Thunderstorm Wind — Oldham, Kentucky

2025-05-02 · near Glenarm, Oldham, Kentucky

Event narrative

A tree was blown down, blocking the road near the 5500 block of Kentucky Route 146 between Crestwood and Buckner.

Wider weather episode

A cold front moved into the mid-Mississippi Valley during the morning of May 2nd, with a line of showers and thunderstorms developing ahead of the front. Within the warm, humid air mass ahead of the front, temperatures warmed into the upper 70s by the early afternoon hours, allowing for 1500-2000 J/kg of MLCAPE to develop. Wind shear was fairly modest for the time of year, with between 25 and 30 kt of effective bulk shear present. As the line of storms moved across central Kentucky, a couple bowing segments developed, producing scattered wind damage along the Ohio River. An isolated stronger cell across south central Kentucky produced severe hail up to golf ball size, in addition to gusty winds.

The following morning on May 3rd, the cold front was still slowly pushing east across the area. While mostly light to moderate rain showers were present, one stronger cell was able to produce a brief EF0 tornado over Franklin County.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.3530, -85.4642)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1262360. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.