Tornado !Tornado !

May 28, 1996May 28, 1996

Surface Map at 7:00 am EDTMay 28, 1996

500 mb (~18,000 ft) Map at 7:00 am EDT

May 28, 1996

An Evening To Remember…

May 28, 1996 Bullitt-Spencer County TornadoMay 28, 1996 Bullitt-Spencer County Tornado

• Maximum strength: F3 (158-206 mph) with one spot of low-end F4 (207-260 mph) damage; tornado damaged or destroyed many homes in its path

• NWS Louisville issued tornado warning for southern Jefferson and Bullitt County at 6:44 pm EDT

• Tornado reached Mt. Washington in Bullitt County at 6:58 pm EDT

• Tornado lifted E of Little Mount in Spencer County at 7:45 pm EDT

• Amazingly, NO deaths occurred.

• Injured ten residents.

• Damaged over 1,000 homes in parts of Jefferson, Bullitt, and Spencer counties in Kentucky.

Tornado Path

“It felt like a freight train. It seemed like hours.” -- Sharon Hester, Pioneer News June 3, 1996

Loop of NWS Louisville Doppler Radar Reflectivity DataLoop of NWS Louisville Doppler Radar Reflectivity Data

Birth & Life of the Twister4:48 pm EDT: A severe storm developed over southern Dubois County in Indiana and headed east…

5:18 pm EDT: The supercell storm split in two over western Crawford County, Indiana—one moving to the northeast (“left-mover”) and the other to the southeast (“right-mover”). Both storms produced large hail, but it was the southern, “right-mover” which brought significant destruction to the area…

Birth & Life of the Twister5:38 pm EDT: The southern storm grew stronger and dropped golf ball sized hail (dark red and pink colors) on Crawford County for 30 minutes.

6:03 pm EDT: The southern storm intensified, and produced an F2 tornado south of Corydon in Harrison County, Indiana.

BULLETIN – EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED

TORNADO WARNING

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY

644 PM EDT TUE MAY 28 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LOUISVILLE HAS ISSUED A

TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM EDT

FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS…

IN NORTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY

…NORTHEASTERN BULLITT COUNTY…SOUTHERN JEFFERSON COUNTY

AT 642 PM EDT…NWS DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NORTH OF BROOKS OR 8 MILES SOUTH OF DOWNTOWN LOUISVILLE. THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH AND WILL REACH MT. WASHINGTON AND FAIRMOUNT BEFORE 700 PM.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO…THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNTIURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE…SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS…PILLOWS…OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.

WARNING!

Birth & Life of the Twister6:58 pm EDT: An F3-F4 multiple-vortex tornado chewed through northeastern Bullitt County, Kentucky bringing great destruction to Brooks, Hillview, and Mount Washington. Hail was occurring over far southeastern Jefferson County at the same time.

6:58 pm EDT: NWS Doppler radar velocity data showed an impressive circulation near Mount Washington associated with the tornado.

Birth & Life of the Twister7:13 pm EDT: Exhibiting a classic “hook echo” on National Weather Service Doppler radar, the F3 tornado headed for Taylorsville Lake in Spencer County before lifting east of the lake in eastern Spencer County.

Path length:Path length: 30 miles30 milesPath width: Path width: ½ mile½ mileInjured: Injured: 10 people10 peopleCost: Cost: $101,000,000$101,000,000

Tornado Summary…Tornado Summary…

Storm damage survey Storm damage survey Public Information Public Information

StatementStatement

Tornado Damage

Zoneton Estates in Bullitt County.

Photo courtesy Jeff Schaefer.

Brooks in Bullitt County. Photo courtesy Mark Lenberger.

Pioneer Village Subdivision

in Bullitt County.

Tornado Damage

Pioneer Village Subdivision in Bullitt County.

Bullitt County Tornado

Tornado picture from northern Bullitt

County. Courtesy WAVE-

TV.