WDRB Weather Blog

Man Takes Care of Best Friend in Rain

The only video you need to see today! It is just so darn cute!

It is one of the top trending videos on YouTube even! An elderly man put his dog's well-being before his own. It was taken by Alilee Shalom Galilee in the Philippines. When the rain started to fall, the man covered up the dog in rain gear instead of himself. The pooch even has a hat to keep his head dry! Talk about man's best friend! 

Check it out below.

Video Credit: Rock Me, Joey Santiago

I hope that brought a smile to your face on this dreary day! 

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-Katie McGraw 

Kentucky Statewide Tornado Drill

The Kentucky statewide tornado safety drill is happening Thursday at (approximately) 10:07 AM Eastern/9:07 AM Central.  Please note: sirens and alerts WILL sound even though there is NO tornado threat.  Outdoor tornado sirens will sound, local radio and television stations will broadcast an alert, and cell phones and weather radios will issue an alarm. This drill will happen through the entire state, and the alert message will include that this is only a test of the system. 

This is a great chance to practice your tornado safety plan and make sure you are receiving alerts!  Outdoor tornado sirens are not meant to warn you if you are indoors, so make sure you do receive the alert Thursday.  If you don't, use the links at the bottom of this page to contact me or one of the other WDRB meteorologists so we can help you figure out why you didn't get the alert. 

Below are safety plans if you are caught outside, at home, in a mobile home, or in your car as a tornado approaches.  Review these guidelines, make sure everyone in your family knows the plan, then practice it during the drill Thursday.  If you will be at work, this is also a great time to familiarize yourself with your workplace tornado safety plan.  Learn where the designated storm shelters are and how best to get there in an emergency. 

If you practice your plan now, it will be easier to follow when disaster strikes.  You won't be wasting precious minutes trying to figure out what to do; you will already know your plan and be familiar with what to do from practicing now.  If you are unsure where your safe place is during severe weather, contact me using the links below or any of our meteorologists so we can help you. 

This drill is the start of Severe Weather Awareness Week in Kentucky.  Indiana will do Severe Weather Awareness Week March 18-24 with the statewide tornado drill on March 20.  We will remind you as the date approaches. 

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-Hannah Strong

BEFORE & AFTER: Flooding Seen From Space...

In late February 2018, heavy rains led to damaging floods along rivers in the central and southern United States. Flooding along the Ohio River was the worst it has been in two decades. The flooding is visible in an image (top) acquired on February 26, 2018, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite.

Image Credit: NASA

For comparison, the second image shows the same area on February 17, 2017, as observed by MODIS on NASA’s Aqua satellite. The images are false-color, using a combination of visible and shortwave infrared light (bands 7-2-1) to distinguish areas of flooding.

Image Credit: NASA

At the head of the Ohio River in Pittsburg, new storms drenched an area that has already seen plenty of rain this winter. In Louisville, the Ohio River at McAlpine Upper crested at 35.64 feet at 2:25 pm Monday, February 26th. That is the 10th highest stage on record at that location.

Flooding continued downriver to the confluence with the Mississippi River and toward the middle and lower reaches of the river. Some already-saturated states, including Arkansas, Mississippi, Indiana and Kentucky may get more rain when another storm system passes through this week.

 

 

-Rick DeLuca

https://www.facebook.com/RickDeLucaWeather

 

Wednesday Brings More Rain to Already Swollen Rivers

More rain on the way is making for a volatile river forecast across Kentuckiana.  The good news is our Wednesday/Thursday rain won't be as heavy as what we saw last week or over the weekend. 

AMOUNTS

The heaviest rain will stay south of us this round.  The map above from the WPC shows the heaviest precipitation bands setting up through Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee.  We are, though, included in the Marginal category for expected heavy rain on Wednesday (this is also put out by the WPC). 

On average one inch of rain looks likely across the area Wednesday through Thursday.  There will be some of you who see less than that and some of you who see slightly more than that.  The range would be between 0.5" and 1.5" for most places. 

The NAM (North American Mesoscale model) is better at picking up on convective rain, a.k.a. rain from storms.  While there is a chance we could see storms, these totals below are on the high end.

FLOODING

1.5"-2.0" of rain is more likely in our southern counties, so a Flood Watch has been issued Wednesday morning through Thursday night. Flood Warnings continue for several of the bigger area rivers.

The Ohio River Forecast Center has added 1.0"-1.5" of rain to the basin and that is now included in the river forecasts below.  Most area rivers don't see a measurable increase in flooding from this rain, though it could slow how fast the water is dropping. 

 

TIMING

Rain chances start early Wednesday morning, so it is likely some of you will see rain on your commute. That will slow what is already a congested commute from road closures. Leave a couple minutes early to avoid being late or plan to check radar when you wake up. 

 

The heaviest and most organized rain comes during the morning.  It's possible we could pick up half an inch just from the Wednesday morning part of this. 

 

Off-and-on rain showers continue through the evening Wednesday as the warm front lifts north, but many of you will stay dry through the PM hours.  If you live south of the Kentucky parkways, you have a better chance of seeing rain late in the day Wednesday.

 

Thursday brings a second wave of rain as the cold front (associated with the same low pressure system as the warm front) pushes through. 

 

Marc and Rick will be showing you the latest forecast updates and model data tonight on WDRB News, so make sure to join them. Wednesday morning Jude will show you where the rain is and how much we're seeing, and Mike will show you how that's impacting the commute. 

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-Hannah Strong

EF2 TORNADO CONFIRMED! Where Winds Reached 115 mph...

...NWS Damage Survey for 02/24/2018 Tornado Event…

.Green County Kentucky Tornado…

EF Scale Rating: EF2
Estimated Peak Wind: 110-115 mph
Path Length/Statue/: 1.25
Path Width/Maximum/: 100 yards
Fatalities: 0
Injuries: 0

Start Date: 02/24/2018
Start Time: 11:33 PM EST
Start Location: 1.2 SW Grab
Start Lat/Lon: 37.23/-85.62

End Date: 02/24/2018
End Time: 11:35 PM EST
End Location: Grab
End Lat/Lon: 37.25/-85.61

Survey Summary:

An EF2 tornado began to touch down east of a row of trees, where it
caused roof damage to 2 out of 3 barns. The tornado headed east,
where it downed 2 other barns. One, on the left side of the path,
was shifted south, and the other, to the right of the path, was
shifted north. Tall grass along a fence line within the width of the
tornado showed evidence of convergence. Also, a large tree on the
north side of the path was snapped southward and drug 10 feet south.
Heading east, several trees fell near a residence, but none damaged
the house itself. A detached garage had its door bow outward. Next,
a 2 story house had some roof damage and a porch on the lee side of
the house had a column fly out down a field about 50 yards. Lastly,
the tornado struck a barn and several trees fell. At this residence,
a carport was thrown over the house and landed 100 yards east. A few
other trees fell beyond this point before the tornado lifted.

EF Scale: The Enhanced Fujita Scale classifies tornadoes into the
following categories:

EF0...Weak.....65 to 85 MPH
EF1...Weak.....86 to 110 MPH
EF2...Strong...111 to 135 MPH
EF3...Strong...136 to 165 MPH
EF4...Violent..166 to 200 MPH
EF5...Violent..>200 MPH

 

 

-Rick DeLuca

https://www.facebook.com/RickDeLucaWeather

Ohio River Cresting - Monday PM Flood Update

Rivers are cresting today!! This post breaks down the highest area rivers and looks at several different gauges along the Ohio River. If the crest isn't specifically mentioned, it will crest within the next couple hours. 

This is the 10th highest crest measured at the McAlpine Upper gauge near downtown Louisville. These are not the only spots under Flood Warnings. The map below shows both areal flood warnings (for a whole area) and river flood warnings (for a specific river).

Our next rain chance arrives Wednesday. We could see another inch of rain from this Wednesday/Thursday chance which is unlikely to make our flooding worse.  It could, however, slow the fall of river levels for a day or two. 

All area rivers will fall, some faster than others. The Ohio River downtown will stay in flood stage through Saturday.  That's as far as the current forecast goes.  Some rivers will come out of flood stage this week, others might take until next week.  That will especially depend on this midweek rain chance and how much rain actually falls. 

Once we see where all the rivers crest today, we will start posting the forecast for when rivers will to drop below flood stage so cleanup can begin. We need to see where and when they crest to give you the most accurate forecast. Marc and Rick will be talking to you tonight about how quickly rivers fall on WDRB News.

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-Hannah Strong

Flood Update - Monday

From Jude Redfield...

    Since Saturday morning the obvious problem in the Ohio, Tennessee and Mississippi Valleys center around way too much rain.

    This rain was the final, knockout blow to get the crest in Louisville to 36 feet this afternoon.

    Major flooding is occurring at Cannelton Lock and Dam. This is the most severe at this point along the Ohio River. This crest will be the 7th highest ever.

    The good news is from this point on the Ohio River begins to fall. The bad news is it will remain above flood stage through the upcoming weekend.

    February is about in the books and it is a historic month. Below are a few of the all-time records established. -Jude-

Updated River Forecasts: Crests Are Finally Happening

With the flash flooding over, we focus again solely on flooded rivers across the area.  Click here to see the current list of road closures across Louisville and through all of Kentuckiana.  Flood warnings still cover a large portion of our WDRB counties.  Current flood warnings are shown below, both river flood warnings and areal flood warnings.  Flooding as also closed a few schools and businesses. Click here to see the closings list. 

Area rivers are cresting tonight or will crest tomorrow.  Both flood gauges on the Ohio River near downtown Louisville will peak in Moderate flood stage Monday.  After we crest Monday, the river will slowly start to fall.  It won't happen overnight, so make sure you keep checking the link at the top of this post that has road closures in it through the week for closed roads in Louisville and near the river.

The National Weather Service Office in Louisville shared this graph produced by the Ohio River Forecast Center.  It shows how this flood compares to the big '97 flood.  This graph is using data from the McApline Lower gauge, and it shows we will be a few feet shy of the '97 flood. 

A few gauges along the Ohio are at or near Major flood stage which is the highest level. Tell City is near Major now and is forecast to crest just below Major flood stage on Monday.  Cannelton Lock just climbed into Major and will crest there very early Monday morning.  This is the only gauge in our area currently in Major flood stage.  Clifty Creek is still in Minor flood stage but will climb to Moderate tonight before cresting. 

A few other notable spots around the area are listed below. Rolling Fork near Boston is forecast to crest in Major flood stage tomorrow.  It is still Moderate at the moment and a National Weather Service employee took a picture suggesting the water is starting to go down.  Regardless the crest is or will be very near Major. Muscatatuck at Wheeler Hollow crested in Moderate today.  East Fork White River crested today near Major. The Kentucky River at Lockport has crested in Moderate today. The Salt River will crest near Moderate tomorrow. 

We will enjoy a few dry days to start the week but another chance of rain and a few thunderstorms moves in Wednesday and Thursday.  While the rain midweek won't be as heavy as what we saw this weekend, it will likely halt the drop of river levels. 

Both long-range forecast models are shown above with how much rain they are forecasting Wednesday and Thursday.  You'll see there's still a lot of variety in the numbers since this is several days away, but at this point 0.5"-1.5" seems pretty safe.  That's unlikely to make the flooding threat significantly worse, but it certainly won't help us dry out. 

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-Hannah Strong

Too Much Rain Too Fast: Storm Reports from Saturday's Flash Floods & Storms

What.A.Day. And Week. And Month!

Severe weather and SIGNIFICANT flash flooding occurred yesterday. Too much rain. Too fast. And has been too much rain for too many days. There was heavy rain all along the area mostly ranging from 2-3’’, but there were even locally higher amounts! We broke a record for the day, for the second time this week downtown, just shy of 3''. We also smashed a 134-year-old rainfall record for the month of February. We seen over TEN inches of rain! We have a surplus of 6 inches plus for the year now and over 7 inches for the month. 

Clearly, weather like this had negative impacts. Sadly, just outside of our viewing area the storms took the lives of two people. One person drowned in a submerged vehicle in Simpson County and another person in a possible tornado near Hopkinsville.

Closer to home, it was a flash flood emergency. Louisville Fire responded to more than 100 water rescue calls - rescuing more than 50 people. Thankfully, nobody was injured. Seven water rescue teams used small boats yesterday to help people who were stranded. 

We are still feeling the effects this morning (at 10 am) The Zorn Avenue exit off 71 and 3rd Street is closed. Preston Highway (KY 61) is also closed in Bullitt County in downtown Shepherdsville near the Salt River bridge due to water over the road.

The water is starting to slowly recede from the flash flooding, but the river flooding will still be a problem for days to come. This is not what we want to see, but the forecast has increased again. The Ohio River for McAlpine Upper is now up to 36.1 feet (major flooding is 38 feet) and it is now 67.4 feet for McAlpine Lower.  Major flooding for McAlpine Lower is still several feet away. Below are the River updates from this morning at 10 am. These are always changing, so be sure to check back with Hannah later tonight on WDRB. 

Other area rivers: 

 Early this morning, I-64 near Grinstead was shut down in both directions because it was covered by water in both directions. Likely because of another near record: The Middle Fork BearGrass Creek sharply increased after 7 pm last night during the flash flooding. Going from 5 feet to 18.36 feet and the record was 20 feet. This likely caused the flooding on I-64. Many area creeks and streams saw similar rises. 

 STORM REPORTS: Three reports of wind damage were cited. Trees and power lines were downed. More details below. Some are repeated below as well. 

Jefferson County:

Two in Green County

Below are the reports from the National Weather Service. I did not include several non severe wind gusts ranging from 30-50 mph.

At 12:25 am, in Okolona, on Preston Highway cars were reported floating in the flooded waters at West Indian Trail.

At 12:07 am, water rescue at in Sellersburg in Clark County.

At 12:05 am, there was a report of a flooded street at National Turnpike and Gene Snyder. 

AT 12:03 am, several trees and power lines were reported down along Grab Road near Greensburg. And county wide there were power outages and trees down.

At 11:59 pm, there was water over the roadway in Oxmoor Woods subdivision in Lyndon in Jefferson County.

At 11:57 pm, there were reports of widespread flooding with cars floating in the draining ditches in Okolona in Jefferson County.

At 11:49 pm, in English in Crawford County, SR 64 was reported to be under water as well as several streets in Marengo.

At 11:41 pm, there were reports in E-town in Hardin County of flooding off of Ring Road.

At 11:12 pm, there was a water rescue near Oxmoor on Shelbyville Road in Saint Matthews.

At 11:04 pm, lightning likely caused a building (Steamers Seafood) to catch fire in downtown Bowling Green.

At 10:38 pm, there was an entrance to an apartment complex that flooded in Lyndon in Jefferson County.

At 10:30 pm, the fire department was rescuing residents due to flash flooding in Okolana in Jefferson County.

At 9:50 pm, a portion of Weavers Run Road was washed out in Valley Station in Bullitt County. And shortly before that near the Salt River, the park signs, under the I-65 Bridge  were reported to be nearly under water.

At 9:36 pm, there was reportedly street flooding in Henryville near US 31 near IN 160.

At 9:23 pm, KY 1526 in Bullitt County was closed between Mile Marker 1 and 2  (near KY 44) due to a mudslide).

At 9:17 pm, I-71 in Oldham County was closed in both directions due to flooding.

At 8:00 pm, at the intersection of Shelbyville Road and Hurstbourne Parkway, the right lane was flooded and a car was submerged.

At 7:51 pm, there was a water rescue at the intersection of Nutwood Road and Evergreen Road in Jefferson County.

At 7:17 pm, Fairdale Fire Dept said the intersection of Mitchell and Holsclaw Road was impassable.

At 7:01 pm,  exit ramp at Story Ave off of I-64 was closed due to high water.

From 6:30-7:00 pm, there were multiple roads were flooded, many cars were stranded on the roads, dozens of rescues occurred, manhole covers were off in the downtown area and there were nearly 4 feet of water on the roads. Here is an example of one of the manhole covers being blown off. Sandi Hall sent this photo in, taken on Taylor Blvd. 

 

Have more pictures to show us? Send them our way. The links to my social media pages are below. 

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-Katie McGraw 

Tornado Watch Issued for Central KY Tonight

 

A Tornado Watch has been issued for a portion of our viewing area. The watch is in effect until 3 AM EDT.

Below is an image of the counties included in the watch as well as detailed information from the Storm Prediction Center.

TORNADO WATCH INFORMATION:

TORNADO WATCH PROBABILITIES FOR WT 0006
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0823 PM CST SAT FEB 24 2018

WT 0006
PROBABILITY TABLE:
PROB OF 2 OR MORE TORNADOES : 40%
PROB OF 1 OR MORE STRONG /F2-F5/ TORNADOES : 20%
PROB OF 10 OR MORE SEVERE WIND EVENTS : 40%
PROB OF 1 OR MORE WIND EVENTS >= 65 KNOTS : 20%
PROB OF 10 OR MORE SEVERE HAIL EVENTS : <05%
PROB OF 1 OR MORE HAIL EVENTS >= 2 INCHES : <05%
PROB OF 6 OR MORE COMBINED SEVERE HAIL/WIND EVENTS : 50%

&&
ATTRIBUTE TABLE:
MAX HAIL /INCHES/ : 0.5
MAX WIND GUSTS SURFACE /KNOTS/ : 60
MAX TOPS /X 100 FEET/ : 450
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR /DEGREES AND KNOTS/ : 25050
PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION : NO

Stay tuned for the latest information. Storms are likely to develop shortly.

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-Hannah Strong