On April 11th, a line of storms weakened during the morning hours as it moved into west central Kentucky. By early afternoon, the remnants of this line hung up over central Kentucky, stretching from the Bluegrass Region southwest to near Bowling Green.
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.
On April 11th, a line of storms weakened during the morning hours as it moved into west central Kentucky. By early afternoon, the remnants of this line hung up over central Kentucky, stretching from the Bluegrass Region southwest to near Bowling Green. East of this area of showers, partial sun and surface temperatures in the middle 70s lead to weak surface based instability. By mid-afternoon, thunderstorms developed across east central Kentucky, along the eastern edge of the rain farther west. Some of these storms produced gusty winds and isolated 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 Apr 11, 1:04 PM CST, 1 hour 39 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 304 PM EDT THU APR 11 2013 .Short Term (Now through Friday Night)... Issued at 304 PM EDT Thu Apr 11 2013 A strong upper low will move toward the western Great Lakes by dawn on Friday, with an elongated surface low working northward toward the lower Great Lakes. A trailing cold front now draped from the lower Wabash River Valley southward through western KY/TN will slide very slowly east through our CWA the rest of this afternoon and evening. As this occurs, the right entrance region of an upper level jet will continue to slide into better position across our CWA as it rounds the base of the trough, and a deep moisture plume will continue to be pumped into the region on a low level jet. This will allow off and on light to moderate rain showers to continue across the western portions of the CWA for the next several hours, before the axis of heaviest rainfall slides east late this evening. Overall, have slowed the exit of this system down considerably, with precipitation not ending around Louisville/Bowling Green until just before Midnight EDT, and at LEX until just after Midnight. Overall rainfall totals for the event should be between 1-2" total. Feel any severe threat in our extreme eastern CWA is diminishing as heavy cloud cover has limited destabilization. Will continue to watch upstream storms move in from central Tennessee, but all of these storms have been weakening as they move toward our CWA. Also, feel that any rumbles of thunder will be confined to mainly the southern portions of the CWA. Will keep lingering cloud cover and steady westerly winds behind the front tonight with lows dipping into the low and mid 40s. Highs on Friday will struggle only to the mid and upper 50s as steady west winds between 10 and 20 mph gust up near 30 mph at times. Scattered to broken cu will also develop in the late morning and early afternoon which will yield partly to mostly cloudy skies. Have gone just below MAV/MET guidance for high temperatures on Friday. Shallow eastern CONUS trough will continue to hold over the Great Lakes as we head into the weekend, with generally zonal flow across the Ohio Valley. Surface high pressure will build stronger into the region by dawn on Saturday. This will brink surface winds going calmer west of I-65 and skies becoming mostly clear. Temperatures are expected to drop into the 35-40 degree range in many spots, with a few western decoupled valleys possibly dropping just below 35 degrees. This will bring a very small and isolated threat of frost formation toward dawn on Saturday. At this point, not too concerned about this marginal potential for frost. .Long Term (Saturday through Thursday)... Issued at 300 PM EDT Thu Apr 11 2013 Have a couple of concerns in this period. The first is for frost potential in valleys again Sunday morning, and the second is when and how long the next front will affect us in the middle of the next work week. For the first issue, high pressure will be to our west Saturday morning and will move over us by evening on its way to West Virginia by Sunday morning. Model consensus is pretty good on this scenario, which would lead to calm winds Saturday night. The chink in the frost potential however is cloud cover. The NAM/GFS/00Z ECMWF each have a quick-moving upper disturbance crossing the region that night, which if it happens likely will make it difficult to frost. We should get a better handle on this potential as we get closer to the event. The 00Z Euro brings in some precip Sunday night and Monday behind some increasing moisture and weak isentropic lift. Temperatures look to warm quickly with the front Sunday and Monday, going back to above normal again. Southerly winds will continue to bring warm air ahead of the next slow-moving/stationary front forecast to set up to our north Tuesday through Wednesday. That boundary will be the focus for precip, with chances increasing each day. The GFS and 00Z Euro as well as the lowres 12Z Euro each have a surface low tracking across the Midwest Thursday, similar to our setup today, that could bring another round of heavy rains as well as stronger storms. && .Aviation (18Z TAF Issuance)... Issued at 110 PM EDT Thu Apr 11 2013 A secondary surge in moisture continues to move from SW to NE toward BWG/SDF. Conditions should waffle between VFR out of and MVFR inside rain showers as visibilities drop through the afternoon. BWG will stand the best shot at a few rumbles of thunder near the terminal. A cold front currently located in the lower Wabash River Valley southward through the Gulf Coast states will slowly work east through the afternoon and evening. Expect a wind shift from SSW to WSW as this front passes, along with lower ceilings solidly into the MVFR category. There may be a brief period where BWG/SDF could see IFR just after sunset through around Midnight EDT. Otherwise, rain will shut off around 8 PM EDT tonight, with perhaps some lingering sprinkles into the late evening hours. LEX will see an end to rain with MVFR ceilings prevailing post frontal through the night. Friday will see a return to dry conditions with gusty west winds between 10 and 15 mph, gusting up around 20-25 mph. Expect some scattered to broken cu around 4-5 K feet. && .LMK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IN...NONE. KY...NONE. Short Term.......BJS Long Term........RJS Aviation.........BJS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 323 PM EDT THU APR 11 2013 INZ076>079-083-084-089>092-KYZ023>025-028>043-045>049-053>055-121930- 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-HARDIN KY-BULLITT KY-JEFFERSON KY-OLDHAM KY-TRIMBLE KY- HENRY KY-SHELBY KY-FRANKLIN KY-SCOTT KY-HARRISON KY-SPENCER KY- ANDERSON KY-WOODFORD KY-FAYETTE KY-BOURBON KY-NICHOLAS KY-NELSON KY- WASHINGTON KY-MERCER KY-JESSAMINE KY-CLARK KY-LARUE KY-MARION KY- BOYLE KY- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...PAOLI...SALEM...SCOTTSBURG...MADISON... JASPER...MARENGO...TELL CITY...CORYDON...NEW ALBANY... JEFFERSONVILLE...HAWESVILLE...HARDINSBURG...BRANDENBURG... ELIZABETHTOWN...FORT KNOX...MOUNT WASHINGTON...SHEPHERDSVILLE... LOUISVILLE...LA GRANGE...BEDFORD...NEW CASTLE...SHELBYVILLE... FRANKFORT...GEORGETOWN...CYNTHIANA...TAYLORSVILLE...LAWRENCEBURG... VERSAILLES...LEXINGTON...PARIS...CARLISLE...BARDSTOWN... SPRINGFIELD...HARRODSBURG...NICHOLASVILLE...WINCHESTER... HODGENVILLE...LEBANON...DANVILLE 323 PM EDT THU APR 11 2013 /223 PM CDT THU APR 11 2013/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA AND CENTRAL KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...THROUGH TONIGHT. WIDESPREAD LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN WILL CONTINUE AHEAD OF A FRONTAL BOUNDARY THROUGH LATE EVENING. IT MAY RAIN HEAVY ENOUGH AT TIMES TO CREATE BRIEF PONDING ON ROADWAYS. USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING THIS EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY AS ANOTHER FRONT STALLS JUST NORTH OF THE AREA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. && MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT WEATHER.GOV/LOUISVILLE. KYZ026-027-056-057-061>067-070>078-081-082-121930- OHIO KY-GRAYSON KY-GARRARD KY-MADISON KY-BUTLER KY-EDMONSON KY- HART KY-GREEN KY-TAYLOR KY-CASEY KY-LINCOLN KY-LOGAN KY-WARREN KY- SIMPSON KY-ALLEN KY-BARREN KY-MONROE KY-METCALFE KY-ADAIR KY- RUSSELL KY-CUMBERLAND KY-CLINTON KY- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...BEAVER DAM...LEITCHFIELD...LANCASTER... RICHMOND...MORGANTOWN...BROWNSVILLE...MUNFORDVILLE...GREENSBURG... CAMPBELLSVILLE...LIBERTY...STANFORD...RUSSELLVILLE...BOWLING GREEN... FRANKLIN...SCOTTSVILLE...GLASGOW...TOMPKINSVILLE...EDMONTON... COLUMBIA...JAMESTOWN...BURKESVILLE...ALBANY 323 PM EDT THU APR 11 2013 /223 PM CDT THU APR 11 2013/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA AND CENTRAL KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT AND STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE THROUGH THE LATE EVENING. MODERATE RAINFALL WILL OCCUR AT TIMES...ALONG WITH CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND GUSTY WINDS TO 35 MPH IN ANY THUNDERSTORM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY AS ANOTHER FRONT STALLS JUST NORTH OF THE AREA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. && MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT WEATHER.GOV/LOUISVILLE. BJS/RJS
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
321 PM CDT THU APR 11 2013
KYZ075-081-082-112050-
CLINTON KY-CUMBERLAND KY-MONROE KY-
321 PM CDT THU APR 11 2013
...STRONG THUNDERSTORM WITH DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...TORRENTIAL RAIN...
AND 45 MPH WINDS...
AT 317 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM 9 MILES WEST OF CELINA...AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT
45 MPH.
OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING...TORRENTIAL RAIN REDUCING VISIBILITIES...AND
STRONG GUSTY WINDS OF AROUND 40 TO 50 MPH...ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS
STORM.
* THIS STORM WILL ALSO IMPACT...
BURKESVILLE...
HESTAND...
VERNON AND BLYTHE...
ASHLOCK AND RAYDURE...
LITTRELL AND PEYTONSBURG...
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...SEEK SHELTER INDOORS AND STAY
AWAY FROM WINDOWS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA ALL HAZARDS RADIO...
WEATHER.GOV/LOUISVILLE ON THE INTERNET...OR LOCAL MEDIA FOR LATER
UPDATES AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
&&
LAT...LON 3662 8580 3663 8581 3687 8541 3665 8518
3662 8525 3661 8548
TIME...MOT...LOC 2020Z 235DEG 41KT 3654 8563
AMSThe Nashville radar (KOHX), 122 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:41 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Cumberland County Emergency Manager reported some shingles were blown off several houses near the intersection of Free Ferry and Smith Grove Roads. Some ceder trees were downed and some tin was removed from a barn near the same location.
An AWOS automated weather gauge at the Berea local airport measured a 61 mph wind gust. Nearby, in the town of Berea, gusty winds toppled a couple of shallow rooted trees.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, April 2013
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: 433658, 433659.