A cold front pressing east across the central U.S. will be the focus for areas of strong to severe thunderstorms and excessive rainfall through this weekend. Strong to severe thunderstorms my bring damaging winds, hail, and a few tornadoes while excessive rainfall may lead to areas of flooding. Heat will build across the western U.S. with heat-related watches, warnings, and advisories issued. Read More >
Overview
Two rounds of thunderstorms produced severe weather across the area on July 8th. The first round came through during the morning hours with winds of at least 70 mph in the Owensboro, KY area. Then in the afternoon and evening hours, a complex of thunderstorms produced damaging winds and flash flooding as they moved across southeast MO, western KY, and far southern IL. These storms produced wind damage all the way from Van Buren, MO to Elkton, KY! This was the third straight day of widespread thunderstorms, so heavy rainfall quickly resulted in flooding in those areas already hit hard by recent heavy rain.
Photos:
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| Large part of tree blown onto residence property in Wingo, KY - (via Casey Archey) | Tree down on Husbands Rd in Paducah - (via Gary Goin) | Lightning strike near Murray, KY (via Chris Smothers) |
Storm moving into Cape Girardeau - (via Aaron Palmer) |
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| Water over Maxon Rd in West Paducah, KY (via Vicki Crumpton) | Street flooding in Sikeston, MO (via Debbie Baker) |
Rainbow after the storms in Ledbetter, KY (via Cindy Henson Yates) |
Radar:
Click here for a radar loop of this event
Animated radar loop from 5am until 11am shows the complex of storms that moved thru early in the morning. The storms intensified in Daviess County around 8am producing widespread damaging winds in Owensboro. Some development then occurred behind the main complex during the mid to late morning hours over portions of southeast IL and western KY.
A cluster of thunderstorms formed over northeast Arkansas and the Ozark Foothills of Missouri by mid afternoon and evolved until a large complex of storms. that progressed across southeast MO, western KY, and far southern IL.
Graphic below shows all of the warnings overlayed on top of each other. Yellow are Severe Thunderstorm Warnings, while green are Flash Flood Warnings.
Storm Reports
Graphic below shows the location of all storm reports received from this event. (Click on image to enlarge it)
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0800 AM TSTM WND GST OWENSBORO 37.76N 87.12W
07/08/2016 M61.00 MPH DAVIESS KY AWOS
0802 AM TSTM WND DMG OWENSBORO 37.76N 87.12W
07/08/2016 DAVIESS KY EMERGENCY MNGR
LATE REPORT. OLDER WOOD BARN BLOWN DOWN ALONG CURDSVILLE
DELAWARE ROAD.
0803 AM TSTM WND DMG 9 W OWENSBORO 37.76N 87.28W
07/08/2016 DAVIESS KY TRAINED SPOTTER
LARGE TREE FELL AND DAMAGED ROOF AWNING ON APARTMENT
BUILDING.
0808 AM HAIL UTICA 37.61N 87.11W
07/08/2016 M0.75 INCH DAVIESS KY EMERGENCY MNGR
LATE REPORT. DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED.
0810 AM TSTM WND DMG OWENSBORO 37.76N 87.12W
07/08/2016 DAVIESS KY FIRE DEPT/RESCUE
WIDESPREAD TREE DAMAGE WITH SOME HOMES DAMAGED THROUGHOUT
THE COMMUNITY. REPORTED BY FIRE CHIEF WHILE RESPONDING.
0435 PM TSTM WND DMG VAN BUREN 37.01N 91.01W
07/08/2016 CARTER MO LAW ENFORCEMENT
NUMEROUS TREES DOWN AND A POWER LINE DOWN.
0437 PM TSTM WND GST VAN BUREN 37.01N 91.01W
07/08/2016 E50.00 MPH CARTER MO TRAINED SPOTTER
0506 PM HEAVY RAIN POPLAR BLUFF 36.76N 90.41W
07/08/2016 M0.86 INCH BUTLER MO TRAINED SPOTTER
30 MINUTE RAINFALL ACCUMULATION
0510 PM TSTM WND DMG ELLSINORE 36.93N 90.75W
07/08/2016 CARTER MO LAW ENFORCEMENT
NUMEROUS TREES DOWN. BETWEEN 50 TO 60 PHONE CALLS TO
SHERIFFS OFFICE REGARDING TREES DOWN IN CARTER COUNTY.
0514 PM HEAVY RAIN 7 NW POPLAR BLUFF 36.84N 90.50W
07/08/2016 M1.35 INCH BUTLER MO TRAINED SPOTTER
MEASURED IN JUST OVER AN HOUR WITH ONE QUARTER INCH
FALLING IN THE PAST 7 MINUTES.
0525 PM TSTM WND DMG POPLAR BLUFF 36.76N 90.41W
07/08/2016 BUTLER MO TRAINED SPOTTER
LARGE TREE DOWN. WIND GUST ASSOCIATED WITH THIS STORM WAS
MEASURED AT 47 MPH.
0527 PM HEAVY RAIN 2 E POPLAR BLUFF 36.76N 90.37W
07/08/2016 M1.59 INCH BUTLER MO TRAINED SPOTTER
0550 PM TSTM WND DMG ANNISTON 36.82N 89.33W
07/08/2016 MISSISSIPPI MO LAW ENFORCEMENT
TREES DOWN.
0610 PM TSTM WND GST BARDWELL 36.87N 89.01W
07/08/2016 E60.00 MPH CARLISLE KY PUBLIC
0613 PM TSTM WND GST WICKLIFFE 36.97N 89.08W
07/08/2016 E60.00 MPH BALLARD KY EMERGENCY MNGR
0613 PM TSTM WND GST WICKLIFFE 36.97N 89.08W
07/08/2016 E60.00 MPH BALLARD KY TRAINED SPOTTER
0613 PM TSTM WND GST BARDWELL 36.87N 89.01W
07/08/2016 E70.00 MPH CARLISLE KY PUBLIC
0615 PM TSTM WND DMG BLANDVILLE 36.94N 88.96W
07/08/2016 BALLARD KY EMERGENCY MNGR
REPORTS OF MULTIPLE TREES DOWN ACROSS SOUTHERN BALLARD
COUNTY FROM JUST EAST OF WICKLIFFE TOWARD LOVELACEVILLE,
MAINLY SOUTH OF HWY 286.
0616 PM TSTM WND DMG BLANDVILLE 36.94N 88.96W
07/08/2016 BALLARD KY EMERGENCY MNGR
UPROOT TREE BLOCKING HIGHWAY 121 NEAR THE BALLARD
CARLISLE COUNTY LINE.
0620 PM TSTM WND DMG FOLSOMDALE 36.88N 88.67W
07/08/2016 GRAVES KY LAW ENFORCEMENT
SEVERAL REPORTS OF TREES DOWN ACROSS NORTHERN HALF OF
GRAVES COUNTY INCLUDING IN THE TOWNS OF HICKORY, FANCY
FARM, MELBER, AND FOLSOMDALE AROUND 615 TO 630PM.
0625 PM TSTM WND DMG MAYFIELD 36.74N 88.65W
07/08/2016 GRAVES KY LAW ENFORCEMENT
POWER LINES DOWN AND STOP LIGHTS OUT IN MAYFIELD
0628 PM TSTM WND DMG WINGO 36.64N 88.74W
07/08/2016 GRAVES KY PUBLIC
PORTION OF LARGE TREE BLOWN ONTO RESIDENCE PROPERTY.
0628 PM TSTM WND DMG WINGO 36.64N 88.74W
07/08/2016 GRAVES KY PUBLIC
LARGE OAK TREE UPROOTED
0630 PM TSTM WND DMG 2 N CUBA 36.59N 88.64W
07/08/2016 GRAVES KY PUBLIC
TREE LIMBS DOWN ALONG STATE ROUTE 303
0632 PM TSTM WND DMG PADUCAH 37.07N 88.64W
07/08/2016 MCCRACKEN KY PUBLIC
POWER POLE DOWN ON HUSBANDS ROAD BETWEEN HOMEWOOD AND
HOVEKAMP ROADS.
0632 PM TSTM WND DMG PADUCAH 37.07N 88.64W
07/08/2016 MCCRACKEN KY PUBLIC
LARGE TREE OVER HUSBANDS ROAD.
0635 PM TSTM WND GST MAYFIELD 36.74N 88.65W
07/08/2016 M53.00 MPH GRAVES KY AWOS
0650 PM TSTM WND DMG ALMO 36.69N 88.28W
07/08/2016 CALLOWAY KY BROADCAST MEDIA
MULTIPLE TREES UPROOTED.
0650 PM TSTM WND DMG ALMO 36.69N 88.28W
07/08/2016 CALLOWAY KY TRAINED SPOTTER
TREES DOWN ON NEARLY EVERY ROAD IN THE DEXTER/ALMO AREA.
0703 PM TSTM WND GST 2 N HOPKINSVILLE 36.88N 87.49W
07/08/2016 E58.00 MPH CHRISTIAN KY TRAINED SPOTTER
DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED WITH THIS STORM AS WELL.
0710 PM HAIL ALMO 36.69N 88.28W
07/08/2016 M0.88 INCH CALLOWAY KY EMERGENCY MNGR
NICKEL SIZE HAIL REPORTED.
0715 PM TSTM WND DMG LINTON 36.69N 87.92W
07/08/2016 TRIGG KY BROADCAST MEDIA
MULTIPLE TREES DOWN ON LINTON ROAD.
0720 PM FLASH FLOOD PADUCAH 37.07N 88.64W
07/08/2016 MCCRACKEN KY TRAINED SPOTTER
WATER OVER MAXON ROAD NORTH OF HARRIS ROAD.
0735 PM TSTM WND GST CALEDONIA 36.82N 87.69W
07/08/2016 M56.00 MPH TRIGG KY TRAINED SPOTTER
0737 PM TSTM WND DMG HOPKINSVILLE 36.85N 87.49W
07/08/2016 CHRISTIAN KY EMERGENCY MNGR
NUMEROUS TREES DOWN. MADISONVILLE ROAD AND HWY 189 ARE
BLOCKED. BARN LEVELED. WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES REPORTED
ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE COUNTY.
0740 PM FLASH FLOOD BARLOW 37.05N 89.05W
07/08/2016 BALLARD KY EMERGENCY MNGR
SEVERAL REPORTS OF FLOODED ROADWAYS THROUGHOUT THE
COUNTY.
0740 PM TSTM WND DMG 2 E HOPKINSVILLE 36.85N 87.45W
07/08/2016 CHRISTIAN KY BROADCAST MEDIA
TREE DOWN ON POWER LINE ON PLUM STREET AND ANOTHER TREE
DOWN ON ANNETT COURT ON EAST SIDE OF TOWN. AROUND 2500
CUSTOMERS ARE WITHOUT POWER IN CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
0803 PM TSTM WND DMG GREENVILLE 37.21N 87.18W
07/08/2016 MUHLENBERG KY LAW ENFORCEMENT
WIDESPREAD TREES DOWN THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY. POWER LINES
DOWN IN GREENVILLE. NEAR CONTINUOUS LIGHTNING.
0814 PM TSTM WND DMG ELKTON 36.81N 87.16W
07/08/2016 TODD KY LAW ENFORCEMENT
TWO TREES DOWN IN ELKTON WITH WINDS AT 60 MPH.
Rain Reports
Heaviest rainfall totals from this event were located over portions of southeast MO, particularly the Ozark foothill area, where upwards of 2+ inches came down. Amounts were generally less over western KY, due to the faster progression of the storms, but some areas still saw locally 1 inch or more. Note that the map interpolates amounts in between observations points, so some areas may have gotten more or less than the map shows.
(Click on image to enlarge it)
Environment
A mid level shortwave trough was moving thru the Great Lakes region during the day. The lower Ohio Valley was on the southwest side of the stronger mid-level flow with winds around 35kts where the storms formed and moved thru. On the 700mb surface, you can see a weak disturbance over southwest MO/northwest AR which helped focus organized convection ahead of it. A weak surface front resided just north of our area across portions of MO and IL at 4pm. Strong instability existed with MLCAPE's above 3000 J/kg along with steep mid level lapse rates around 6.5 to 7.5 degrees C/km. Precipitable water values were also quite high, around 2 inches. This resulted in heavy rainfall and some flash flooding where storms trained over the same location. With the area already hit hard by heavy rain and thunderstorms the past couple of days, it didn't take much to produce flooding in some locations.
Atmospheric set-up above the surface...
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| 500mb(~18,000ft) at 4PM CDT | 700mb(~10,000ft) at 4PM CDT | 850mb(~5,000ft) at 4PM CDT |
Surface environment and moisture...
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| Mean Sea Level Pressure at 4PM CDT | SFC Temps/Dewpoints at 4PM CDT | Precip Water at 4PM CDT |
Instability parameters...
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| MLCAPE at 4PM CDT | Downdraft CAPE at 4PM CDT | Mid Level Lapse Rates at 4PM CDT |
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