Every year Indiana and Kentucky experience crazy weather, and 2017 did not disappoint. From incredible warmth in February that contributed to a winter of very little snow, to increased tornado activity, to tropical systems making themselves known well inland, there were a lot of important weather days here in 2017.
February 24: Strong low pressure advanced from Illinois to the Great Lakes, bringing incredibly warm air northward into much of the eastern part of the country. Punctuating an already warm winter, temperatures soared into the lower 80's in many locations. The 81° reading in Louisville had never been experienced before in February in Derby City.
March 1: A powerful storm system crossed the lower Ohio Valley on the evening of Tuesday, February 28, and the early morning hours of Wednesday March 1. Multiple rounds of thunderstorms brought large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes. The strongest tornado of the year in the Louisville NWS office's area of responsibility was an EF2 that struck at three minutes after midnight near Ireland in Dubois County.
Tornado damage in northern Orange County on March 1. Photo courtesy Rick Emerick.
March 27: A strong low pressure system tracked northeast through the Ohio Valley producing discrete storm cells and a line of storms during the late afternoon and evening hours. Numerous reports of wind damage and large hail resulted from these storms. An EF1 tornado did damage near Center in Metcalfe County.
April 5: Four EF1 tornadoes struck central Kentucky, three of which were within a few miles of each other north of Center in Metcalfe and Green Counties.
April 28: Storms developed along a warm front across southern Indiana during the evening. These spread into north central KY through the late evening and overnight hours. Hail up to half dollar size was produced by the storms. One tornado occurred shortly before midnight at Goshen in Oldham County. This eventually transitioned to a heavy rain event with many flash flooding reports.
Image Credit: NWS / Flooding in Crawford County on April 29.
May 6: Mostly cloudy skies and scattered showers greeted racing fans at the Kentucky Derby, making for a muddy track.
May 19: A persistent line of storms produced torrential rains in and around Salem, Indiana. The stream gauge on the Blue River went a foot over the record stage before being damaged by the floodwaters. A Flash Flood Emergency was issued. Also, a small tornado struck Crawford County near Sulphur.
Catastrophic flooding in Salem on May 19. Photo courtesy Rosy Callahan.
May 20: A weak tornado touched down along Big Clifty Creek near Madison, Indiana. Homes and trees were damaged.
May 27: A warm and moist air mass moved into the region with temperatures rising into the mid 80s and dew point temperatures near 70. Widespread thunderstorms produced multiple hail reports as well as some tree damage. A Flash Flood Emergency was declared for Taylor and Casey Counties where radar estimated 4-6" of rain fell over a relatively short period of time.
June 23: A cold front dropping in from the northwest met up with the remnants of Tropical Storm Cindy coming in from the southwest to cause widespread heavy rain. Wind shear in the low levels of the atmosphere near Cindy's circulation led to tornado development in LaRue, Marion, and Jessamine Counties.
Image Credit: NWS / Tornado damage in LaRue County on June 23.
July 7: A hot, muggy day led to plenty of instability for storms coming in from Indiana/Ohio to feed on. These storms brought strong winds and hail as well as continuous lightning to some locations.
September 1: The remnants of Hurricane Harvey moved into the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys, dropping up to 5 inches of rain on central Kentucky and far southern Indiana.
November 5: A strong cold front moved through the area overnight November 5-6. Ahead of this front strong storms moved into southern Indiana resulting in 3 tornadoes in Washington County. In addition to the tornadoes, strong winds aloft were able to mix down to the surface across central Kentucky. A broad swath of 40-55 mph winds resulted in numerous power outages across the region.
November 18: A fast moving squall line pushed through central Kentucky and southern Indiana in the late afternoon and early evening. Several breaks formed in the line, allowing nearby storms to produce pockets of wind damage and three brief tornadoes.
Info Credit: NWS Louisville
-Rick DeLuca
