Thunderstorm Wind — Letcher, Kentucky

2022-03-23 · near Deane, Letcher, Kentucky

Event narrative

A tree was blown down onto a home, briefly trapping the occupants inside. They were freed shortly after by emergency crews. No injuries were reported.

Wider weather episode

A strong occluded low pressure system was traversing the Mid-Mississippi Valley very slowly during the day on March 23. From this occlusion, a cold front draped southward, intersecting Kentucky and slowly shifting eastward throughout the day. The airmass ahead of this cold front was warm and unstable, with strong SW flow bringing an influx of moisture and warm air. As the cold front slowly neared throughout the afternoon hours, showers and thunderstorms began developing. Some of these storms became severe, producing both large hail and damaging wind gusts across parts of Pike, Letcher, Knox, Magoffin, and Breathitt Counties. Storms quickly dissipated as the cold front finally moved through the eastern portion of the state during the evening hours, exiting into the Virginia's. Colder and more stable air then filtered in behind.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.2438, -82.7388)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1010444. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.