High Wind — Casey, Kentucky

2024-09-27 · Casey, Kentucky

Event narrative

Multiple trees were downed by strong winds in Casey County. Several hundred power outages were also observed.

Wider weather episode

During the morning hours on September 27th, the remnants of Hurricane Helene moved quickly northward from the Florida Panhandle, traversing the southern Appalachian Mountains before turning northwest and entering central Kentucky. A large swath of moderate to occasionally heavy rainfall moved across the area, with storm total rainfall amounts ranging from two to six inches. This rainfall helped to alleviate drought conditions which were ongoing before the storm. The most impactful part of Helene's remnants was the swath of strong, gusty winds which moved across central Kentucky during the late morning and early afternoon hours on September 27th. Multiple wind gusts of 45 to 55 miles per hour were recorded across the area, with a peak wind gust of 65 miles per hour observed at Blue Grass Airport. The high winds, combined with wet ground conditions, resulted in widespread tree and power line damage across the region. Downed trees and power lines resulted in several road closures, as well as over two hundred thousand power outages across Kentucky.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1216047. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.