Louisville hailstorm April 28, 2012

A stationary front draped along the I-64 corridor, combined with high temperatures around 80 degrees and much colder air above 10,000 feet, allowed for a severe thunderstorms to develop and track along the front late on April 28, 2012.

The storms that formed created hail as large as baseballs near French Lick, Indiana, with golf ball size hail reported along a line from Milltown to Palmyra and Georgetown in Indiana and then to the Churchill Downs, Highview, and Fern Creek areas in Louisville, and finally into Taylorsville, where the storm started to weaken. Trees were stripped of leaves in Fern Creek and along Billtown Road. 3500 brand new Ford Escapes, awaiting delivery at the Louisville Assembly Plant, were damaged by the hail. Derby trial races at Churchill Downs were interrupted.

The radar loop below shows the storm that generated the hail as it travelled toward Louisville.

This image, using GR2Analyst software, allows us to see inside the storm. The white colors indicate an intense hail core. This still was captured when the storm was over Fern Creek.

storm core