3 out of 5 lake day

3 out of 5 Lake Day for Sunday. Excessive Heat Warning for Western Kentucky and Heat Advisory for Middle Tennessee. A slight chance of storms may occur east of the lakes.

Some of the hottest temps. out there:
Hopkinsville KY- 104
Greenville KY and Nashville TN- 103
Madisonville/Calhoun/Russellville/Paducah KY- 102


Excessive Heat Warning remains until Monday, as temperatures in the 100-104 range continue.  

Voluntary Order from Muhlenberg County

Muhlenberg County is now asking residents to voluntary limit their water usage, and for people to limit car washing, filling up pools, and watering yards and to overall conserve water, so that water restrictions won't have to go out.

Heat Update

Lake Day 3 out of 5.

I forgot to do this because of all the activity with the fires and stuff.  Lake Day will only be 3 out of 5 today due to the Excessive Heat.

Excessive Heat Warning

http://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=KYZ017&warncounty=KYC047&firewxzone=KYZ017&local_place1=Hopkinsville+KY&product1=Excessive+Heat+Warning
Breaking News!! Excessive Heat Warning for Western Kentucky through Sunday.

This is history!!! This is heat!! This is heat history!!

I fully expect temperatures in the 110-112 range in some places in Western/Central KY tomorrow. This will be historic. Tomorrow will be the hottest day of this heat wave and could be one of the hottest days ever.

Another update on North Christian

News 5 reports that progress is being made on the North Christian fire. No structures have been destroyed. Fire crews many volunteer will be in rotation to try and prevent any hotspots from redeveloping.

Another update

Reports are that the wildfire in North Christian is under control. Other fires are burning near Dawson Springs and parts of LBL. Don't know about the status of those, but at least with the winds calming down it will be easier to control those.

Crofton KY fire update

 The wildfire is mostly on the west side of the Pennyrile Parkway.  Evacuations are occurring along Lewis and Grapevine Roads.  More updates tonight or early tomorrow as they come.  Got this information from posters on facebook that are in the area.

Christian County fire

Also fires reported in Caldwell and Hopkins County.


CHRISTIAN COUNTY, KY.- A grass fire in Christian County has endangered several homes and businesses. 


Officials with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said that the fire began just before 5 p.m. in the area on Pennyrile Parkway. The roadway was closed in both directions while crews tried to put out the blaze. Large amounts of smoke from the fire created a visibility problem for many drivers in the area. Traffic was rerouted and exited off between the 22 and 30 mile marker, drivers were urged to take US 41 as an alternate route.

Christian County 911 officials reported several homes and businesses are in the line of fire but not on fire as of 5:30 p.m.

Nine fire departments were called to fight the fire including the City of Hopkinsville and eight volunteer fire departments. Inmates from the County Jail were also brought out to assist fighting the blaze.

No word on how large the fire was.

Hot

The 1pm measurements 
Henderson- 100
Ft. Campbell- 99
Paducah- 98
Greenville- 103
Madisonville- 104

We don't like it this hot.

Click to enlarge this is a very potent heat wave coming and also high wildfire danger.

From Livingston County

EXECUTIVE ORDER
Livingston County, Kentucky
Due to the recent drought throughout Livingston County and the current Fire Watch Hazard, a NO-BURN order will be in effect beginning 1:00 pm Central Time, June 26th, 2012 for all of Livingston County.
This ban will remain in effect until the County experiences a significant rainfall or until such ban is removed by the County Judge/Executive.
Those intending to have Fire Work displays, please contact the County Judge Executive’s Office and take all necessary precautions in the prevention of unintended fires. The County is recommending individuals refrain from using fireworks at this time.

Chris Lasher, Livingston County Judge/Executive
June 26, 2012

Overview of the drought and heat.

More Burn Bans are very likely, and I will update as they come out.

Heat Safety Link

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=pah&storyid=84756&source=0
Heat Safety tips very important.

Freedom Fest postponed.

Muhlenberg County has just postponed Freedom Fest which is the annual festival/fireworks show they have for the 4th of July due to the drought and wildfire threat.

All Time-Record Heat!!! Old Generational Records will fall.

  As someone who doesn't like heat this post this forecast isn't going to make me happy, and for people who are planning on celebrating the weekend before the 4th it will not make many happy.  To put it bluntly an all-time record setting and intense heat wave that could rival anything we have ever seen before (especially in late June-early July) is expected to strike Western Kentucky and surrounding areas of the Midwest, Southeast, and Mid-Atlantic.  Warm winds blowing down the Appalachians, a major SE Missouri Drought Ridge, and the merging of major drought zones across the USA and Mexico will lead to a historical dry heat wave.  This heat wave will being on Thursday and continue and peak Friday and into Saturday.  The heat will not let up well into next week and possibility even into the 4th of July.

Some possible temperature ranges:

Wickliffe KY
Thursday: 105-109
Friday: 106-110
Saturday: 103-107
Sunday: 103-106
Monday: 101-105

Paducah KY
Thursday: 101-105
Friday: 103-107
Saturday: 102-106
Sunday: 101-105
Monday: 100-104

Henderson KY
Thursday: 100-105
Friday: 102-106
Saturday: 99-102
Sunday: 97-102
Monday: 97-102

Hopkinsville KY
Thursday: 98-103
Friday: 102-107
Saturday: 101-106
Sunday: 97-102
Monday: 97-102

Paris TN
Thursday: 98-103
Friday: 102-106
Saturday: 101-105
Sunday: 99-103
Monday: 97-102

Concerns
- Increased wildfire activity due to extreme heat, and very dry ground.  Burn bans are in effect for several Western Kentucky counties.  Contact your county before you burn things.
- Although this is a dry heat temperatures in many areas will be in the 100's for at least 4-5 days in a row.  This will cause stress especially on the elderly and the disabled who are more vulnerable to heat.
- This heat will cause even more evaporation on already dry soils.  Leading to the drought getting worse.  I fully expect some D4 exceptional drought to appear in Western Kentucky in future drought outlooks if this continues.
- With all the 4th of July events like the Western Kentucky State Fair in Hopkinsville and Glory Days in Mayfield it is important for event managers and event goers to pay attention to the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke, and stay hydrated.

More burn bans

Burn bans are for Hickman, Graves, and Ballard Counties now.

Burn Ban

Five counties have burn bans in effect.  Crittenden, Henderson, Hopkins, Mclean, and Muhlenberg counties. Burning debris, grilling, camp fires, and charcoal grilling are prohibited.  Fireworks may also be prohibited.  There have been several reports of fires in southwest Indiana.

Mars Snow

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/06/120622-mars-snow-red-blood-cells-dust-space-science/?source=link_tw20120623news-marssnow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_tw20120623news-marssnow&utm_campaign=Content
At least Mars is having cold weather.

Lake Day 5 out of 5

Lake Day 5 out of 5.  Any rain chances(which are very slim anyway) should taper off by early morning. Leading to a nice day with temps in the low to mid 80's.

Drought update

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/DM_state.htm?KY%2CMW
A horrible development has occurred in the drought monitor. The addition of D3(extreme drought) has been given to much of Western Kentucky. This is the 2nd highest drought classification and represents a very high impact event. Agriculture will start taking a big heat, wildfire danger will increase, and thoughts about water restrictions may occur. This extreme drought extends from Murray KY to Cadiz KY to the Pennyrile forest to Henderson KY line westward. This includes all of the Purchase and all of the Flurospar district. A thin stripe of severe drought(slight less intense than extreme, but still could have bad impacts) surrounds the extreme drought. The Hopkinsville-Bowling Green KY area up to Lake Malone is only in D1(moderate drought) due to getting more relief, but despite that rain relief is still feeling some drought impacts.

Non-severe Storms

There are storms in and around the LBL area. If you are in the LBL area and hear thunder get out of the water and seek shelter, so that you don't risk getting struck by lightning.

Lake Day 3 out of 5

Shower activity a bit more widespread today. Now a Lake Day of 3 out of 5.

Lake Update

Lake Day 4 out of 5 again tomorrow. Same as today/yesterday. Sunny and nice for most, but could get an isolated shower or thunderstorm.

4 out of 5

4 out of 5 lake day today.

Drought Update

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/DM_state.htm?KY%2CMW
The latest Kentucky drought monitor has D2(severe drought) extending into Henderson/Webster Counties. D1 moderate drought and D0 abnormally dry remain about the same from last week in Western Kentucky. Burn bans remain in effect in Crittenden/Henderson counties.

T-Storm Watch

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 373 in effect till 9pm for all of Western KY.

Watch is possible for Western KY.

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/md/md1120.html

Lake Day

Great lake day and rain chances should hold off till the pre-dawn hours for SW Kentucky and Northwest Middle TN. Tomorrow's lake day forecast is dismal. Lake Day 3 out of 5 on the KY side and 2 out of 5 on the TN side due to clouds and locally heavy rain with lightning possible

The Lake Day Forecast.
Friday: 5 out of 5(nice day)
Saturday: 4 out of 5(another nice day)
Sunday: 4 out of 5 for now(a gulf low pressure system does move into the area. This may need to be downgraded to a 3 out of 5 especially in the TN region of LBL). Will have more on Saturday.

Transit of Venus

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47675548/ns/technology_and_science-space/?ocid=ansmsnbc11'
Transit of Venus is this afternoon starting at around 5pm central time for KY and TN.

T-Storm Warning

Anyone doing night fishing in Camp Energy, and along the KY lake in Western KY needs to head indoors. This storm may have 50-60 MPH wind gusts and Quarter sized hail along with vivid lightning.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PADUCAH HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
NORTH CENTRAL CALLOWAY COUNTY IN WESTERN KENTUCKY...
SOUTHERN LYON COUNTY IN WESTERN KENTUCKY...
EASTERN MARSHALL COUNTY IN WESTERN KENTUCKY...
WEST CENTRAL TRIGG COUNTY IN WESTERN KENTUCKY...

* UNTIL 1030 PM CDT.

Some storms

A few strong to severe storms are approaching Western KY. Although widespread severe isn't expected a few storms may pulse up to severe limits(nickel to quarter sized hail and 50-60MPH) throughout the evening and early overnight hours across Middle TN and Western KY.

T-Storm Watch 353

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/watch/ww0353.html

A little uncertain on how much severe threat is there in Western KY, but some storms may produce damaging winds/large hail.

Lake Day

Tomorrow's Lake Day forecast. Before 9pm will be a 4 out of 5, then after 9pm will be a 3 out of 5 as widespread storm activity is expected overnight. The daytime will be nice with only a stray storm or two.

22 years ago

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=pah&storyid=52435&source=2

Even though this spared Western Kentucky.  The NWS of Paducah has provided an interesting history on this High Risk Day back 22 years ago that hit IL,IN,North KY, and portions of OH very hard.  Features old SPC text and watch products.

4 out of 5 lake day

4 out of 5 lake day. Only reason it isn't a 5 out of 5 is it may still be a little too cool to swim. A good day.