Thunderstorm Wind — Perry, Kentucky

2025-03-31 · near Lamont, Perry, Kentucky

Event narrative

Perry County dispatch reported utility lines down near the 2700 block of KY-28, along Grapevine creek, east of the Chavies community.

Wider weather episode

A deep low pressure system (including a surface low and upper level shortwave) was tracking through the Midwest throughout the day on Sunday March 30th, reaching the Lower Great Lakes region by that evening. A strong cold front draped south and southwest from this low pressure center, finally making its way into western Kentucky around midnight on the 31st. By that point, a strong line of convection had developed ahead of the cold front, and was making its way across the central and eastern portion of the state. The Storm Prediction Center had much of western and central KY in an enhanced risk for severe weather for that time period leading up to the event, but expanded the risk eastward during the Day 1 update to include virtually all of Kentucky and points to the north and south. Much of the higher probabilites for hail and tornadoes remained located west of the WFO Jackson, KY County Warning Area, with the exception of winds - which was still a 30% risk. This proved true as the line moved through and produced numerous instances of wind damage across portions of Kentucky, including eastern Kentucky. By the end of the event, 51 tornado reports were made stretching from Michigan to southern Mississippi. A slew of hail reports were also noted along the Mississippi Valley, transitioning to wind reports across much of the Ohio Valley. Damage in Floyd and Pike counties was substantial enough to warrant a NWS Storm Survey, however the conclusions were embedded microbursts of wind within the storms.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.3513, -83.3161)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1290864. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.