A well-developed, compact 500 mb shortwave moved eastward from the Upper Mississippi Valley to the Upper Midwest. Isolated thunderstorms developed with afternoon heating along the tail end of the shortwave.
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 PAH wrote it up.
A well-developed, compact 500 mb shortwave moved eastward from the Upper Mississippi Valley to the Upper Midwest. Isolated thunderstorms developed with afternoon heating along the tail end of the shortwave. The storms produced gusty winds and dime-size hail in the Evansville area.
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 May 29, 1:10 PM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Paducah KY 210 PM CDT SUN MAY 29 2016 .SHORT TERM...(Tonight through Tuesday night) Issued at 210 PM CDT Sun May 29 2016 A weak surface trough extended from roughly Mount Carmel to Marion Illinois to Cape Girardeau and Poplar Bluff Missouri early this afternoon. Forcing is rather weak, but with surface-based CAPE values from 2500-3000 J/kg, isolated thunderstorms will remain possible along and ahead of the trough through the remainder of the afternoon. A small chance of thunderstorms continues into early evening-- mainly across portions of southern Indiana and east of the Land Between the Lakes in western Kentucky. The remainder of the night into Tuesday, weak ridging aloft will work its way east from the Plains into the Middle Mississippi and Lower Ohio Valleys as high pressure take hold at the surface. A somewhat drier atmospheric profile beneath this ridge should result in mainly dry conditions through the period, though a few showers and storms cannot be completely ruled out across the Ozark foothills of southeast Missouri. Energy currently over the Pacific Northwest will develop into an upper level low as it shifts east into the northern Plains. As the trough south of this low approaches, chances for showers and thunderstorms will begin to increase in earnest from west to east by late Tuesday night into mid week. Temperatures will be quite warm through the near term. Expect highs in the mid to upper 80s and lows in the lower to mid 60s. This is in the ballpark of a model consensus blend. .LONG TERM...(Wednesday through Sunday) Issued at 210 PM CDT Sun May 29 2016 Thunderstorm chances will increase through the middle part of the week as a cold front pushes SE across the FA. The passage of the cold front late in the week is somewhat uncertain, at least in its potentially lingering impacts on the S/SE part of the FA. Will lean toward the latest GFS solution of slowing the frontal passage and keeping it close enough to continue low POPs in the S/SE through at least Thu night. Once a second 500mb trough sweeps through the OH Valley Friday the front should be far enough south to negate the need for continued POPs. Models differ somewhat on timing of another cold front late next weekend, but thunderstorm chances will be introduced beginning Sunday as all models have it close enough by then to warrant POPs. Otherwise the summerlike pattern will transition to cooler/slightly below normal temps after Wednesday as the impacts of the post frontal air occur. && .AVIATION... Issued at 1250 PM CDT Sun May 29 2016 Scattered to occasionally broken VFR ceilings are expected this afternoon. Isolated thunderstorms remain possible as a weak surface trough moves southeast through the area. Southwest winds AOB 10 knots will shift to the northwest behind the trough later this afternoon and then become light and variable through Monday. VFR conditions should prevail tonight and Monday, but the formation of late night patchy fog cannot be ruled out in favored locations. However, coverage should be less than last night with a somewhat drier air mass in place. && .PAH Watches/Warnings/Advisories... IL...None. MO...None. IN...None. KY...None. && SHORT TERM...RJP LONG TERM...RS AVIATION...RJP
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 343 AM CDT SUN MAY 29 2016 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-301000- JEFFERSON-WAYNE IL-EDWARDS-WABASH-PERRY IL-FRANKLIN-HAMILTON- WHITE-JACKSON-WILLIAMSON-SALINE-GALLATIN-UNION-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- 343 AM CDT SUN MAY 29 2016 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 CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS, MAINLY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS SOUTHWEST INDIANA, WEST KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THERE IS A SMALL CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS MEMORIAL DAY ACROSS THE OZARK FOOTHILLS OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS AREA WIDE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
The Evansville,IN radar (KVWX), 35 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:41 UTC.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Dime-size hail was reported in and just southeast of Evansville. Small branches less than an inch in diameter were blown down in the city.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Indiana in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Indiana, May 2016
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: 630050.