Stormy day in Christian County, Kentucky
Yesterday, the National Weather Service announced that Christian County had a "high risk for severe weather" today. This is the most dire level of warning that they give.
Our imminent danger was even reported on the national news. Today, Dennis and I received several phone calls and emails from friends and family who wondered if we were OK, after hearing Hopkinsville mentioned.
How do you prepare for tornadoes? Local officials held conference calls and did what they could. Shelters were opened for people who did not want to stay in their homes. An army of stormwatchers was deployed. Schools were dismissed at noon so the students could reach home before the bad weather began. This turned out to be a wise decision, because we had very turbulent weather and tornado watches during the time that the buses are usually on the roads.
We had strong wind here at the house, but no hail and only a few drops of rain. Fort Campbell reported wind gusts of 83 mph, and numerous other sources across Christian County reported wind gusts of 50 to 60 mph. Hail was reported in several areas of North Christian, and Crofton received 3/4 inch hail. But we did not have any tornado sightings.
Cadiz in Trigg County, just west of us, had golf-ball size hail, too. Funnel clouds were sighted in Muhlenberg County, our neighbor to the northeast, but I haven't seen any reports of tornado damage. Todd County, just east of us, had hail too.
There were many reports of damage to buildings all across the area by the strong winds and large hail. Some farm buildings were blown down (probably old barns.)
Tonight, the temperature has dropped over 45 degrees from the mid-day high of 81°. It's breezy and chilly. I started a fire in the woodstove when I got home from work.
I feel very fortunate that we have come through the storms unscathed, so far. How about you? Did you have storm damage?
6 comments:
No damage here in Tuscaloosa, Alabma..Lots of rain though. Little sleep because of our storm radio going off.I am a Bath-tub survivor of the 4/27/11 storms. I am on Hyper alert during times like yesterday. Packed and ready to go. Glad to hear you are ok..
I am glad that you and your community are OK, too, Mary!
I live in Owensboro. We were prepared for the worst, but were so lucky it didn't come. THere was minor roof damage, but that's about all. I had worried since they first began talking about the severe weather coming yesterday.
Wednesday we went on a road trip to Liberty, KY to the quilt shop there with some friends. Storms rolled through here about 6:30, but then the skies cleared, so we headed out. We were about 20 miles down the highway, when we encountered heavy downpours and small hail. Just continued on and it cleared up pretty quickly.
After visiting King's in Liberty, we headed toward Bowling Green to visit Whittle's Quilt Shop in Smith's Grove. About 10 miles outside of Liberty, we saw quite a few emergency vehicles with lights flashing. As we grew closer, it was obvious a small tornado had cut a swath through there. Barns were blown over, trees and power poles snapped and laying on the ground, and some houses were damaged. We could see the debris field across the highway and field to the homes bavck off the road. We just prayed everyone was safe.
I was afraid that maybe Owensboro had been hit harder than that. I remember hearing warnings for your town at one point. Glad that you are OK!
My family lives a few miles (less than 10) from you. They had some hail damage to their homes and greenhouses. Amazing how storms seem to jump.
I hope the hail damage on the greenhouses doesn't throw off spring planting for your family, Suzanne.
We have lived in our home for 20 years, and during that time, this little area has never been hit hard by any severe weather. The worst storms have gone north of us. But I know that could change at any time.
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