Severe Thunderstorms and Heavy Rainfall in the Southern Plains; Heat Continues in the West

Strong to severe thunderstorms may bring areas of excessive rainfall and flooding over parts of the southern Plains today through Friday. Hot to dangerously hot temperatures are forecast across portions of the Pacific Northwest and southern Great Basin today. Gusty winds, dry, and hot conditions will bring critical fire weather to parts of central Washington state today. Read More >

The month started off with a bang as a series of strong storms moved into the lower Ohio River Valley and Tennessee Valley late on the evening of March 2 into the early morning hours of of the third. Along with large hail, and some flash flooding, one particular storm produced a brief tornado near Alvaton. Much stronger tornadoes ravaged middle Tennessee, including an EF-3 in Nashville and an EF-4 near Cookeville.

About a week and a half later, on the 12th, powerful storms moved all the way from the St. Louis area to the Lake Cumberland region, producing a swath of gusty winds and large hail.

Low pressure coming in from the west, riding along a stationary front draped from Kansas to West Virginia, sparked widespread showers and thunderstorms on the 19th, including some strong storms in southern Indiana that knocked down a few trees.

The most widespread severe weather event of the month took place from the evening of the 28th into the early morning of the 29th. Widespread showers and thunderstorms caused several instances of wind damage around central Kentucky and southern Indiana. Things were worse to our west where EF-2 tornadoes struck Henderson, KY, and Newburgh, IN.

	Average Temperature	Departure from Normal	Precipitation	Departure from Normal	Snowfall	Departure from Normal
Bowling Green	53.9°	+5.5°	8.38"	+3.97"	0	-1.1"
Frankfort	51.3°	+6.4°	4.60"	+0.22"
Lexington	49.7°	+4.2°	4.96"	+0.89"	T	-1.4"
Louisville Bowman	52.2°	+5.2°	5.09"	+0.93"
Louisville Ali	53.3°	+5.5°	4.69"	+0.52"	T	-1.4"

Records

12th: Rainfall of 1.49" at Frankfort
19th: Warm low of 60° at Lexington, warm low of 61° at Louisville
27th: Warm low of 64° at Bowling Green
28th: Warm low of 65° at Bowling Green

Tornado damage in Alvaton, Kentucky, March 3, 2020