Thunderstorm Wind — Mercer, Kentucky

2024-05-26 · near Harrodsburg, Mercer, Kentucky

Event narrative

A National Weather Service damage survey determined that a swath of straight-line winds peaking at 80 to 85 mph occurred along a 12 mile path stretching from

just west of Harrodsburg in Mercer County, to just east of Herrington Lake in

Garrard County. 70 mph winds began in Riverview Estates where

numerous large limbs and trees were downed, along with a few back

porch awnings that were lifted and thrown on top of their

respective roofs. Minor shingle damage was also noted. Farther

east on Scenic Circle, more large tree limbs were downed. Winds

were estimated around 70 mph here. More sporadic damage was noted

eastward through Harrodsburg.

Sporadic damage to large tree limbs and a few uprooted trees were

noted along Kentucky Route 152 east toward Burgin. More large limbs and

trees were downed in Burgin, with everything laying in a general

ENE direction, along with storm motion. The swath of straight-

line winds continued eastward toward Herrington Lake where wheat

was flattened in random areas across fields.

The intensity of winds was stronger around Herrington Lake as

larger hardwood trees were uprooted, all laying ENE. The hardest

hit areas were along Chimney Rock Road and a ridge top between

High Bridge Road and Rogers Road where numerous healthy hardwood

trees were uprooted, all laying to the ENE. Winds toward the end

of the swath were more in line with 80 to 85 mph. Structural damage to a storage facility on Kennedy Bridge Road where wind was able to lift and remove large sections of the roof was also noted.

Unfortunately, a lone tree was downed near the intersection

of Hardin Heights Road and Hardin Heights N Road. The tree fell

onto the corner of a house, killing a female occupant inside. At this point, the swath of wind damage crossed Herrington Lake into northern Garrard County.

Wider weather episode

A strong storm system moved across the Ohio and Tennessee valleys on May 26th and into the early morning hours of May 27th, 2024. Two waves of strong to severe thunderstorms moved across central Kentucky, producing numerous occurrences of straight-line wind damage and 8 tornadoes while crossing the region. The first wave of storms moved across central Kentucky as a large bowing quasi-linear convective system during the late morning and early afternoon hours. This line of storms produced widespread straight-line wind damage, with particularly heavy damage observed across the Louisville metro and northern Woodford County. Two quick spin up tornadoes in Clinton County were also associated with this line.

After a second sub-severe line of storms moved across the area during the early afternoon hours, conditions were relatively quiet until the mid-to-late afternoon, when strong and severe cells began to develop across western Kentucky and southern Illinois. The storms would initially be discrete before growing into another large line of storms which produced the heaviest damage south of Interstate 64. Six tornadoes would be associated with this second line, with a long track EF1 tornado extending for over 40 miles across Muhlenberg, Butler, and Warren County. Heavy straight-line wind damage was also observed with this second line of storms, especially in Barren, Mercer, and Garrard County. The line of storms finally pushed east of the area shortly after midnight on May 27th, bringing an end to an active 16 hours across central Kentucky.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.7545, -84.8742)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1189048. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.