Thunderstorm Wind — Letcher, Kentucky

2023-07-29 · near Polly, Letcher, Kentucky

Event narrative

WXKQ relayed a social media report showing a large tree down on the Camp Branch side of Thorton (Thorton Road) in the vicinity of Tim Hall Timber Trucking.

Wider weather episode

A cold front approached Kentucky from the northwest overnight, and passed through the state during the afternoon and evening hours. An MCS that had developed along the front the previous day dropped southeastward overnight, with a defined outflow boundary on the WPC surface maps. These initial storms led to four warnings, and one report of wind damage from an NWS employee. The main action occurred later in the day, as eastern Kentucky found itself in a moist and unstable airmass just ahead of the incoming cold front. Most the the Jackson, KY warning forecast area was warned at some point, with the main impact being damaging winds as most of the storms formed into bowing segments with strongest winds along the front edge. Numerous reports of trees down were made across multiple counties through the early and mid-afternoon hours, before the quick-moving system pushed southeast out of the state.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.2118, -82.8029)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1124753. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.