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Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Paducah, KY
112 PM CDT Wed Sep 25 2024 /212 PM EDT Wed Sep 25 2024/

...The Fall Season Marks an Increased Chance of Severe Weather...

September 30th through October 4th, 2024, is Fall Severe Weather
Awareness Week. Daily graphics will be shared via social media
during this week to promote severe weather awareness and safety.
These graphics will also be available at the following website:
https://www.weather.gov/pah/fallsevereweathercampaign2024.

The months of October and November, particularly from mid-October
through mid-November, are a time when our region can experience an
increase in severe thunderstorm activity, including tornadoes,
large hail, and damaging thunderstorm winds.

In mid to late October 2021, four tornadoes impacted parts of
southeast Missouri and southwest Indiana. On November 18, 2017, a
line of thunderstorms with damaging winds along with five
tornadoes occurred. On Halloween night in 2013, a record-breaking
19 tornadoes occurred across southeast Missouri, western Kentucky,
and southern Illinois. Later on that year, on November 17th, 12
tornadoes struck the area, including eight strong tornadoes, one
of which killed three people in Brookport, IL. On October 18,
2007, 16 tornadoes ravaged our region, causing 20 injuries and $20
million in damages. A total of 17 tornadoes occurred across the
region in November 2005, including the November 6th Evansville
area tornado, which claimed 25 lives, and the November 15th
Madisonville, KY, tornado, which was rated as a violent EF-4
tornado.

Why do we see an increase in severe thunderstorms and tornadoes in
the fall? Wind fields, on average, become progressively stronger
in the atmosphere as we transition through the fall season. These
wind fields are often enhanced by storm systems from the Plains
states. This, coupled with favorable temperature and moisture
profiles in the atmosphere, particularly ahead of low pressure
systems and their associated frontal systems, can provide the
necessary atmospheric instability for severe thunderstorms,
including tornadoes.

Preparation and response are the keys to ensuring you and your
loved ones stay safe this fall. First, ensure that you have a plan
that includes a safe sheltering location when severe weather
threatens. Second, be sure that you have a means to receive
weather warnings, particularly for severe thunderstorms that
occur at night. Nighttime tornadoes are twice as likely to be
deadly than tornadoes that occur during the daytime hours. A
weather radio is the perfect solution for being alerted of
dangerous weather. Third, go to your predetermined safe location
promptly when a warning is issued for your area or when severe
weather is observed.

A Facebook Live event will be held via the National Weather
Service Paducah KY Facebook page on Monday, September 30th, 2024,
at 7 p.m. CDT to discuss fall severe weather preparedness.

Questions, comments, or concerns may be directed to:

Christine Wielgos
Warning Coordination Meteorologist
National Weather Service Paducah, KY
Email: christine.wielgos@noaa.gov


$$

CW/DWS