The National Weather Service in Louisville has issued a tornado watch until midnight Thursday for the Louisville metro area and other parts of central and west Kentucky as a storm system moves through the region.

Strong winds and potentially severe thunderstorms are expected to move through Louisville Wednesday evening, according to the latest forecast. Damaging winds are the primary threat, though spin-up tornadoes and hail are also possible, forecasters said.

Louisville is also under a wind advisory as of Wednesday afternoon, which is slated to expire at 11 p.m. South winds of 15-25 mph are expected, and gusts could reach 40-45 mph, according to the advisory.

The National Weather Service noted that tree limbs could be knocked lose and power outages could occur.

Some of the Kentucky counties included in the watch zone reside in the Central Time zone.

The Kentucky counties under a tornado watch until midnight Thursday Eastern Time or 11 p.m. Wednesday Central Time include:

Contact reporter Killian Baarlaer at [email protected] or @bkillian72 on X.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Tornado watch KY: Jefferson, other KY counties under watch Wednesday