF THE REGION. EITHER WAY THERE WILL STILL BE ADEQUATE MOISTURE AND HEATING FOR AT LEAST SLIGHT CHC TO CHC POPS EACH DAY. AS FOR TEMPS WILL CONTINUE TRENDING WARMER AS EVEN CLIMO COULD NOT BRING THE MEX DOWN AS IT HEATS UP THROUGH THE EXTENDED ABOVE CLIMO. WILL LIKELY TWEAK DEW POINTS DOWN AS THEY HAVE BEEN RUNNING WAY TOO HIGH BUT WILL SEE WHAT THE EXTENDED INIT AND COLLABORATION PRODUCE. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z THURSDAY AFTERNOON) ISSUED AT 1254 PM CDT WED JUL 11 2012 ACTUALLY MENTIONED A VCSH AT KEVV AND KOWB FOR LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING...AS A MID-LEVEL DISTURBANCE SHIFTS EASTWARD THROUGH THE REGION. CANNOT RULE OUT A STRAY SHOWER OR STORM AT KPAH OR KCGI THIS AFTERNOON...BUT NOT CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO MENTION AT THIS TIME. WINDS SHOULD GENERALLY BE FROM THE EAST AT UNDER 10KTS...BUT COULD SEE A STRAY GUST INTO THE TEENS AT KCGI. WINDS SHOULD BECOME CALM OR VERY LIGHT FROM THE SOUTH OR SOUTHEAST TONIGHT...WHICH MAY ALLOW FOR SOME MVFR FOG DEVELOPMENT AT ALL SITES. FOR NOW HAVE ONLY MENTIONED IT WHERE IT HAS BEEN OCCURRING THE LAST FEW NIGHTS AT KPAH AND KCGI. WILL NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE A SCATTERED TO BROKEN 2-3KFT LAYER AT KOWB AND POSSIBLY KEVV THURSDAY MORNING...BUT KEPT THE CEILINGS OUT OF THE FORECAST FOR NOW. SAW NO EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THUNDERSTORMS ANYWHERE BEFORE 18Z THURSDAY. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...NONE. MO...NONE. IN...NONE. KY...NONE. && UPDATE...DRS SHORT TERM...DRS LONG TERM....KH AVIATION...DRS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 330 PM CDT WED JUL 11 2012 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-121000- 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- 330 PM CDT WED JUL 11 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER MUCH OF THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. OTHER SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS MAY SPREAD INTO THE PENNYRILE REGION OF WEST KENTUCKY LATE TONIGHT. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE THE PRIMARY CONCERN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. THE BEST COVERAGE WILL BE OVER THE PENNYRILE REGION OF WEST KENTUCKY AND SOUTHWEST INDIANA. A STRAY STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE POSSIBLE EACH AFTERNOON...BUT LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE THE PRIMARY CONCERN. OVER 2 INCHES OF RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER THE PENNYRILE REGION OF WEST KENTUCKY. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE FROM SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. A STRAY SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CANNOT BE RULED OUT EACH AFTERNOON...BUT LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE THE GREATEST CONCERN. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED...BUT SPOTTERS SHOULD REPORT ANY HEAVY RAINFALL OR FLOODING ISSUES THEY OBSERVE THROUGH THE NEXT WEEK. DRS
The Paducah radar (KPAH), 109 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:29 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous trees were blown down, causing power outages. A two-foot diameter tree fell on a residence. A large storage building was damaged. The roof of a downtown auto parts store was damaged.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Missouri in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Missouri, 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: 391206.