Thunderstorm Wind — Whitley, Kentucky

2024-04-02 · near Youngs Creek, Whitley, Kentucky

Event narrative

The NWS Survey team determined that damage incurred near the community of Deering was consistent with straight line winds, with maximum wind gusts estimated to be between 80 and 90 mph. The most significant damage occurred to a barn just off Akins Lane, about 7 miles SW of Corbin - in which the barn was destroyed. There were numerous trees uprooted between Frankfort School Road and Bee Creek Road, and from there to Linda Lane, just off Casey Road. Several homes sustained damage from trees that fell on roofs. Of notable interest were eyewitness reports of a circulation that tracked across a small pond in one of the residential areas. Based on the description of the circulation not being in contact with the cloud base, and the location of this event over a pond approximately 300 years off the flanking (west) side of the core of the most destructive winds, the NWS believes this may have been a book-end vortex.

Wider weather episode

Eastern Kentucky's first substantial severe weather day of 2024 occurred on April 2nd, as a rapidly intensifying low pressure system tracked just northwest of the area. The first round of severe weather occurred between 9 AM and 12 PM as a line of severe thunderstorms raced eastward and impacted many locations near and north of the Mountain Parkway. Along this line, several surges and pockets of circulation developed over the Bluegrass. Bath County suffered the brunt of the line, with many instances of straight line wind damage, though substantial damage was also observed in Fleming and Rowan counties. Pockets of damage were also noted in most other counties along and north of the Parkway. An NWS storm survey estimated that winds reached 70 to 90 knots in three northwest to southeast-oriented swaths across Bath County. A couple of brief spin-up tornadoes also appear to have occurred within 2 of the swaths near the communities of Sharpsburg and Reynoldsville.

Once the late morning thunderstorm activity weakened, a messy mixture of showers and a few thunderstorms lifted across eastern Kentucky through the afternoon. Severe weather was not observed again until early evening when a couple of supercell thunderstorms developed over central/eastern Tennessee and moved into southeast Kentucky. The first storm, tracking northeast just east of Pine Mountain, produced a swath of hail up to half dollar size, though much of it likely fell in remote and rugged terrain. A second supercell thunderstorm moved northeast across the Cumberland River basin and eventually weakened over the basin of the South Fork Kentucky River. This storm produced pockets of wind damage, the most severe of which was observed in northeast Whitley County where many trees, multiple structures and an RV park suffered significant damage. An NWS storm survey found damage consistent with winds gusts of 80 to 90 mph in this area about 7 miles southwest of Corbin. Additional details on this straight line wind event in Whitley County and also the straight line wind/tornado event in the Bluegrass are available here and here, respectively.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.8911, -84.2221)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1172547. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.