National Weather Service warns KY may get some unpleasant weather for Memorial Day — depends. . .


By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today

The National Weather Service is warning the Memorial Day weekend could be dangerous, as three rounds of severe weather are possible today, with the threat continuing into the overnight hours Monday morning.

John Gordon, who heads the National Weather Service Office in Louisville, says all severe hazards are on the table during that time, including damaging winds, large hail, tornadoes and localized flooding.

“A warm front is going to come through on Sunday morning,” he said during a Friday afternoon conference call. “We’ll have showers, maybe some elevated thunderstorms with pea-size hail, overall won’t be that big a deal.”

After that moves out, Gordon says there will be a lull until the afternoon for the second round.

“If we get a lot of heating, there could be one, two or three bad storms, but there is still a lot of uncertainty on that.”

Sunday evening and into overnight, a cold front is expected to pass through the state, providing the third round, according to Gordon.

“There is going to be a line of storms, although some data suggests there will be two lines of storms.”

He noted the evening event will involve a squall line, reaching the I-65 corridor between 10 pm and midnight, and continuing to the east. “That will have wind, heavy rain and possibly some tornadoes.”

As a result, Gordon had some advice for those who plan to go camping this weekend. “I know this is a big weekend for camping, but Sunday night will be bad for campers in the Ohio Valley, especially west of I-65.”

In addition, the Weather Prediction Center in Washington, DC, is forecasting one to three inches of rain Sunday, which could put a damper on outside activities and lead to possible flooding in the Green and Cumberland River basins next week.

Gordon added that rain and a few storms will likely continue at least into the morning hours of Memorial Day itself.


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