Flooding in Kentucky, August 11, 2001

Name: Flooding in Kentucky, August 11, 2001
Start: 2001-08-11T10:15
End: 2001-08-11T12:30
Location: Kentucky

August 11, 2001 · NWS PAH · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Thunderstorms with very heavy rain persisted over northwest Kentucky, producing over an inch per hour. One to two inches of water was over roads in Henderson County.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS PAH wrote it up.

Thunderstorms with very heavy rain persisted over northwest Kentucky, producing over an inch per hour. One to two inches of water was over roads in Henderson County. In Daviess County, Kentucky 258 near Delaware nearly flooded because of overflowing ditches. In Webster County, 2.05 inches of rain fell in Sebree in two and a half hours. Water was over a county road for a short time. The hardest hit county was Mclean County, where a few roads were closed. The closures included the intersection of Kentucky 136 and Kentucky 56. Trailer Road in Beech Grove may have been washed out.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 11, 1:42 AM CST, 8 hours 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 11, 1:42 AM CST, 8 hours 33 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
242 AM CDT SAT AUG 11 2001

MAIN FORECAST QUESTION CONTINUES TO BE FRONTAL POSITION THROUGH THE
WEEKEND.

06Z SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWED THE COLD FRONT BASICALLY ALONG THE OHIO
RIVER FROM KCVG TO KPAH THEN EXTENDING INTO SOUTHWEST MISSOURI AND
NORTHERN OKLAHOMA. LATEST COMPOSITE RADAR AND IR SATELLITE SHOWED A
SMALL AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS JUST WEST OF THE PAH
FORECAST AREA.  OTHERWISE MOST OF THE ACTIVITY WAS ACROSS THE
SOUTHERN TWO THIRDS OF ARKANSAS WITH IR SATELLITE INDICATING RAPIDLY
WARMING CLOUD TOPS.

ETA/NGM/AVN ALL FAIRLY SIMILAR NOW IN POSITION OF FRONT AND
PLACEMENT OF QPF FOR THE WEEKEND...WITH ALL BUT SOUTHEAST COUNTIES
DRY BY 18Z SUNDAY.  IN THE NEAR TERM...BASED ON MODEL QPF...MAV/FWC
POP VALUES...AND CURRENT CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT NORTH OF THE
FRONT...WILL CONTINUE WITH GOING POPS IN FORECAST THROUGH TONIGHT
EVERYWHERE AND INCLUDE LOW CHANCE POPS FOR NORTHERN PORTIONS OF FA
FOR TODAY.  FOR SUNDAY...WILL GO WITH MAINLY EARLY WORDING FOR
SOUTHWEST PORTIONS...AND REMOVE CHANCES FOR SOUTHEAST PORTION FOR
SUNDAY NIGHT.

AS FOR TEMPS...FWC/MAV AGAIN ARE CLOSE AND WILL ONLY MAKE SOME MINOR
CHANGES TO GOING PACKAGE.

IN THE EXTENDED...AVN KEEPS REGION DRY MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY.
WILL CHECK FMR/MEX GUIDANCE WHEN THEY COME IN TO SEE IF ANY CHANGES
ARE NEEDED...ESPECIALLY TO SEE WHAT KIND OF POPS FOR THURSDAY.

.PAH...NONE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 11, 9:00 AM CST, 1 hour 15 minutes before

ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-100-
107>112-114-111800-

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
1000 AM CDT SAT AUG 11 2001

THIS THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK IS VALID FOR SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...WESTERN
KENTUCKY...SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...AND SOUTHWEST INDIANA...UNTIL 6 AM
SUNDAY.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS ALL OF THE QUAD STATE REGION THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING...HOWEVER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT
EXPECTED.

A COLD FRONT LAY ACROSS THE QUAD STATE AREA TODAY...FROM CENTRAL
OKLAHOMA...THROUGH THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL...AND MADISONVILLE
...TO CINCINNATI. AS THIS FRONT SLOWLY DRIFTS SOUTHWARD...IT WILL
SERVE AS A FOCUS FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP. WINDS WERE
RATHER LIGHT THROUGHOUT THE COLUMN WITH VERY LITTLE SHEAR. THIS
SHOULD MITIGATE THE RISK OF ANY ORGANIZED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT. HOWEVER...THE ATMOSPHERE WAS MODERATELY UNSTABLE...
WHICH COULD ALLOW FOR ISOLATED SEVERE WIND OR HAIL. WITH COPIOUS
AMOUNTS OF MOISTURE AVAILABLE...THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE FLASH
FLOODING.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING RAINFALL RATES IN
EXCESS OF AN INCH PER HOUR. THIS COMBINED WITH THEIR SLOW EASTWARD
MOVEMENT...COULD RESULT IN TORRENTIAL RAINFALL OVER A GIVEN AREA...
WITH ISOLATED LARGE HAIL...AND DAMAGING WINDS ALSO A POSSIBILITY.

THE BEST TIME FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WILL BE THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING.

STORM MOVEMENT WILL BE TO THE EAST 10 MPH.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED...BUT MAY BE REQUESTED.

KH

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Daviess

When: August 11, 10:15 AM CST to 12:30 PM CST
Where: Daviess County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.732, -87.087 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Henderson

When: August 11, 10:15 AM CST to 12:30 PM CST
Where: Henderson County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.796, -87.573 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, McLean

When: August 11, 10:15 AM CST to 12:30 PM CST
Where: McLean County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.529, -87.264 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Webster

When: August 11, 10:15 AM CST to 12:30 PM CST
Where: Webster County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.518, -87.683 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Kentucky in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Kentucky, August 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5265690, 5265691, 5265692, 5265745.