Friday March 29, 2024
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Mandatory, Voluntary Evacuations in Place as Category 3 Storm Approaches

Emergency officials on Wednesday urged millions of residents along the southeastern U.S. coast to finish preparations ahead of Hurricane Florence, which is expected to unleash damaging winds and life-threatening amounts of rain when it makes landfall this week.

Florence was at last report a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometers (121 miles) per hour. Although it weakened slightly Wednesday afternoon, forecasters do not expect Florence’s strength to change much before it comes ashore near the North Carolina-South Carolina border.

The massive system was about 700 kilometers (435 miles) southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina. The National Hurricane Center said Florence was “forecast to be an extremely dangerous major hurricane when it nears the U.S. coast late Thursday and Friday.”

“This is not going to be a glancing blow,” the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Jeff Byard said in Washington.

The governors of the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland and Georgia all declared states of emergency.

Byard again urged residents in danger zones to heed warnings to either evacuate or hunker down. “There will be disruptions in our services,” he said. “The power will go off. Infrastructure will be damaged. Homes will be damaged or destroyed. So, again, the time to act is now.”   Continue reading

Adverse weather rates available at all resort parks through Sept. 30

Kentucky State Resort Parks are offering a discounted rate of $49.95/night on lodge rooms to residents of any East Coast state seeking shelter from Hurricane Florence. The rate for one bedroom cottages is $69.95/night and for two bedrooms, $79.95/night.

These adverse weather rates are available at all resort parks until September 30th by calling the park front desk direct. An out of state driver’s license must be presented at check-in to receive this rate.

Park locations and phone numbers are available at https://parks.ky.gov.

As in past years, Kentucky State Parks support surrounding states during adverse weather in the same manner we support Kentucky communities in a crisis.

Emergency Alert System Activation Will Appear as an Actual Tornado Event

TornadoThe National Weather Service (NWS-KY) and the Kentucky Emergency Alert System (EAS, which includes all Kentucky broadcast radio and TV stations) will conduct a tornado drill in support of the Governor’s order naming February “Severe Storm Preparedness Month.”

This statewide tornado drill will include an activation of the EAS – the loud, screeching tones that we hear on television and radio during times of severe weather.  The test will make use of the the ‘live’ Emergency Alert System code “TOR” and is scheduled for Friday, March 3 at 10:07 AM EST.  If there is a threat of actual severe weather on the scheduled test day, the test drill will be postponed to March 1st or the first day with non-threatening weather conditions.

The Kentucky State Emergency Communications Committee (SECC) has obtained, from the FCC, a one-time waiver of federal rules to allow broadcasters to legally relay this drill, which can normally only be aired during actual tornado events.

One of the stipulations of the waiver grant is that all broadcasters will make every practicable effort to inform the public that the drill is coming and it will be a test, not an actual emergency.  Additionally, since this drill must be originated by regional NWS offices, the message may run twice in some areas.

photo: Gregory H. Revera

photo: Gregory H. Revera

Although the technical name for the phenomenon is the perigee-syzygy of the Earth-Moon-Sun system, we can simply call it a Supermoon for short.

A supermoon is when a full moon (or a new moon) occurs during the celestial object’s closest approach to the Earth during its elliptical orbit.  As you might expect, this results in the moon appearing larger than usual in the sky.

The Moon’s distance varies each month between approximately 357,000 kilometers and 406,000 km (222,000-252,000 miles) due to its elliptical orbit around the Earth.  A full moon at perigee appears visually larger by up to 30% and shines 30% more light than one at its farthest point, or apogee.

While the phenomenon occurs around once every 13 months, the supermoon that we will witness tonight, however, is extra special in that the Moon will be the closest to Earth that it has been since 1948.  It’s closest approach, which which will occur at 6:23 a.m. on Monday, the moon will pass within 348,400 km (216,486 miles) of theEarth’s surface – approximately 22,000 miles closer than average.

Although there will be more opportunities to witness another supermoon in just over a year, the next time that it will be this close will be in 2034, so be sure to get out and see it in the early morning hours.  The weather is predicted to only be partly cloudy overnight, so there should be ample opportunity to get a good view.

Fan Fair giveaway event held on July 16

ElectricFanThanks to the generosity of local businesses, community organizations, and residents, hundreds of electric fans have been collected to provide heat relief for seniors and people with disabilities.  A “Fan Fair” giveaway event is scheduled for Saturday, July 16 from 9 a.m. – 12 p. m. at the United Steelworkers Local 1693 headquarters, 1233 S 10th St.

Fans will be available for seniors 60 and older, as well as for individuals with physical disabilities, on a first-come, first-served basis.  Fan Fair qualifications and guidelines:

  • Person 60 years or older
  • OR documentation verified by a physician of a physical disability
  • Resident of Jefferson, Oldham, Henry, Shelby, Spencer, Trimble or Bullitt counties
  • Proof of address and age
  • One fan per household

A Health Fair will coincide with the fan giveaway event to provide basic health checks and information from local resources. Participating vendors include AARP, Kentuckiana Regional Planning & Development Agency (KIPDA), Stroke Association of Kentucky & Southern Indiana, Sickle Cell Association of Kentuckiana, U of L School of Dentistry, the Local Long Term Care Ombudsman, and Louisville Metro Community Services.  Louisville Pure Tap water will also be provided.

Fan Fair is sponsored by KIPDA Area Agency on Aging and Independent Living and Louisville Metro Office for Aging & Disabled Citizens (OADC).  These organizations joined forces a few weeks ago to implement a fan drive when it became apparent there was a need in the community because of the many calls they were receiving.

The fan drive ended July 8 with more than 250 fans being donated, and more than $2,200 in monetary donations received to purchase additional fans.  Some of the many donors include:

  • AARP
  • Diversicare -Highlands Healthcare and Rehabilitation
  • Electrician’s Union #396
  • Fastsigns Inc.
  • Louisville Elks Lodge #8
  • Home Depot
  • Lowes
  • Park Community Federal Credit Union
  • 310 Tempering
  • United Steelworkers Local 1693
  • WLKY
  • Numerous Individual Donors
  • Local churches

WLKY served as the media partner providing both on-air and on-line advertising to promote the fan collection and serving as one of the donation drop-off sites.  The United Steelworkers Union provided multiple levels of support including collecting fan donations, offering their headquarters for the event venue and recruiting staff and volunteers to help with the fan distribution.

“We are so very grateful for the incredible outpouring of support we’ve received from the Louisville community”, stated Sarah Teeters, Coordinator for OADC, part of Louisville Metro Community Services. “This level of need and interest will hopefully keep this program going every summer.”

“Providing these fans is an immediate step we can take to provide relief to vulnerable members of our community, I am elated that a conversation between two individuals – from two different agencies — turned into such a wonderful response from the community,” stated Jennifer Craig, Aging and Disability Resource Specialist for KIPDA.

Independence Day weekend is here and, with families planning barbecues, fireworks, and other outdoor activities, many are wondering what the weather will be like.

Live weather conditions and forecast information is always available on the Louisville Dispatch weather page.  However, it is unlikely that the 2016 Fourth of July weekend will break any records.

The hottest Independence Day on record in Louisville is a tie between 2012 and all the way back in 1911 at 102° while the coldest was in 1968 at only 51°.  The rainiest 4th of July was in 1986, when Louisville received just over 5 inches of rain!

Other historical Independence Day weather for locations around Kentucky are listed below:

  Louisville Lexington Bowling Green Frankfort
Highest 102° (2012,1911) 99° (2012) 102° (2012,1874) 100° (1934)
High Avg 89° (2012,1911) 86° (1921) 89° (1897) 85.5° (1934)
Lowest 51° (1968) 50° (1968) 52° (1924,1907) 49° (1968)
Low Avg 65° (1968) 63.5° (1909) 67° (1972,1924) 62° (1968)
Wettest 5.04″ (1896) 1.83″ (1935) 2.40″ (1941) 2.60″ (1925)

NationalWeatherServiceThe Louisville area weather radio transmitter has been disabled due to technical problems.  The National Weather Service issued a statement, indicating that the necessary parts to repair the transmitter are on order and that they hope to have the transmitter back up and running by the end of the week.

The weather service apologized for the inconvenience and assured area residents that weather patterns should be quiet through Friday.  For current weather conditions, please monitor the Louisville Dispatch weather page.

The KIH43 transmitter site located in New Albany covers the Louisville Metro Area and surrounding areas in southern Indiana and Kentucky.  The transmitter operates on a frequency of 162.475 and can normally be heard on radios equipped to receive weather service transmissions.  Weather radio programming normally carries forecasts and information about current weather conditions.  When severe weather happens, alerts are broadcast with special tones that allow weather radio receivers to be activated in order to warn listeners of the impending dangerous conditions.

 

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