National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

Thunderstorms erupted ahead of an approaching cold front and surface low pressure moving across the region this afternoon and evening.  These storms brought with them lots of hail (mostly pea to dime size) to southern Indiana and central Kentucky.  In some spots, enough hail fell to turn the ground white or even caused piles or drifts of hail to form.  A few locations did receive severe hail of 1 inch in diameter.  Below is a list of hail reports from this evening along with some pictures. 

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0127 PM     HAIL             2 NNW ADAIRVILLE        36.69N  86.86W
12/17/2012  M0.70 INCH       LOGAN              KY   TRAINED SPOTTER

            WIND GUSTS TO 45 MPH.

0137 PM     HAIL             BRANDENBURG             38.00N  86.18W
12/17/2012  M0.70 INCH       MEADE              KY   TRAINED SPOTTER

0205 PM     HAIL             NEW PEKIN               38.50N  86.02W
12/17/2012  M0.70 INCH       WASHINGTON         IN   TRAINED SPOTTER

0207 PM     HAIL             CUSTER                  37.73N  86.25W
12/17/2012  M0.88 INCH       BRECKINRIDGE       KY   TRAINED SPOTTER

0211 PM     HAIL             LA GRANGE               38.40N  85.38W
12/17/2012  M0.70 INCH       OLDHAM             KY   NWS EMPLOYEE

            LARGE DRIFTS OF SMALL HAIL

0212 PM     HAIL             CUB RUN                 37.30N  86.07W
12/17/2012  M0.75 INCH       HART               KY   TRAINED SPOTTER

            ON HWY 1214.

0214 PM     HAIL             OAKLAND                 37.04N  86.25W
12/17/2012  M0.50 INCH       WARREN             KY   TRAINED SPOTTER

0214 PM     HAIL             2 S RADCLIFF            37.80N  85.94W
12/17/2012  M0.88 INCH       HARDIN             KY   PUBLIC

            AT BUDGET CAR RENTAL.

0222 PM     HAIL             1 S RADCLIFF            37.81N  85.94W
12/17/2012  M1.00 INCH       HARDIN             KY   AMATEUR RADIO

            ALONG 31W NORTH OF 313

0231 PM     HAIL             BROOKS                  38.07N  85.72W
12/17/2012  E1.00 INCH       BULLITT            KY   PUBLIC

            APPROXIMATELY 1 INCH HAIL PHOTOGRAPHED IN BROOKS. VIA
            FACEBOOK.

0232 PM     HAIL             FERN CREEK              38.16N  85.60W
12/17/2012  M0.50 INCH       JEFFERSON          KY   TRAINED SPOTTER

0233 PM     HAIL             BROOKS                  38.07N  85.72W
12/17/2012  M1.00 INCH       BULLITT            KY   TRAINED SPOTTER

0234 PM     HAIL             2 S BROOKS              38.04N  85.72W
12/17/2012  E1.25 INCH       BULLITT            KY   COCORAHS

            COCORAHS SPOTTER REPORTS 1.25 INCH HAIL WITH 1 INCH
            HAIL AVERAGED. NO DAMAGE NOTED.

0242 PM     HAIL             LEBANON JUNCTION        37.83N  85.73W
12/17/2012  M0.70 INCH       BULLITT            KY   TRAINED SPOTTER

            COVERING THE GROUND

0242 PM     HAIL             HILLVIEW                38.07N  85.69W
12/17/2012  M0.88 INCH       BULLITT            KY   LAW ENFORCEMENT

0244 PM     HAIL             HIGHVIEW                38.14N  85.64W
12/17/2012  M0.50 INCH       JEFFERSON          KY   OFFICIAL NWS OBS

            AT NWS OFFICE

0257 PM     HAIL             HISEVILLE               37.10N  85.82W
12/17/2012  E0.75 INCH       BARREN             KY   TRAINED SPOTTER

0346 PM     HAIL             MIDWAY                  38.15N  84.68W
12/17/2012  E0.88 INCH       WOODFORD           KY   TRAINED SPOTTER

            OCCURRED OVER I-64 NEAR THE FRANKLIN-WOODFORD COUNTY
            LINE...CAUSED TRAFFIC TO PULL OFF INTO EMERGENCY LANES

0356 PM     HAIL             4 SW GEORGETOWN         38.16N  84.61W
12/17/2012  M1.00 INCH       SCOTT              KY   PUBLIC

            MOSTLY PEA TO DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED ALONG WITH 1 INCH
            AND POSSIBLY SLIGHTLY LARGER HAIL MIXED IN

0437 PM     HAIL             RICHMOND                37.74N  84.29W
12/17/2012  E0.50 INCH       MADISON            KY   FIRE DEPT/RESCUE

0452 PM     HAIL             WINCHESTER              38.00N  84.19W
12/17/2012  E0.50 INCH       CLARK              KY   TRAINED SPOTTER

            PEA TO MARBLE SIZED HAIL REPORTED COMING DOWN FAIRLY
            HEAVILY IN WINCHESTER
 

Click on the pictures below to see larger versions of the pictures. Thanks to all of those who sent in reports and pictures today.  Remember that you can send your weather photos by e-mail to lmk.ops@noaa.gov or w-lmk.webmaster@noaa.gov or post your pics/reports to our Facebook and Twitter pages at any time.

After the storms, breaks in the clouds allowed the sun to shine through a very wet atmosphere creating beautiful rainbows.