Rain Rain Go Away
- Michael Davis
- Apr 4
- 2 min read
CENTRAL CITY, KY- Forecasters spent half a week telling us it was going to rain and well, that's exactly what it's doing. Forecasters didn't have a chance to catch their breath after strong storms Sunday night pushed through the area. The words "Historic" and "Rare" were used for the first time in a forecast discussion in a long time. Wednesday introduced a rare 5 out of 5 on the severe weather outlook for that night. Storms formed and rain fell, but Muhlenberg County was spared the worst that night. Meanwhile, an unconfirmed Tornado spun through Madisonville damaging the Hopkins County Humane Society building and uprooting a tree in McLean County.
Thursday was uneventful most of the day, but storms pushed in a little before midnight and stuck around for hours dropping almost 4 inches of rain in an 8 hour period. The onrush of water falling on already saturated ground made it perfect for flash flooding. Lake Malone saw rain water rushing over the spillway, a feat that has rarely happened in the last 30 years, and numerous road closures throughout Muhlenberg County.
According to the Kentucky Mesonet website (https://www.kymesonet.org/nws_precip.html). In the last 8 days, Muhlenberg County has seen a staggering 8.13 inches of rain. Just in the last 3 days, the county has picked up 7.09 inches. These are numbers that can really disturb normal day-to-day activities. Farmers have had to halt their early Spring routines while county students were on Spring Break.
Friday night into Saturday morning is expected to bring more rain (3 more inches are possible) along with a decent chance of Severe Thunderstorms. The National Weather Service Office in Paducah has given us a 3 out of 5 on the Severe Weather Outlook released at noon. Saturday into Sunday (morning and day) is when this stalled system should move out of here bringing a couple of days of dry weather and cooler temps. Rain moves back in on Thursday as highs reach into the middle 60's.
This entire stalled cold front/warm front is due in part to a strong high pressure off the coast. These disturbances are riding the boundary created by the front helped by the Subtropical Jet Stream and the lingering effects of a weakening La Nina in the Pacific Ocean.. Interestingly, this is the same system that brought out super-rare Tornado Warnings in the Seattle area Earlier in the week as it came onshore..
Below are some photos from around Muhlenberg County taken Friday morning by Michael Davis.
Comments