WEATHER TO REMAIN UNSETTLED UNTIL WEEKEND

The thunderstorms and tornadoes that blustered through the region Tuesday night and Wednesday morning did little damage, but the National Weather Service predicts the atmosphere will remain volatile for a few more days.

"Relief will come over the weekend," said David Humphrey, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky.

A confirmed tornado in the Western Kentucky counties of Marshall and Callaway early Tuesday evening damaged the roofs of three houses. The tornado's swath was a mile and a half long and 300 yards wide, Humphrey said.

The tornado was rated an F-1 on the Fujita scale, which translates the amount of damage into wind velocity. An F-1 is a moderate tornado with winds between 73 and 112 mph capable of pushing mobile homes off their foundations or overturning them. An F-0 tornado has winds up to 72 mph and can damage chimneys and break branches. At the top end of the Fujita scale, an F-5 tornado packs winds of 261 mph or stronger and can hurl automobiles about at speeds of 100 mph. Fewer than 1 percent of the tornadoes reported are F-5s.

Spotters also reported tornadoes near Marble Hill in Bollinger County and in Massac County in Illinois Tuesday night. No damage was reported from those tornadoes.

No verification has yet come to the Weather Service of a possible tornado seen Wednesday morning between the Wayne County towns of Lodi and Silva. Cathryn Elder, a dispatcher for the Wayne County Sheriff's Department, said a report was received at 8:18 a.m. of a funnel cloud that never touched ground. At 8:25, the cloud was seen over the county seat of Greenville. "Wall clouds were reported and a lot of fingers," Elder said.

No property damage was reported.

Humphrey said the Weather Service received many reports of hail after Tuesday night's storm. The largest hail, baseball-sized, was reported in Bollinger, Scott and Stoddard counties in Missouri and in Johnson County in Illinois. The Illinois County of Union had golf ball-sized hail Tuesday night.

A severe thunderstorm watch was posted for the area again Wednesday night.

Humphrey said the weather disturbances have been caused by a very active upper air pattern that brings in bursts of energy that can tap the humid atmosphere normal to the region at this time of year.

A small frontal boundary in the low areas of the atmosphere is still promoting instability, Humphrey said. "There's your recipe."

He expects a cold front to move into the region sometime Saturday, yielding cooler and drier conditions for Sunday and Memorial Day.

"Until then we will likely see a continuing chance of showers or thunderstorms," he said.