Strong instability, combined with weak winds aloft, led to the development of scattered strong thunderstorms across central Kentucky during the late afternoon and evening hours. The strongest storms produced marginally severe hail and isolated damaging wind gusts.
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.
Strong instability, combined with weak winds aloft, led to the development of scattered strong thunderstorms across central Kentucky during the late afternoon and evening hours. The strongest storms produced marginally severe hail and isolated damaging wind gusts. Localized heavy rains of 2 to 3 inches produced flash flooding southeast of downtown Louisville and in Marian and Boyle Counties.
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 Jun 17, 12:27 PM EST, 1 hour 59 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 127 PM EDT MON JUN 17 2013 ...Updated Aviation Discussion... .FORECAST UPDATE... Issued at 940 AM EDT Mon Jun 17 2013 Isolated thunderstorms have popped this morning, and are now just south of the Bluegrass Parkway. SPC mesoanalysis shows an axis of higher K-index extending ESE from near Jasper, IN to near Richmond, KY. Products have been tweaked slightly to go with coverage wording instead of chances for today, and also to include thunder this morning. && .SHORT TERM (Today through Tuesday)... Issued at 300 AM EDT Mon Jun 17 2013 500mb flow is currently broadly cyclonic across the upper midwest and the Northern Ohio Valley. This configuration will continue through late Tuesday as somewhat displaced south polar vortex remains over northern Quebec. A series of weak, difficult- to-time waves embedded in this flow will move through the region through late Tuesday. The axis of greatest PWATs orientated along the Ohio River yesterday has slipped farther south across southern Missouri and the Tennessee Valley. Despite a lack of any discernible disturbance approaching later this morning, isolated showers are possible through the morning across central and eastern Kentucky. Weak to moderate instability is again forecast for this afternoon, and again feel that isolated to scattered thunderstorms will develop by mid afternoon. Think they will stay more unorganized than Sunday's storms due to very light winds up to around 850mb. Outside of any afternoon convection, expect partly cloudy skies and temperatures peaking a few degrees warmer than yesterday, reaching the mid to perhaps the upper 80s. A weak disturbance has been consistently forecast by short term guidance to move southeast across western Kentucky late this evening or early Tuesday. Some of our earlier forecasts have emphasized the possibility of widespread convection late Monday or early Tuesday with this feature. However, am losing confidence in these earlier projections. Southern Indiana increasingly looks like it will be missed by any convective development late Monday as it looks to lie north of the preferred deep moisture over Tennessee. Will reduce forecast pops to 40 to 50% over central Kentucky from late Monday through Tuesday morning. Will maintain at least a slight chance for convection through Tuesday afternoon as well. Winds will stay quite light through this entire period, with calm winds this morning becoming southerly at only around 5mph this afternoon. .LONG TERM (Tuesday Night through Sunday)... Issued at 315 AM EDT Mon Jun 17 2013 Tuesday Night through Thursday Night... Much of the region will continue be influenced by a baggy eastern CONUS trough at the beginning of the period. May see some isolated-scattered diurnal convection at the very beginning of the period Tuesday night...mainly across the south. The upper trough over the eastern US is forecast to shift eastward as the multi-model consensus agrees that another mid-level ridge will steadily build across the central Plains. As the mid-level heights rise, we should see mainly dry conditions from Wednesday through Thursday night along with a moderation in temperatures. Highs Wednesday should average in the lower to middle 80s with readings generally in the middle 80s for Thursday. Overnight lows during the period will be in the 60s. Friday through Sunday... Rather large heat ridge looks to strengthen to our west during the period. The multi-model consensus agrees with this synoptic evolution, but there are minor differences in the direct placement of the ridge axis. It does appear that the ridge axis will be to our west and may be just east enough to keep us relatively dry through much of the period. It does appear that MCS action will probably be in full swing across the northern Plains and these systems will rotate around the periphery of the ridge. At this time range, it is nearly impossible to time or place these features, so have opted to just to keep a near climatological PoP in for Sunday. With increasing time, temperatures will continue to moderate through the period. Highs Friday and Saturday will warm into the 85-90 degree range with highs generally near 90 by Sunday. Overnight lows will be in the upper 60s to the lower 70s. && .AVIATION (18Z TAF Update)... Issued at 125 PM EDT Mon Jun 17 2013 Low-confidence forecast especially with regard to convection this afternoon. Best guess at this point is that the boundary which is evident by the enhanced Cu from just south and west of FTK, extending across central Kentucky to near SME and LOZ, will serve as a focus for afternoon thunderstorms. Wind fields are unimpressive, but outflow will probably be a little more robust and have the convergence to fire new storms on the southern flank, and the WRF-NMM backs this up. Therefore will carry SHRA/VCTS in BWG for a few hours late this afternoon and into early evening. Probabilities appear too low to include precip in the SDF or LEX TAFs. Expect another round of showers and storms late tonight as an upper-level wave moves east through the Tennessee Valley. Expect prevailing visibilities to drop to MVFR, but can't rule out brief IFR conditions under the strongest showers/storms. Winds will be light through the period, with mainly a southerly component this afternoon and evening, but swinging around to NE Tuesday morning as a developing surface low passes to our south. && .LMK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IN...NONE. KY...NONE. Update...........RAS Short Term.......JSD Long Term........MJ Aviation.........RAS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 1125 AM EDT MON JUN 17 2013 INZ076>079-083-084-089>092-KYZ023>043-045>049-053>057-061>067- 070>078-081-082-181530- 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-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-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...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...FRANKFORT...GEORGETOWN... CYNTHIANA...TAYLORSVILLE...LAWRENCEBURG...VERSAILLES...LEXINGTON... PARIS...CARLISLE...BARDSTOWN...SPRINGFIELD...HARRODSBURG... NICHOLASVILLE...WINCHESTER...HODGENVILLE...LEBANON...DANVILLE... LANCASTER...RICHMOND...MORGANTOWN...BROWNSVILLE...MUNFORDVILLE... GREENSBURG...CAMPBELLSVILLE...LIBERTY...STANFORD...RUSSELLVILLE... BOWLING GREEN...FRANKLIN...SCOTTSVILLE...GLASGOW...TOMPKINSVILLE... EDMONTON...COLUMBIA...JAMESTOWN...BURKESVILLE...ALBANY 1125 AM EDT MON JUN 17 2013 /1025 AM CDT MON JUN 17 2013/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA AND CENTRAL KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED UNORGANIZED THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING MAY GENERATE GUSTY WINDS AND BRIEFLY HEAVY RAINFALL. A WEAK WAVE MOVING THROUGH SOUTHERN KENTUCKY MAY ALLOW SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS TO CONTINUE OVERNIGHT INTO EARLY TUESDAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS MAY BRING GUSTY WINDS AND CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. && MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT WEATHER.GOV/LOUISVILLE. RAS/JSD/MJ
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
1049 AM EDT MON JUN 17 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0509 PM TSTM WND DMG 2 SSE GEORGETOWN 38.27N 85.95W
06/16/2013 FLOYD IN BROADCAST MEDIA
15 TREES DOWN IN SOUTH GEORGETOWN
&&
EVENT NUMBER LMK1300251
SEGPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
1113 AM EDT MON JUN 17 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0508 PM TSTM WND DMG 3 NW VALLEY STATION 38.13N 85.89W
06/16/2013 JEFFERSON KY COUNTY OFFICIAL
TREES DOWN AT GREENBELT AND GLOBAL
&&
EVENT NUMBER LMK1300252
RJSPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
1118 AM EDT MON JUN 17 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0512 PM TSTM WND DMG 4 S NEW ALBANY 38.25N 85.83W
06/16/2013 JEFFERSON KY COUNTY OFFICIAL
TREES DOWN AT SOUTHWESTERN PARKWAY AND RIVER PARK
&&
EVENT NUMBER LMK1300253
RJSPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
1120 AM EDT MON JUN 17 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0530 PM TSTM WND DMG 2 NNE WEST POINT 38.01N 85.94W
06/16/2013 JEFFERSON KY COUNTY OFFICIAL
TREES DOWN AT DIXIE HIGHWAY AND KATHERINE STATION
&&
EVENT NUMBER LMK1300254
RJSPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
1122 AM EDT MON JUN 17 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0506 PM TSTM WND DMG LANESVILLE 38.24N 85.98W
06/16/2013 HARRISON IN DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
3 LARGE TREES DOWN IN LANESVILLE INCLUDING BRECKINRIDGE
RD AT CORYDON RIDGE RD
0508 PM TSTM WND DMG 3 NW VALLEY STATION 38.13N 85.89W
06/16/2013 JEFFERSON KY COUNTY OFFICIAL
TREES DOWN AT GREENBELT AND GLOBAL
0509 PM TSTM WND DMG 2 SSE GEORGETOWN 38.27N 85.95W
06/16/2013 FLOYD IN BROADCAST MEDIA
15 TREES DOWN IN SOUTH GEORGETOWN
0511 PM TSTM WND DMG PLEASURE RIDGE PARK 38.15N 85.85W
06/16/2013 JEFFERSON KY PUBLIC
DOWN POWER LINES AND TREES.
0512 PM TSTM WND DMG 4 S NEW ALBANY 38.25N 85.83W
06/16/2013 JEFFERSON KY COUNTY OFFICIAL
TREES DOWN AT SOUTHWESTERN PARKWAY AND RIVER PARK
0524 PM TSTM WND DMG 3 SW LOUISVILLE 38.19N 85.78W
06/16/2013 JEFFERSON KY FIRE DEPT/RESCUE
TREES DOWN ON EASTERN PARKWAY NEAR BRADLY.
0525 PM TSTM WND DMG ST. MATTHEWS 38.25N 85.64W
06/16/2013 JEFFERSON KY LAW ENFORCEMENT
TWO TREES REPORTED DOWN AROUND CHEROKEE PARK.
0530 PM TSTM WND DMG 2 NNE WEST POINT 38.01N 85.94W
06/16/2013 JEFFERSON KY COUNTY OFFICIAL
TREES DOWN AT DIXIE HIGHWAY AND KATHERINE STATION
&&
EVENT NUMBER LMK1300250 LMK1300252 LMK1300251 LMK1300248 LMK1300253
LMK1300249 LMK1300247 LMK1300254
CMCSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
252 PM EDT MON JUN 17 2013
KYZ025-028-171920-
HARDIN KY-MEADE KY-
252 PM EDT MON JUN 17 2013
...STRONG THUNDERSTORM WITH DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...HEAVY RAIN...AND 45
MPH WINDS...
AT 250 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM 11 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BRANDENBURG...AND MOVING
NORTH AT 5 MPH.
OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING...HEAVY RAIN REDUCING VISIBILITIES...AND GUSTY
WINDS OF AROUND 35 TO 45 MPH...ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM.
* THIS STORM WILL ALSO IMPACT...
FORT KNOX AND GARRETT...
GRAHAMTON...
MULDRAUGH AND ROCK HAVEN...
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 3797 8606 3796 8605 3797 8604 3796 8590
3794 8590 3794 8588 3778 8592 3779 8615
3797 8616
TIME...MOT...LOC 1852Z 183DEG 4KT 3788 8603
RJSThe Louisville radar (KLVX), 10 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:27 UTC.
4 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 1 hail, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The ASOS instrument measured a 69 mph wind gust at the Fort Knox Airport.
A spotter reported one inch hail at the intersection of River Road and Zorn.
Numerous trees were downed in Middletown on the east side of Louisville Metro. Local law enforcement initially reported 2 trees down 2 miles northeast of Middletown. A later report from the County Highway Department mentioned a total of over 2 dozen trees downed in the same neighborhood at around the same time.
The public reported a large tree down in Jeffersontown, on the east side of Louisville Metro.
The Jefferson County Department of Highways reported street flooding at the intersection of Breckinridge Lane and Interstate 264. Flooding also occurred at Bashford Manor Lane. Less than two miles away, a National Weather Service employee measured just over 3 inches of rain in just over one hour.
The Marion County emergency manager reported street flooding on several locations around the county. In Lebanon, up to 2 feet of water flooded several intersections. Water entered several businesses and blocked a few intersections.
State highway 68, located 2 miles northeast of Gravel Switch, was closed for 45 minutes with around one half foot of water over the road.
The Casey County emergency manager reported that a road 4 miles northeast of Ellisburg was flooded and partially washed away.
Local law enforcement reported several trees down in Carlisle.
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, June 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: 447462, 447458, 447459, 447460, 447454, 447455, 447457, 447456, 447461.