Louisville, KY

Weather Forecast Office

Severe Weather of May 21, 2010

May 21, 2010

Storms formed in the Wabash Valley on the afternoon of May 21, 2010. These storms slowly developed to the southeast and crossed much of southern Indiana and northern Kentucky. Strong winds from different directions in the middle and upper parts of the atmosphere caused many of the storms to rotate, while winds near the surface were relatively weak. As a result, many wall clouds and possibly several funnel clouds formed, and one tornado did touch down in eastern Breckinridge and northwest Hardin counties. (What is a wall cloud?)

We at NWS Louisville received many photos of these spectacular looking storms. Thank you to everyone who sent us these pictures to share! (If you have a photo or video to share, fell free to send it to us!)

Click on an image for a larger version:

Anderson County

Hail between Waddy and Alton on Benson Creek Road. Photo: Jerame Brown	Wall cloud near Lawrenceburg. Photo: Pierce Larkin	Wall cloud near Lawrenceburg. Photo: Pierce Larkin
This rotating wall cloud, in the following six images, traveled from Anderson County thtrough Franklin County to Woodford County. Photos: Dr. Les Anderson

A rotating wall cloud north of Lawrenceburg. Photo: Shawn Wilson

Reflectivity Radar Loop

Velocity Radar Loop

Big Spring Tornado (Breckinridge and Hardin Counties)

Breckinridge County. Photo: NWS

Hardin County. Photo: NWS

Track map.

Reflectivity Radar Loop

Velocity Radar Loop

Fayette County

Wall cloud seen looking northwest from Lexington. Photo: Greg Brotzge

Photo: John Bradshaw

Reflectivity Radar Loop

Velocity Radar Loop

Franklin County

Wall cloud in southern Franklin County.

Reflectivity Radar Loop

Velocity Radar Loop

Jessamine County

Looking west from just north of Wilmore toward a wall cloud within a spectacularly rotating storm. Photo: Rick Schrantz

Reflectivity Radar Loop

Velocity Radar Loop

Mercer County

Wall cloud. Photo: Evan Rice

Wall cloud. Photo: Jeff Meadows

Wall cloud. Photo: Danny Wheatley

An amazing wall cloud. Photo: Karen Larmour

Looking west from US 127 in northern Mercer County. Photo: Nancy League

Reflectivity Radar Loop

Velocity Radar Loop

Nelson County

This great series of wall cloud photos was taken by Mark Smith, looking north from the Blue Grass Parkway.

Reflectivity Radar Loop

Velocity Radar Loop

Orange County

Shelf cloud advancing on Paoli. Photo: Brett Porter

Reflectivity Radar Loop

Velocity Radar Loop

Scott County, Indiana

A rainbow briefly appeared after the storms passed by. Photo: Jeanne Newton

Reflectivity Radar Loop

Velocity Radar Loop

Scott County, Kentucky

Wall cloud. Photo: Jack Donovan

Wall cloud. Photo: Ron Miller (no larger version available)

Wall cloud. Photo: Ron Miller

Reflectivity Radar Loop

Velocity Radar Loop

Washington County, Indiana

Rotating wall cloud north of Salem. Photo: Grady Joslin

Possibly a shelf cloud or wall cloud south of Salem. Photo: Grady Joslin

Just south of Salem on Painters Lane at Old IN 60 looking northeast. Photo: Rhonda Abbott

Reflectivity Radar Loop

Velocity Radar Loop

Woodford County

Possible wall cloud in Midway. Photo: Bud Kraft

Wall cloud north of Versailles. Photo: Rick and Kathy Jones

Reflectivity Radar Loop

Wall cloud. Photo: Danny Owens

Velocity Radar Loop

The following photos were all taken by Steve Blake in Woodford County:

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
1003 AM EDT SAT MAY 22 2010
 
..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..
 
0551 PM     TSTM WND DMG     FRENCH LICK             38.55N  86.62W
05/21/2010                   ORANGE             IN   LAW ENFORCEMENT
 
            POWER LINES WERE DOWNED ALONG STATE ROAD 56 IN FRENCH
            LICK.
 
0646 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     ENGLISH                 38.33N  86.46W
05/21/2010                   CRAWFORD           IN   BROADCAST MEDIA
 
            BROADCAST MEDIA REPORTED ON CHAT THAT THEY HAD VIDEO OF
            A FUNNEL JUST NORTHWEST OF ENGLISH.
 
0658 PM     HAIL             ENGLISH                 38.33N  86.46W
05/21/2010  E0.75 INCH       CRAWFORD           IN   TRAINED SPOTTER
 
0732 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     MILLTOWN                38.34N  86.27W
05/21/2010                   CRAWFORD           IN   BROADCAST MEDIA
 
            MONTY WEBB FROM WHAS 11 CALLED TO REPORT THAT REED
            YADON IN THE STATIONS HELICOPTER HAD SEEN SEVERAL
            FUNNELS IN THE FOUR COUNTY AREA NORTH OF MILLTOWN. ONE
            MAY HAVE BRIEFLY CONTACTED THE GROUND OVER AN OPEN
            FIELD... NO DEBRIS OR DAMAGE WAS REPORTED. ANOTHER
            MULTIPLE VORTEX DEVELOPED AND LIKEWISE MAY HAVE
            CONTACTED THE GROUND... WITHOUT DEBRIS OR DAMAGE.
 
0739 PM     HAIL             FRANKFORT               38.19N  84.87W
05/21/2010  E1.00 INCH       FRANKLIN           KY   TRAINED SPOTTER
 
0753 PM     HAIL             6 W ALTON               38.08N  85.04W
05/21/2010  E1.75 INCH       ANDERSON           KY   EMERGENCY MNGR
 
0825 PM     TSTM WND DMG     1 SW BIG SPRING         37.79N  86.18W
05/21/2010                   BRECKINRIDGE       KY   AMATEUR RADIO
 
            SIDING BLOWN OFF A MOBILE HOME.