Photo Album: Thunderstorms 2011

Heavy Rainfall and Severe Thunderstorm Threats for the Plains and Southeast

A frontal boundary extending from the western High Plains to the Southeast will focus additional showers and thunderstorms this weekend. Some of these storms may become severe, alongside frequent lightning, and isolated instances of flash flooding. Meanwhile dry conditions will continue for the Great Basin where fire weather concerns linger. For the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, seasonable weather. Read More >


Prospect	River Road	Springhurst	Wolf Pen Branch	Wolf Pen Branch

	A squall advancing on LaRue County at 8:30 in the morning on June 19. Larry Jaggers
	A tree blown down in Pleasure Ridge Park (Jefferson County, Kentucky) at the intersection of Valley Station Road and Scrim Avenue on the morning of June 19. Tony Bright
	Hail near Shepherdsville on the morning of June 20.
	An excellent photo of a shelf cloud crossing Crawford County on July 3. Allison Howell
	A storm advancing on Lexington, KY at 8:44pm on July 19. David W. Clements
	Another storm coming in to Lexington, this one on the morning of August 3. Brooke Katz
	Another view of the same storm pictured above. John Bradshaw


This series of photographs was taken by Josh Durkee, PhD., Assistant Professor of Meteorology at Western Kentucky University, in Bowling Green on April 11. Because this feature has some characteristics of a tornado and forms on a gust front, it is called a gustnado. These small spin-ups form on the leading edge of a gust front ahead of a thunderstorm or line of thunderstorms. They form from the ground up, as opposed to a tornado that begins its life in a thunderstorm cloud and builds down. However, gustandoes do spin like a tornado (although much weaker) and can look very much like a tornado. It is rare for a gustnado to cause damage. A similar storm struck downtown Louisville on April 22, 2005.

	Storm clouds over Bowling Green on April 11. Josh Durkee
	A barn was destroyed by thunderstorm winds just north of Nicholasville on April 11. Forwarded to us by Bill Meck/WLEX
	Same barn as shown in the previous picture. Forwarded to us by Bill Meck/WLEX

	3.5 miles east of Lebanon on Lakeland Drive Aaron Mathewson
These four photos were taken in northern Marion County on the afternoon of April 15. The damage was caused by non-thunderstorm winds associated with an area of light rain showers and a rapid change in barometric pressure.


These four photos were sent to us by the Emergency Manager of Warren County. Straight line winds did this damage on Loving Road in Oakland on the morning of April 24.

Following are some lightning damage pictures from a non-severe thundershower that occurred around 9:00 AM CDT on Wednesday June 15. Lightning struck a large oak tree in the front yard of this home. The tree was split into 3 sections and remained standing. Bark and debris from the tree struck in dozens of places on the side of the house making holes, some rather large all over the vinyl siding, shutters as well as window. Lightning exited the tree and entered the residence where it did major damage to the wall where internet box was located, there were wallboard screws protruding all through the house, tile kitchen floor was cracked in 2 places, insulation around duct work was removed, interior AC vents in the floor were blown out, and paint on the railing of the porch was removed, almost like it had blistered up. There was a burnt place on the roof, some minor wallboard crack, window/wall separation, and the internet box exploded with pieces imbedded in the ceiling. A box of crystal glass was on the floor, it broke one of them in the box that had never been opened. There was damage, minor cracks, all through the house. Three occupants were inside the residence at time of strike but no one was injured. The homeowner sustained hearing loss for several hours after the incident. The fire department were summoned but no fire was found. Credit: Daniel Wilson: WHVE-FM