Kentucky Weather Geek

☀️🌤⛅️🌥🌦☁️🌧⛈🌩🌨⚡️❄️🌪 #kywx

[NWS Louisville @NWSLouisville]

Tornado Warning including North Middletown KY until 5:30 PM EDT

[NWS Louisville @NWSLouisville]

Severe Thunderstorm Warning including Richmond KY, Nicholasville KY and Danville KY until 6:00 PM EDT

[NWS Jackson KY @nwsjacksonky]

Tornado Warning including Mount Sterling KY, Jeffersonville KY and Camargo KY until 6:00 PM EDT

[NWS Louisville @NWSLouisville]

Flash Flood Emergency continues for Richmond KY, Berea KY and Lancaster KY until 5:15 PM EDT

[NWS Severe Tstorm @NWSSevereTstorm]

Severe Thunderstorm Warning including Lawrenceburg KY, Versailles KY and Salvisa KY until 10:15 PM EDT

[NWS Storm Prediction Center @NWSSPC]

8:19pm CDT #SPC_Watch WW 370 TORNADO IN KY 220115Z - 220600Z, #inwx #kywx, https://t.co/7vcXssYIm2

[NWS Louisville @NWSLouisville]

A tornado watch has been issued for parts of Indiana and Kentucky until 2 AM EDT

[NWS Storm Prediction Center @NWSSPC]

8:04pm CDT #SPC_MD 1241 , #ohwx #kywx #inwx, https://t.co/avdMUOUbug

[NWS Weather Prediction Center @NWSWPC]

#WPC_MD 0445 affecting central KY/WV northward to OH River, #wvwx #ohwx #vawx #kywx #inwx #ilwx #mowx, https://t.co/BfFUVO2Ift

[Daniel Wefer @WeferWX]

My footage of the Washburn, IL tornado earlier today. Stunning multivortex wedge #ilwx

[Chris Hall @ChrisHallWx]

Stanton, KY tornado moments ago
📸 - brittany harrison

[Jason D. Mays @CoachJMays]

Hwy 213 between Stanton and Jeffersonville. About 7:15. @Kentuckyweather

[NWS Tornado @NWStornado]

Tornado Warning including Jeffersonville KY, Clay City KY and Frenchburg KY until 7:45 PM EDT

[NWS Jackson KY @nwsjacksonky]

Tornado Warning including Jeffersonville KY, Clay City KY and Frenchburg KY until 7:45 PM EDT

[MyRadar Weather @MyRadarWX]

At 6:57 p.m. on May 3, 1999, an F5 tornado was on final approach, about to raze parts of the southern Oklahoma City metro area. As it barreled up the H. E. Bailey Turnpike, forecasters at the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma knew what was about to happen. Dozens would perish, and that entire neighborhoods would be obliterated.

The warning meteorologist on duty knew a run-of-the-mill tornado warning wouldn't cut it. Shortly before 7 p.m., the office did something that hadn't been done before – they issued a "tornado emergency."

It was the first time that phrasing had ever been used. The spur-of-the-moment decision proved fateful. We've included photos of the radar at the time, what the tornado looked like on the ground AND what was going on behind the scenes that dreaded evening at the National Weather Center – where the alert originated.

Here's the text from the first-ever tornado emergency:

...TORNADO EMERGENCY IN SOUTH OKLAHOMA CITY METRO AREA...

AT 657 PM CDT...A LARGE TORNADO WAS MOVING ALONG INTERSTATE 44 WEST OF NEWCASTLE. ON ITS PRESENT PATH...THIS LARGE DAMAGING TORNADO WILL ENTER SOUTHWEST SECTIONS OF THE OKLAHOMA CITY METRO AREA BETWEEN 715 PM AND 730 PM. PERSONS IN MOORE AND SOUTH OKLAHOMA CITY SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE TORNADO PRECAUTIONS!

THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND LIFE THREATENING SITUATION. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS LARGE AND DESTRUCTIVE TORNADO...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

Since then, there have been 314 tornado emergencies issued nationwide. The pioneered phrasing is now reserved only for the most significant events with the highest fatality potential.

On May 20, 2013, another tornado emergency was issued in Moore, Oklahoma as Another EF5 tornado barreled into the beleaguered community.

[Lexington Herald-Leader @heraldleader]

Lexington’s iconic TV anchors: Trailblazers, pranksters, ‘weather watchers’ https://t.co/b8bjU0e8f6

[NASA @NASA]

Artemis II may have splashed down, but our photos and videos from the mission are still rolling in! Keep an eye on the latest: https://t.co/rzM1P0QbOl

[NWS Louisville @NWSLouisville]

Significant wintry weather is possible this weekend. Stay tuned to the latest forecasts over the coming days. #kywx #inwx

[Chris Bailey @Kentuckyweather]

Lexington shattered the daily record high by hitting 72 degrees. That breaks the previous record of 67 set in 2021. Only 4 December days in recorded history have been warmer than today.

We hit 75 on December 2nd and 3rd in 1982. 74 on December 4th, 1982, and December 26, 2016.

Record keeping in Lexington began in the 1870s. #kywx

[Dillon Gaudet @GaudetWeather]

Mammatus clouds over Lexington! #kywx