Thunderstorm Wind — Laurel, Kentucky

2024-07-30 · near Pine Grove, Laurel, Kentucky

Event narrative

A tree was downed 4.2 miles south of London according to a public report. The exact road where this occurred is not listed or known.

Wider weather episode

On July 30th, a cold front was positioned just north of the state, with a weak secondary boundary noted across the east-central portion of the state. In addition, a shortwave was also passing through the Ohio Valley, increasing the lift and mixing. The Storm Prediction Center placed a Slight Risk for severe weather across the western half of the state and locations to the NW. At the surface, a line of storms (MCS) moved through eastern Kentucky during the early morning hours, with more individual cells developing behind the line during the mid morning hours. Closer to the frontal boundary to our NW in Illinois, another area of storms developed during the morning hours and started shifting southeast, creating a second MCS. The Storm Prediction Center went ahead and included south-central KY in a Severe Thunderstorm Watch just after 2pm EDT as the MCS moved southeast into Kentucky, including the SW portions of the Jackson CWA. The MCS rolled into south-eastern Kentucky by the mid afternoon, with damaging wind gusts being the primary concern. This stayed true to the watch, as a handful of counties in the SW, including Rockcastle, Pulaski Laurel, Clay and McCreary all received severe thunderstorm winds. Unfortunately this event also resulted in an injury, when a tree fell at a Pulaski County camp ground.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.0693, -84.0982)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1206962. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.