Tropical Storm Arthur and Heavy Rainfall in the South; Severe Weather in the Midwest

An outbreak of severe thunderstorms is expected across portions of Illinois and Indiana tonight. Intense tornadoes, swaths of damaging gusts, and hail in excess of 2 inches in diameter possible. Tropical Storm Arthur will continue to produce strong winds across coastal Upper Texas and Louisiana tonight, as well as potentially life-threatening flooding across southern Louisiana into Mississippi. Read More >

September was a warm and dry month this year, with mostly uneventful weather. The generally warm and dry conditions led to moderate drought developing by the end of the month across most of southern Indiana and in central Kentucky roughly north of a line from Hardinsburg to Columbia to Richmond.

There was one severe thunderstorm event during the month, though, when an upper low crossing the Midwest and a surface low over southern Illinois brought a round of severe storms to Hancock and Breckinridge Counties between 9:30pm and midnight on the 27th. Unfortunately one of the powerful storms contributed to two fatalities when an 18-year-old student pilot and his 22-year-old instructor flew too close to the storm and crashed in a forested area south of Whitesville near the Ohio/Daviess County line. Another storm that evening produced a 71 mph wind gust and blew trees down in and near Hardinsburg.

	Average Temperature	Departure from Normal	Precipitation	Departure from Normal
Bowling Green	72.0°	+0.6°	2.22"	-1.42"
Frankfort	69.7°	+0.5°	1.88"	-1.47"
Lexington	71.4°	+2.3°	0.99"	-2.43"
Louisville Ali	74.0°	+2.0°	0.74"	-2.92"
Louisville Bowman	70.6°	+0.2°	0.81"	-2.80"