Lexington weather: Thousands in Kentucky without power after morning thunderstorms

Thousands in Kentucky are without power after a widespread line of severe storms and tornado watches impacted the state Wednesday morning.

According to poweroutage.us, a website that tracks power outages nationwide, there were nearly 8,000 people in Kentucky without power as of 8:23 a.m. Shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday there were still 8,115 people in Kentucky without power.

The number of outages was over 10,000 Wednesday morning. The largest outstanding outage count was in Greenup County with 2,565 outages, according to poweroutage.us.

There are 335 customers without power in Fayette County, according to LG&E & KU’s power outage map. A large outage was reported off Polo Club Boulevard near Todds Road early Wednesday but power in the area has since been restored, according to an LG&E & KU spokesperson.

The outage impacted 740 customers and it’s believed a lightning strike caused the outage, according to the electric company. No damage was reported.

Garrett Morgan Elementary School was impacted by the outage but it will not affect the school day or learning, according to Fayette County Public Schools spokesperson Dia Davidson-Smith. The school said the phones were down and a team from Kentucky Utilities is working to restore power in the building.

“The students and staff are doing a fantastic job dealing with this inconvenience. The temperature in our building is comfortable and all is well. Our goal is to get students into our building safely,” the school said in a Facebook post.

Fayette Schools tardiness for storms

In an email sent to Fayette County Public Schools parents, Superintendent Demetrus Liggins said tardiness at schools will be excused.

“While our buses are operating on their regular routes, we understand that many students walk to school. If you feel it’s safer to keep your child indoors until the weather improves, we completely understand and support your decision,” Liggins said in the email.

Lexington traffic impacted by thunderstorms

The Lexington Police and Fire Department responded to many calls Wednesday morning. Police said officers responded to three injury collisions, three non-injury collisions, two reports of motorists assists and 21 reports of traffic hazards between 5-8 a.m. Wednesday.

There was a report of electrical wires down on North Broadway, causing the road to be shut down between 4th and 5th Streets, according to the Lexington Traffic Management Center. Lt. Joe Anderson with Lexington police said a caller reported that a pole was struck by lightning and fell onto the road.

LG&E & KU reported an outage in the area that’s impacting 266 customers. Chris Whelan, a spokesperson for LG&E & KU, said several poles were broken from high wind speeds.

The electric company said the estimated time of restoration for the outage was 5 p.m.

Tornado watch: No confirmed tornadoes in Kentucky

A number of advisories were issued by the National Weather Service while the storm arrived in the early morning hours. A tornado watch for Fayette County expired at 8 a.m. and at 9 a.m. there were no active tornado advisories in Kentucky.

No major damage or confirmed tornadoes have been reported as of 6:30 a.m. Wednesday. A 53 mile per hour wind gust was reported in Lexington at 5:30 a.m., according to the NWS.

There were wind gust reports of 61 miles per hour in Harrison County and 57 miles per hour in Franklin County, according to the NWS. There were also reports of hail in Anderson, Breckinridge, Hardin and Nelson counties.

Lexington, Kentucky weather forecast: Flooding, cold front

Bourbon County is under a flood warning until early Friday morning due to flooding of the Stoner Creek River, according to the NWS. There were reports of flooded roads and stranded vehicles in Bourbon County.

The NWS said heavy rain has caused the river to rise and it won’t crest until Wednesday evening. At 9:15 a.m. the river was approaching its flood stage of 18 feet and the river is expected to rise to 19.6 feet.

Approximately 1-3 inches of rain have fallen and an additional inch of rain is expected, according to the NWS. There were reports of water in the road on Alexandria Drive in Lexington and on Iron Works Pike in Paris.

The NWS said there are still some thunderstorms with occasional lightning bursts possible Wednesday morning.

“The line has lost some of its punch, and we’re actually receiving fewer hail reports now, after sunrise, than we were during the pre-dawn hours with the earlier storms,” the NWS said in an area forecast discussion post.

The line of storms is expected to be followed by a forecast with a cold front that will drop temperatures by roughly 40 degrees from Wednesday afternoon into the evening.