Thunderstorm Wind in Russell County, Kentucky

Power lines were blown down at the entrance to Lake Cumberland State Park.

The severe weather which moved across central Kentucky during the afternoon and evening hours on May 26th formed thanks to a complex setup involving a nearly stacked surface cyclone located over central Missouri and a cold front which extended across the middle and lower Mississippi valleys. Ahead of the surface front, rich moisture was advected northward from the Gulf of Mexico, helping to destabilize the environment across the region. Multiple broken lines of convection formed in advance of the surface cold front during the early afternoon hours, with embedded strong and severe cells causing wind damage from the Lake Cumberland region up into the Kentucky Bluegrass.