Hello everyone and thanks for blogging with me. We are closing out the work week on a rather steamy note and that looks to continue into the weekend before we get a little change in the pattern. We have a lot to talk about so lets get to it.

The tropics contiue to be on the active side with 4 areas of concern. Of course Bertha is still churning away and is now the longest lasting July storm EVER! Here is a map showing the other trouble spots…



Area 1 has the best chance for development and will have to be watched. 2 is running out of room and 3 is the system we were tracking a few days ago near Florida. If it stays off shore it could develop into a tropical system in the next few days.

We will be going into the weekend on a hot and humid note here on the homefront. Temps Friday and Saturday will likely hit the low 90s once again. The first chance for some scattered storms will come on Saturday with increasing chances for Sunday into early next week as a trough digs in across the lakes and Ohio Valley. This will put our area in a favorable area for some thunderstorm clusters diving in from the northwest. The GFS has been latching on to this scenerio for a couple of runs now. Below is a precip map from the GFS from late weekend and early next week…



Probably overdone so we will see how it all plays out.

Since we have been taking a little stroll through some of the big weather events in Kentucky history… I thought I would show you one that is likely at the top of a lot of lists. The Super Outbreak of 1974.  An unbelievable outbreak of tornadoes over a 24 hour span in early April of that year.  At least 148 twisters touched down during this time claiming hundreds of lives. These weren’t just your average tornadoes… 6 were rated as F5s, the strongest rating a storm can get. One of those hit the city of Brandenburg, Ky in Meade county (More on that later).

Take a look at the map below to see how widespread this outbreak was…



If you look at the map above… you will notice almost a doughnut hole sitting over eastern Ky. This outbreak happened several years before the NWS in Jackson opened its doors to serve this area. It was also a time when information was not collected as swiftly as it is today and a time when info never made it to the proper people. It has long been my contention that there were LIKELY several tornadoes that touched down in eastern Ky but were never reported. In all likelyhood these were rather weak and in isolated areas… hence the reason they were never reported. With modern technology… I guarantee if a this outbreak had happened this year… the number of tornadoes would have been much higher across the country because the NWS would have found each and every one of them.

Here is a sat pic from that day showing the multiple lines of tornadic storms…. 



As we all know… Kentucky was ground zero during this outbreak. Here are a couple of pics I have from an F4 tornado that came ripping through Richmond. These have a WOW factor to them!!!!





That is some incredible stuff right there my friends! Here is a copy past job from the NOAA super outbreak site that talks about the impact on Kentucky.


Between 3:40 p.m. CDT April 3 and midnight, at least 26 vicious tornadoes struck Kentucky– in the worst storm disaster in the State’s history. These tornadoes killed 77 persons, injured 1,377, and caused damage estimated at $110 million. Losses were sustained by 6,625 families, and between 1,800 and 2,000 of the State’s farms were damaged to some extent. The tornadoes affected 39 counties within a strip some 150 miles wide extending from north to south through the central part of the State.


The first storm (47) was the most severe. It touched ground 5 miles southwest of Hardinsburg (Breckinridge County) at 3:40 p.m. CDT and 30 minutes later slammed into Brandenburg (Meade County). This tornado, which had an intensity rating of F5 on the Fujita scale and a path 500 yards wide where it tore through Brandenburg, killed 31, including a number of children who apparently were playing outside after school.


Within an hour of the Brandenburg death and destruction, five other tornadoes (43, 48, 51, 52, and 59) touched down at locations ranging from Louisville (48) and Boone County (43) in the north to Simpson County (59) near the Tennessee border. The pattern of rapid development farther south and east, with individual tornadoes moving rapidly northeastward, continued into the evening hours. Tornado activity ended in the north-central part of Kentucky by 7:00 p.m. CDT. From then until midnight, activity was concentrated in the south-central part of the State.


The Louisville tornado (48) touched down at 4:37 p.m. CDT one-quarter mile north of Standi ford Field. It was witnessed by National Weather Service employees at the Weather Service Forecast Office. This storm was on or close to the ground as it traveled through 10 miles of residential property in the metropolitan area. It widened and increased in intensity as it moved northeastward. In the eastern 3 to 4 miles of the metropolitan area its maximum intensity was F4. Three deaths were attributed directly to the tornado. Three others were reported killed by heart attacks. A total of 225 injuries were reported in Louisville and Jefferson County.


Pulaski County, in south-central Kentucky, was struck by three separate tornadoes during the evening. The first of these (74) touched down near Mt. Victory at 7:55 p.m. CDT and moved into Rockcastle County before lifting. This storm killed 6 and injured 30 in Pulaski County. One death and 10 injuries were reported in Rockcastle County. The second tornado (73) moved into southern Pulaski County shortly after 9:00 p.m. after killing 2 and injuring 16 in eastern Wayne County. The storm hit Alpine at 9:2O p.m. CDT and caused 29 injuries in Pulaski County. The County apparently was struck by Kentucky’s final tornado of the outbreak (64) between 11:30 p.m. and midnight, as the storm moved from Piney Grove Church near the Russell County line through Nancy and Bobtown to Level Green (in Rockcastle County).


Killer storms also were reported in Boyle, Clinton, Franklin, Hardin, Madison, Nelson, Simpson, and Warren Counties.

I have a busy day ahead of me Friday but will try to post sometime later in the day. If not… I will certainly give you a little update on Saturday.

Take care.