Thunderstorm Wind in Casey County, Kentucky

A tree was blown down along U.S. Route 127.

On May 16th, an area of low pressure developed along a pre-existing surface front draped from southwest to northeast just south of the Ohio River. During the late morning and afternoon hours, showers and thunderstorms developed along this front as it gradually pushed southeastward across central and southern Kentucky. Along and north of the front, the environment remained stable; however, along and south of the Western Kentucky and Bluegrass Parkways, 1000-2000 J/kg MLCAPE helped storms intensify. Although the surface frontal boundary served as the main feature organizing storms, a few isolated cells also developed ahead of the main line of storms. The primary observed severe hazard was damaging straight-line winds, although occasional breaks in the line of storms and non-negligible low-level helicity caused some concern for brief spin-up tornadoes. Ultimately, no tornadoes occurred, with scattered straight-line wind damage occurring across southern and central Kentucky. The line of storms cleared southern portions of the region by mid-afternoon, bringing an end to the severe storm potential.