Scattered thunderstorms developed across the Lake Cumberland region this afternoon before merging and strengthening northwest of Williamsburg. This cluster of storms produced isolated damaging winds before decreasing in intensity.
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The episode as NWS JKL wrote it up.
Scattered thunderstorms developed across the Lake Cumberland region this afternoon before merging and strengthening northwest of Williamsburg. This cluster of storms produced isolated damaging winds before decreasing in intensity.
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 Jackson, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 2, 3:29 PM EST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Jackson KY 429 PM EDT THU JUN 2 2016 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Friday night) Issued at 429 PM EDT THU JUN 2 2016 The JKL forecast area remained largely devoid of precip until late afternoon. This was despite CAPE of 1-2K J/kg and no significant cap. The issue has been weak forcing/focusing, and the general scenario should continue. That being the case, it is a low confidence forecast for precip into tonight. There is still time for development to occur, and chance pops have been used for the late afternoon/evening time frame. Think that there will again be an overall decline in precip during the night. The weak frontal boundary well north of the Ohio River is expected to stall and become even more diffuse during the forecast period. What is left of it should remain nearby, without any meaningful change in our air mass occurring. That being the case, we will have a similar scenario for Friday and Friday night. Convection can be expected for some locations, mainly in the afternoon or evening, but pinning down the timing and location is too problematic. Our precipitable water will remain high (generally in the 1.5-1.75" range) and steering currents will be light. That being the case, if convection can get going with some minimal organization, locally heavy rainfall would be a concern. .LONG TERM...(Saturday through Thursday) Issued at 350 PM EDT THU JUN 2 2016 The period will be met initially with muggy and unsettled weather, but we transition to cooler and drier conditions moving into early next week. Models remain in good agreement with the overall upper level patterns seen by the spaghetti plots. That said we begin the period Saturday with the upper level low positioned across the Western Great Lakes. This trough axis will extend south into the Southern Mississippi River Valley. This will all couple with weak waves and defuse front near by to lead to likely pops area wide Saturday afternoon into early Sunday. Right now severe parameters are weak, but heavy rain remains the primary threat through the weekend. This given PWATS remaining in the 1.5 to 1.7 range which nears plus 2 standard deviations above normal and deep warm cloud layer with freezing levels near to or greater than 12 KFT. Right now will hold off on any watches until we see how antecedent convection shapes up for the rest of the week. The trough will eventually progress east and sweep the front across the region later Sunday. We will then be met with generally broad cyclonic flow aloft for the remainder of the long term period. This will team up with a surface high pressure, and continue the trend of cooling temperatures and drying conditions across the Ohio and Tennessee Valley regions. The CIPS analog by Wednesday suggest little if any chance of greater than 90 degree temps east of the Mississippi River, with even eastern Kentucky seeing little signal for great than 80s by Wednesday. We do look to eventually warm back into the 80 by the end of next week, as wind come back around to west/southwest and 588mb ridge builds east. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Friday afternoon) ISSUED AT 234 PM EDT THU JUN 2 2016 Only sparse showers were occurring at the start of the period. Additional showers and thunderstorms are expected during the afternoon and evening, but confidence in timing and location of development is low. What activity there is should go through an overall decline by later in the evening. Overnight, breaks in the clouds along with a calm and moist air mass should allow fog to develop. Most places can expect IFR for a time by dawn. Fog will dissipate during the morning on Friday. && .JKL Watches/Warnings/Advisories... None. && SHORT TERM...HAL LONG TERM...DJ AVIATION...HAL
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 435 PM EDT THU JUN 2 2016 KYZ044-050>052-058>060-068-069-079-080-083>088-104-106>120-031100- FLEMING-MONTGOMERY-BATH-ROWAN-ESTILL-POWELL-MENIFEE-ROCKCASTLE- JACKSON-PULASKI-LAUREL-WAYNE-MCCREARY-WHITLEY-KNOX-BELL-HARLAN- ELLIOTT-MORGAN-JOHNSON-WOLFE-MAGOFFIN-FLOYD-LEE-BREATHITT-KNOTT- OWSLEY-PERRY-CLAY-LESLIE-LETCHER-MARTIN-PIKE- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...FLEMINGSBURG...CAMARGO... JEFFERSONVILLE...MOUNT STERLING...OWINGSVILLE...MOREHEAD... IRVINE...RAVENNA...CLAY CITY...STANTON...FRENCHBURG...BROADHEAD... MOUNT VERNON...MCKEE...ANNVILLE...BURNSIDE...SOMERSET...LONDON... MONTICELLO...STEARNS...WHITLEY CITY...CORBIN...WILLIAMSBURG... BARBOURVILLE...MIDDLESBORO...PINEVILLE...CUMBERLAND...HARLAN... SANDY HOOK...WEST LIBERTY...PAINSVILLE...CAMPTON...SALYERSVILLE... PRESTONSBURG...WHEELWRIGHT...BEATTYVILLE...JACKSON...HINDMAN... PIPPA PASSES...BOONEVILLE...HAZARD...MANCHESTER...HYDEN... JENKINS...WHITESBURG...INEZ...COAL RUN...ELKHORN CITY... PIKEVILLE...SOUTH WILLIAMSON 435 PM EDT THU JUN 2 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH THIS EVENING. THEY COULD PRODUCE ISOLATED HEAVY RAINFALL AND STRONG WIND GUSTS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AT TIMES FROM FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. LOCALIZED FLOODING WILL BE A RISK IF SOME PLACES HAVE MULTIPLE ROUNDS OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINFALL. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. HAL
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY
516 PM EDT THU JUN 2 2016
KYZ084-085-022145-
WHITLEY-MCCREARY-
516 PM EDT THU JUN 2 2016
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT WHITLEY...MCCREARY...
AT 515 PM EDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER STRUNK...OR NEAR
WHITLEY CITY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH AND HALF INCH HAIL ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS
STORM.
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
WILLIAMSBURG...WHITLEY CITY...REDBIRD...BON...BEULAH HEIGHTS...
HOLLYHILL...KRUPP...PINE KNOT...CUMBERLAND FALLS S.P....
MARSHES SIDING...HONEYBEE...CLIO...GOLDBUG...STRUNK...DUCKRUN...
STEARNS...BOUNTY...JELLICO CREEK...WOFFORD AND LIBERTY.
THIS INCLUDES INTERSTATE 75 IN EAST CENTRAL KENTUCKY BETWEEN MILE
MARKERS 12 AND 18.
TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM...WHICH WILL
CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS. LOCALIZED FLOODING IS ALSO
POSSIBLE. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE THROUGH FLOODED ROADWAYS.
FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM.
LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE MILES AWAY FROM A THUNDERSTORM. SEEK A SAFE
SHELTER INSIDE A BUILDING OR VEHICLE.
&&
LAT...LON 3660 8450 3662 8455 3693 8440 3681 8411
3659 8430
TIME...MOT...LOC 2115Z 208DEG 20KT 3665 8441
JMWSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 613 PM EDT THU JUN 2 2016 KYZ080-085-086-022245- LAUREL-KNOX-WHITLEY- 613 PM EDT THU JUN 2 2016 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT LAUREL...KNOX...WHITLEY... AT 613 PM EDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER DEERING...OR 9 MILES NORTH OF WILLIAMSBURG...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH AND NICKEL SIZE HAIL ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... DORTHAE...RYE...YOUNGS CREEK...MOORE HILL...FABER...WALDEN... BERTHA STATION...KEAVY...WILTON...ROSSLAND...WOODBINE...GRAY... ROCKHOLDS...NORTH CORBIN...CLIO...DEERING...GOLDBUG... BARTON AND CORBIN. THIS INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING HIGHWAYS... INTERSTATE 75 IN EAST CENTRAL KENTUCKY BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 16 AND 31. U.S. HIGHWAY 25 EAST IN KNOX COUNTY BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 22 AND 26. U.S. HIGHWAY 25 EAST IN LAUREL COUNTY BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 0 AND 2. TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM...WHICH WILL CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS. LOCALIZED FLOODING IS ALSO POSSIBLE. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE THROUGH FLOODED ROADWAYS. FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM. LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE MILES AWAY FROM A THUNDERSTORM. SEEK A SAFE SHELTER INSIDE A BUILDING OR VEHICLE. && LAT...LON 3679 8417 3685 8426 3705 8416 3693 8397 TIME...MOT...LOC 2213Z 211DEG 21KT 3687 8419 JMW
The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 106 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:16 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A citizen reported a downed tree northwest of Williamsburg along Cumberland Falls Highway (US Highway 25W).
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, June 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: 627479.