Late night thunderstorms dropped southeast, along a warm frontal boundary. Rains of 2 to 3 inches fell in less than 6 hours over portions of northeastern Greenup County and western Boyd County.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS RLX wrote it up.
Late night thunderstorms dropped southeast, along a warm frontal boundary. Rains of 2 to 3 inches fell in less than 6 hours over portions of northeastern Greenup County and western Boyd County. The Greenup Lock and Dam measured 2.32 inches.
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 Charleston, WV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 16, 8:30 PM EST, 4 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV 930 PM EDT WED MAY 16 2001 SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO GENERATE JUST NORTHWEST OF MY OHIO ZONES ALONG FRONTAL BOUNDARY. FINALLY STARTING TO PUSH SSE A BIT FASTER LAST TWO HOURS. SOME LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE. WILL HAVE TO MONITOR THIS CLOSELY. HAVE KEPT LIKELY POPS THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT IN ALL BUT N CENTRAL AND NE WV ZONES WHERE WILL GO WITH 50 POP FOR TONIGHT. ALSO LOWERED WINDS FOR ALL ZONES TO LIGHT AND VARIABLE OR JUST LIGHT FOR TONIGHT. NO CHANGES MADE BEYOND FIRST PERIOD. .RLX... WV...NONE VA...NONE. KY...NONE. OH...NONE. .END/ZINN
OHZ083-084-086-087-170330- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV 835 PM EDT WED MAY 16 2001 SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOPED IN CENTRAL OHIO DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON ALONG AN NEARLY STATIONARY FRONT CONTINUE TO MARCH SOUTH SOUTHEASTWARD THIS EVENING. SOME OF THESE STORMS WILL CONTAIN LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL OF ONE TO ONE AND ONE HALF INCHES IN AN HOUR. THE PRECIPITATION WILL AFFECT PORTIONS OF VINTON...JACKSON... GALLIA AND LAWRENCE COUNTIES IN OHIO DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS. SOME HEAVY RAIN FELL IN THIS AREA DURING THE PAST TWO DAYS AND THE GROUND IS FAIRLY WET...ESPECIALLY IN WESTERN PORTIONS OF JACKSON AND VINTON COUNTIES. A FEW SMALL STREAMS COULD REACH NEAR BANKFULL DURING AND FOR A FEW HOURS AFTER THE HEAVY RAIN. PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS IS ALSO LIKELY DURING AND SHORTLY AFTER THE HEAVY RAIN. MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO BE ALERT FOR WATER FLOWING ACROSS ROADWAYS AND GREATLY REDUCED VISIBILITY IN THE AREAS OF HEAVY RAIN. .END/ZINN
WVZ013-024>026-033>035-170445- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV 1045 PM EDT WED MAY 16 2001 A CLUSTER OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL PUSH SOUTH SOUTHEAST FROM LINCOLN AND BOONE COUNTIES THROUGH MINGO...LOGAN...RALEIGH... WYOMING AND MCDOWELL COUNTIES THROUGH 12:30 AM. LOCALLY HEAVY DOWNPOURS ARE EXPECTED...WITH SOME LOCATIONS SEEING UP TO ONE AND ONE HALF INCHES OF RAINFALL IN AN HOUR. THIS LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL LIKELY CAUSE SOME SMALL STREAMS TO RISE TO NEAR BANKFULL. IN ADDITION...PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS IS LIKELY DURING AND SHORTLY AFTER THE HEAVY RAIN. MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO BE ALERT FOR WATER STANDING ON OR FLOWING ACROSS ROADWAYS AND FOR GREATLY REDUCED VISIBILITIES DURING EH HEAVY RAINFALL. .END/ZINN
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Hoods Creek flooded a few homes in the Westwood region. The East Fork of the Little Sandy River damaged a couple homes.
Streams feeding the East Fork of the Little Sandy River flooded and damaged roads. White Oak Creek also overflowed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, May 2001
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: 5244964, 5244963.