LOUISVILLE, Ky. — May is the peak of severe weather season, and here we go with severe weather in the forecast for central Kentucky and southern Indiana Tuesday and Wednesday.
Outlook
The Storm Prediction Center has Louisville and the rest of Kentuckiana highlighted in a risk for severe weather both Tuesday and Wednesday. Both Tuesday and Wednesday's risks are (level 2 & 3 out of 5). This means that tornadoes, wind up to 70 mph, flooding rainfall and hail up to ping pong sized are all likely.
It is a good time to make sure you are prepared at home for storms to suddenly turn severe. Please make sure you have a severe weather safety kit, plenty of water and a reliable way to receive severe weather alerts and updates.
Timing
The timing of the upcoming storm system appears to be most potent during the afternoon and evening hours on Wednesday. This will likely impact the rush hour commute and make for delays and issues with travel.
Please make sure you never drive through a flooded roadway. It is hard to tell how deep the water may be in a flooded road. Keep in mind, it only takes a few inches of moving water to move someone off of their feet or take control of a vehicle.
Tuesday and Wednesday severe weather risk
Threats from these storms will vary from rainfall rates between a half inch to an inch per hour, to hail up to half dollar size, to wind gusts between 60-70 mph and even tornadoes.
The risk for tornadoes is highest as the storm cells become a little more individual as opposed to clustered together in a line. But any storms that form may easily produce a tornado.
These storms will have an incredible amount of "fuel", meaning if they do pop-up, they could become very strong, very quickly. What we call an "explosive" atmosphere.
In summary, the main concern at this time is for the timing and intensity of the storms Wednesday afternoon and Wednesday evening. The storms will look to form into a line from states to our west and will drift in bringing a straight line wind, tornado and very heavy rain threat. Conditions will quiet down overnight Wednesday night and into early morning hours Thursday.
Cooler and drier air will replace this week's storm system as we near the end of the week and the weekend. Temperatures will fall back to the upper 60s and 70s with sunshine and a few clouds.
For now, it's most important to be prepared if any warnings are issued.
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