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National Weather Service: Damaging wind and flooding risk this weekend

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National Weather Service meteorologists in a briefing Friday said western Kentucky could see an increased risk for severe weather this weekend – primarily damaging winds – including heavy rainfall and the potential for flash flooding.

National Weather Service meteorologist Mike York said rainfall could begin Friday evening and continue through Saturday afternoon. A stationary weather front is expected to sit over the region, dumping two to four inches of rain across western Kentucky and northwest Tennessee.

The front is then expected to move quickly across the region Saturday afternoon, York said, with the potential for a “squall line” of damaging winds more likely than supercells capable of producing tornadoes, though some tornadoes are still possible.

“We’re thinking that a squall line could develop over the extreme southeast part of Missouri and into far west Kentucky around mid-day, and then race eastward across western Kentucky during the afternoon,” York said.

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York said the storms are expected to pass east of Hopkinsville by 5 p.m. CST on Saturday.

Emergency management leaders in Graves County and Caldwell County at the briefing expressed some concern about tornado debris exacerbating flash flooding by preventing water from running off into waterways or specific waterways being clogged with debris.

In particular, officials are planning to watch Eddy Creek in Caldwell County and parts of Clarks River in Graves County for flooding potential.

The storms are expected to be followed by a dramatic plunge in temperatures Saturday night into Sunday, with wind chills in the teens and 20s throughout much of the region.

The entire Four Rivers region is under a flood watch. See the latest weather updates for the region at the National Weather Service in Paducah’s website.

"Liam Niemeyer is a reporter for the Ohio Valley Resource covering agriculture and infrastructure in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia and also serves Assistant News Director at WKMS. He has reported for public radio stations across the country from Appalachia to Alaska, most recently as a reporter for WOUB Public Media in Athens, Ohio. He is a recent alumnus of Ohio University and enjoys playing tenor saxophone in various jazz groups."
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