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Damaging Winds: Damaging Winds in the Barren River Area
Damaging wind reports for the Barren River Area were collected from two
sources. The Historical U.S. Convective Wind and Wind Damage Data
Archive at the Storm Prediction Center includes wind reports from 1955
through 1995. Reports after 1995 come from the National Climatic Data Center's
Storm Data publication. Reports of damaging wind events in the 1950s and
1960s are scarce. Increasing awareness and improved reporting contribute to more
numerous reports in recent years, though details concerning damage and
casualties are often incomplete.
Reports of damaging winds are more common throughout the Barren River Area than
reports of hail or tornadoes. Damaging winds are classified as those of 50
knots (58 miles per hour) or stronger. Based only on reports during the period
since 1990, the region experiences an average of 7.1 days per year with damaging
winds. The most active year for storms producing damaging winds was 2000 when
report high winds were documented on 15 days. Figure 3-1 shows the distribution
of days with damaging winds from 1955 through 2000. As expected, larger and
more densely populated counties have reported more days with damaging winds.
Figure 3-1. Documented days with damaging winds in the Barren River Area, 1955-2000.
Occurrences of damaging winds in the Barren River Area follow expected
patterns. They are heavily concentrated during the spring and summer months
(Figure 3-2a). More than half of all days with damaging winds occur in May, June,
and July. The majority of reports are associated with storms in the afternoon
or evening hours (Figure 3-2b).
Figure 3-2. Days with damaging winds in the Barren River Area by month (a) and damaging wind reports by time of day (b) based on data from 1955 - 2000.
Actual wind speeds are rarely measured at locations where damage is reported.
Estimates of wind speed are sometimes made based on sustained damage. Most
reports indicate speeds in the range of 50 to 60 miles per hours, though winds
reaching 100 miles per hour have been reported (Figure 3-3).
Figure 3-3. Distribution of wind speeds associated with damaging wind reports in the Barren River Area.
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