Hurricane Ike and the 2008 Louisville Wind Storm

There have been several conversations, in different places, about when Ike came through Louisville and all the damage it caused. I was surprised that I didn't recall that. After a little digging in my memory and this blog, I realized why. One, it wasn't 5 years ago, as someone suggested. It was 2008. September. Now, I remember all the broken trees. All the blocked roads.

From The National Weather Service: On September 14, 2008, the remnants of Hurricane Ike combined with a cold front crossing the Ohio Valley to cause extremely strong surface winds to blow through the region. Hurricane-force wind gusts in Louisville felled countless trees and power lines. At one point, 60% of LG&E customers in the Louisville area were without power, with some folks to remain in the dark for up to a week. 

Unfortunately, four fatalities occurred in the area due to falling trees and limbs.

Scientifically, this phenomenon resulted from very strong winds around 3000-6000 feet above the ground (50-80 mph), i.e., a low-level jet associated with and ahead of the remnants of Ike, being directed downward to the surface as surface heating (due to some sunshine) resulted in steep low-level lapse rates (temperatures decreasing rapidly with height from the surface to the level of these maximum winds). Such lapse rates allowed winds aloft to mix down to the surface causing the strong, damaging wind gusts. This phenomenon typically is common with severe thunderstorms, although in this case, there were no thunderstorms at all associated with the strong winds.

My Mother's dying wish was to have Christmas before she passed. It was pretty obvious that it would take a miracle for her to live until December. So we planned Christmas on September 14th. A tree and wrapped gifts, all arranged. 75 mph winds tore trees down all over town. Early Christmas was cancelled, and her health declined. She died October 11th. So now, I remember why a hurricane coming through Louisville wasn't a big memory for me.