Thunderstorm Wind — Magoffin, Kentucky

2022-10-12 · near Wonnie, Magoffin, Kentucky

Event narrative

Trees were reported to have been blown down along KY-460, near the Morgan County line.

Wider weather episode

A strong troughing pattern was in place across the central Conus, with enhanced SW to NE flow present across the Ohio Valley during the day on October 12. A surface low pressure system was also slowly passing across the Hudson Bay during the day, dragging a long cold front south and southeastward. This front was slow moving, staying east of the Commonwealth through much of the day. The increased SW flow across the region helped to advect both moisture and warmer temperatures into the region, ultimately leading to destabilization. Storms began developing well ahead of the front, impacting portions of central and eastern Kentucky. The short term forecaster on the desk at JKL noted that: In recent

mesoanalysis and collaboration with the SPC, there's modest

effective shear around 30 to 40 knots, ideal curving within the

hodograph and modest CAPE values for October. All which have been

reflected by the SPC's Day 1 Marginal Risk with 2 percent

categorical tornado and 5 percent categorical wind threats.

Sure enough, these storms increased in strength, leading to multiple warnings during the early and mid afternoon. Two of these storms did end up producing decent winds, resulting in downed trees across portions of Magoffin and Bath County. Bath County faired the worst, with multiple barns also being destroyed in the severe winds.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.8146, -83.1554)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1061390. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.