Good evening, folks. High winds continue to increase roll through the region as our storm system moves into the Ohio Valley. This storm is also bringing another wave of heavy rain producing showers and thunderstorms across the state. Behind this looks to be another big time storm system just in time for Halloween.
Showers and storms across western Kentucky produced all kinds of wind damage this afternoon. Gusts were close to 70mph in a few spots. The showers and storms this evening will pack a heavy rain punch as they sweep from west to east and could put down a quick inch of rain. Wind gusts of 40mph-50mph should become common, with local 60mph gusts possible.
Here are your evening storm trackers…
Once this storm moves away, we have a couple days before the next one blows in here. The setup across the country is really straight out of winter with lots of arctic air (October style) showing up. The boundary inches closer to Kentucky then slams the brakes on allowing for a big storm system to develop. That sweeps the very cold air in here later Halloween into Friday…
That’s pretty wicked to see.
That setup sends a weak system just to our west with rain and snow from Missouri into the Great Lakes Monday and Tuesday…
The next storm system is going to bring a lot of rain and wind to us Wednesday into Thursday. Watch how this wraps up, bringing snows from the plains into parts of the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes…
I’ll see you guys back here for a full update later tonight. Until then, have a great rest of your evening and take care.
The NWS needs better warning terminology on days like today so as not to confuse. Several severe thunderstorm warnings were issued just west of Louisville, yet there was no lightning / thunder. Maybe on setups like this, a “severe wind warning” would be more appropriate?
That above rainfall map for the pre-Halloween storm looks a lot like the Euro map (from several days ago) for today’s storm. What are the chances that heavy rain axis shifts somewhat north and west again?
Good idea. Today’s situation may mirror somewhat a previous dilemma. IIRC, some hurricane during the 2000s (maybe Hurricane Charley in Florida?) had such destructive inland winds at the still intact eye that I think Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued. Afterwards, there was a perceived lack of adequate warning designations in the rule book for such situations. This led to the creation of the Extreme Wind Warning for stronger winds in hurricanes.
Come to think of it, some of us may recall in 2012 a powerful gust front well ahead of the main line of thunderstorms (maybe that derecho?). Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued along the gust front even though the lightning/main t-storms were far away.