Another active thunderstorm day with natural fireworks on July 4th, 2009. Storms developed ahead of a weak cold front during the afternoon hours. Very high precipitable water values lead to extreme rainfall rates with the scattered storms. Storms moving out of Motley County around 5 pm intensified near the Cottle County line. The intense core of the storm collapsed in the Delwin area (11 miles SW of Paducah). The Paducah 10SW mesonet station measured this collapse with a peak wind gust of 89 mph at 6:00 pm CDT. 1.71 inches of rain was recorded at the station in a 25 minute period with a pressure rise of 7 mb. A similar storm hit the Memphis 1NE station at the same time as the Paducah station. The Memphis 1NE station recorded over 1.5 inches of rain in 30 minutes with a peak gust to 53 mph.

KLBB radar base reflectivity image for 6:00 pm CDT on July 4th, 2009 (Paducah 10SW ID is XPAD on images). Click here for the radar loop: REFLECTIVITY LOOP for 2:30 pm to 7 pm CDT on July 4th, 2009.

Visible satellite image at 6:01 pm CDT showing storms over Oklahoma and western Texas. Click here for a five-hour visible satellite loop: Visible Satellite Loop for 2-7 pm CDT July 4TH, 2009.

KLBB Storm Total Precipitation for this event ending at 4:00 pm on July 5th, 2009.

Several West Texas Mesonet stations sampled the storms on July 4th, 2009. Meteograms are in standard time. Click on the thumbnails for a larger image.

The Paducah 10SW mesonet station sampled the wet microburst. Please see the 5-minute data: CLICK HERE!