Large Earthquake Looming

For the period of July 8-14, I did not find any earthquakes that registered over 6.0 on the Richter scale anywhere in the world. Initially, there was a 6.0 recorded on July 8 but was later adjusted at 5.8 in the Kuril Islands region.

There was also a period in June (10-17) when no earthquakes registered over 6.0. Since June 1, the highest magnitude found was 6.3.

It's been a seismic snoozer for the past couple of months. Makes you wonder where the next big one (>6.5) will occur. Statistically, we're overdue.

MS

Finally Some Rain...

The much advertised heavy rain event finally materialized for my location in Valley Station of Jefferson county KY. After a couple of days of mostly misses, I received nearly 1.10" early this afternoon.

Some locations have received 2-3" over the past few days. As of 6pm this evening, the Louisville Int'l airport had picked up 1.13", first time Louisville has picked up over an inch of rain in 24 hours since May 31.

Currently, rain is on the wane. However, a moist air mass will remain in place for the next several days. Therefore, expect more in the way of some storm activity each day for the rest of the week.

MS

Beneficial Rains For the Next Few Days

The HPC continues to paint a swath of possible 2-3" rainfall amounts for a good chunk of Kentucky over the next few days.  This may not put a huge dent in the drought department but will help.

Personally, I have a small garden and despite the lack of rainfall and blazing heat, it's held up pretty well. During the planting season in May, I collected rainfall during the month (Louisville received almost 8" for the month) and stored this for a future need. Recently, I exhausted nearly all of the stored rainwater. As of today, I'm at about 18 percent full, thanks in large part to a freak middle-of-the-night storm. If we get at least 2" over the next few days, this will increase my capacity to over 60 percent, enough to sustain me through another dry, hot stretch like what we experienced recently.

Hopefully, the western part of the state will receive a nice soaking too. Several counties are still in an extreme drought.

Keep up with the forecast rain amounts from the HPC here.

Louisville All-Time Record High In Jeopardy

Louisville's highest temperature ever recorded has been 107 degrees, actually reached a few times during its record-keeping years.

At noon, the temperature at Louisville Int'l is already at 100 degrees. We are on pace to reach 107, if the haze, high clouds, and cumulus field do not impede the upward progression.

The hottest temperature ever for the state of Kentucky is 114 degrees at Greensburg in 1936. Bowling Green actually made a nice run at the record last month with a reading of 110 .

Keep cool...

MS

Severe Thunderstorm Complex Eastern KY

An impressive complex of thunderstorms has erupted along the periphery of our persistent heat ridge. I'll be checking back in with updates and damage reports as these become available. Let's just say that several counties just east of Lexington to Pikeville are getting the brunt of these storms.

3:10pm
Pike and Mingo counties - trees and power lines blocking some roadways (police dispatch)
Montgomery county (Mt Sterling area) - 1300+ KU customers out of power

MS

Bowling Green and Surrounding Area Getting Slammed

After a hot and dry month in June, Bowling Green and its surrounding area is getting absolutely pummeled.
Here are some of the issues emergency personnel are dealing with:


) Large field fire near Porter Pike east of town
) Flash flooding south of town 
) Trees down in many parts of the area
) Partial roof collapse at a K-mart in Scottsville
) Water rescues in progress

MS

Kentucky Drought 2012

As of the last report (Jun 28 2012), nearly all of Kentucky fell into some sort of drought classification. Only parts of 6 counties were reporting no drought as of last week's date...

Western KY was reporting extreme drought. Paducah has only received 1.85" since April 1 2012. Yes, parts of 21 counties of western Kentucky were undergoing extreme drought.

After last week's heat ridge moved in, it will be interesting to find out how much of the state is responding to the worsening drought.

The next drought report will be due out this Thursday.

http://www.droughtmonitor.unl.edu/DM_state.htm?KY,MW

MS