By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
A potentially significant severe weather outbreak is possible on today for central and west Kentucky, especially during the late afternoon and evening hours.
Ted Funk, a forecaster with the National Weather Service office in Louisville, says there are two time periods they are watching. The first is during the morning hours of Friday, with scattered thunderstorms, small hail, brief heavy rain and occasional lightning, although most should remain under severe limits.
The second period, between 5 p.m. and 2 a.m. Saturday, EDT, is of bigger concern.
“We have the potential for large hail up to two inches, wind of 60 to 70 miles per hour, a few tornadoes and frequent lightning,” he said.
While most of Kentucky has a threat of severe weather on Friday, the area west of I-75 has the greatest chance, according to Funk.
“Western Kentucky, along with middle and west Tennessee, is at the biggest risk of seeing severe weather. Large hail and high winds will be the greatest threat with these storms, but a few tornadoes and even some flooding could occur.”
The storms will move to the east-southeast across Kentucky during the late afternoon and evening, reaching the Tennessee line after midnight.
“This is a very unusual set-up for this time of year,” said Funk. “We normally see weather patterns like this develop during the spring and sometimes in the fall, not during the middle of the summer.”
He said more rain and possible thunderstorms are expected throughout the weekend and into next week, but no more severe weather is in the forecast at this time.
