Thunderstorm Wind — Harlan, Kentucky

2025-05-02 · near Evarts, Harlan, Kentucky

50 EG

Magnitude

Event narrative

Lipfird Street bridge was blocked by a large tree.

Wider weather episode

A large scale trough over the Central US supported a convective line of storms that formed over Western Kentucky and moved east-northeast through the afternoon. Sunshine ahead of this convective line likely led to good destabilization over Central and Eastern Kentucky. The combination of weak-moderate instability (1000 J/kg of MLCAPE) and modest shear (30-40 kts EBWD) under a passing 40-50+ kt 500mb jet supported a severe thunderstorm threat through the early evening. Damaging winds and large hail were the main convective threats to the area. The convective line reached the JKL CWA around 20Z (4 PM LT) before exiting Pike County shortly after 00Z (8 PM LT).

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.8636, -83.1902)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1291625. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.