Sirens wailed across Winchester in the early morning as severe weather forced tornado warnings and power outages across Clark County.
According to Kentucky Utilities, 3,100 customers were without power in¿Clark County this morning, as well as another 1,500 in Fayette County. Emergency responders also reported a tree limb down and entangled with a power line near U.S. 60 and Clintonville Road early this morning.
Weather sirens sounded around 6:30 a.m. in Winchester for severe weather. Just minutes later, the siren sounded again for a tornado warning. The worst of the storm seemed to pass by 7 a.m.
“The thing (storm) was so narrow when it came through so fast, it was in out and out of the county in probably 10 minutes or so,” Clark Emergency Management Director Gary Epperson said.
Still, the storm needed little time to wreak havoc, leaving some without power. Conditions from the storm could have led to an accident involving a tractor trailer on Interstate 64 in Clark County. The wreck closed westbound lanes toward Lexington around the 101-mile marker.
Traffic signals along the Bypass in Winchester were down this morning, and most were without power on that side of the city. Epperson said city police were performing traffic control. No structural damage was reported, but a pole behind Winchester Fire-EMS Station 2 was down.
According to the Kentucky Mesonet, wind gusts reached as high as 47.4 mph and sustained winds at 6:45 a.m. reached 30.4 mph. At around 6:50 a.m., the Mesonet marked one-tenth of an inch of rain in just a five-minute period.
“The storm came in and left us as quick as it came,” Epperson said.
Epperson also said the storm cell seemed to be losing strength as it heads east.
According to the Weather Underground website, a chance of rain lingers for Clark County into the evening. Temperatures will drop to around 30 and the rain could become snow. A 20-percent chance of snow exists for Thursday as temperatures continue to fall.
Contact Casey Castle at ccastle@winchestersun.com.
