High Wind — Wayne, Kentucky

2025-03-04 · Wayne, Kentucky

Event narrative

The Kentucky Mesonet site in Wayne County (MONT- Monticello 4 NW) recorded a maximum wind gust of 57 mph at 11:30pm on March 4th. Another gust occurred a few minutes earlier (at 11:16pm) clocking 52 mph at the mesonet, and the AWOS station at the Monticello Airport (KEKQ) clocked 54 mph at 10:50 pm in the evening.

Wider weather episode

High pressure was exiting to the east of the state Monday and Tuesday, March 3rd and 4th, respectively. As this shift occurred, east Kentucky found itself in the light but more southerly return flow region. Dew points were actually quite low through the day Tuesday, with the main concern at that point being the dry fuels for fire weather. This started to shift late in the day, however, as winds became more of a concern, combining with the dry fuels. An upper level low and accompanying surface low continued to deepen as they moved into the Mid-Mississippi Valley Tuesday evening. The low itself started to occlude, with significantly tightening isobars across much of the region and expanding eastaward into Kentucky. It's timing of increasing winds into the overnight also coupled with a diurnal jet, which helped to transfer higher winds to the surface. A wind advisory was issued for much of eastern Kentucky starting Tuesday evening and continuing through the day Wednesday (the 5th). By the early morning hours of the 4th, however, it was evident that the higher terrain would see the effects of the low level jet setting up - and Harlan and Letcher counties were both upgraded to a High Wind warning for the overnight hours Tuesday night. Ultimately, many sites reported high winds with gusts between 40 and 60 mph, but most were just shy of damaging wind criteria. Thankfully only isolated damage was incurred from this event.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1290898. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.