Flooding in Kentucky, November 28 to 30, 2001

Name: Flooding in Kentucky, November 28 to 30, 2001
Start: 2001-11-28T14:15
End: 2001-11-30T15:00
Location: Kentucky

November 28 to 30, 2001 · NWS PAH · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Widespread major flooding resulted from excessive rainfall. 5 inches fell at Hopkinsville, and 9 to 10 inches fell at Canton and Cadiz.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $100,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

Widespread major flooding resulted from excessive rainfall. From November 26 to 30, 11.3 inches of rain fell at Murray, 7.5 inches fell at Hopkinsville, and 9 to 10 inches fell at Canton and Cadiz. Flooding of rivers and creeks prompted numerous road closings. In Calloway County, at least 35 roads were flooded and impassable, especially near the Clarks River. Bridges were washed out on a couple of local access roads. Calloway County reported two incidents of persons being trapped inside submerged vehicles, and there were scattered incidents of vehicles being washed off the road. No serious injuries had been reported. A few homes in Calloway County were flooded. Trigg County reported 25 road closures, including the Ben Adams Bridge over the Muddy Fork. Christian County reported a dozen roads closed in Hopkinsville, and 15 to 20 more roads closed in the county. Several residences in flood-prone areas of Christian County were evacuated, and two homes were flooded. Flooding occurred on the Little River, which inundated Cherokee Park in Christian County and many roads and bridges in Trigg County. The Little River came within a couple of feet of overflowing the bridge on U.S. Highway 68 west of Cadiz. Two roads in Trigg County were washed away at bridges. In Trigg County, flooding of basements occurred, and water entered the Trigg County courthouse. Schools were closed or opened late across the area. This heavy rain event was the wettest three-day period for Trigg County since March 1-3, 1997, when 10.85 inches fell.

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 Nov 28, 12:20 PM CST, 1 hour 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 28, 12:20 PM CST, 1 hour 55 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
1220 PM CST WED NOV 28 2001

HEAVY RAINFALL REMAINS THE PRIMARY FORECAST CONCERN FOR THE NEXT 48
HOURS. PRIMARY FOCUS IS ON THE WESTERN KENTUCKY COUNTIES...WHERE THE
GROUND IS ALREADY SATURATED AND WHERE THE HIGHEST RAINFALL AMOUNTS
ARE FORECAST. STAGE 3 PRECIP ESTIMATES FROM THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI
RIVER FORECAST CENTER SHOW CUMULATIVE TOTALS SINCE 12Z SUNDAY
GENERALLY 1 TO 2 INCHES...EXCEPT AROUND 3 INCHES FROM MURRAY TO
HOPKINSVILLE AREA. MODELS ARE CRANKING OUT COPIOUS RAINFALL TONIGHT
AND THURSDAY...WHICH WILL LIKELY LEAD TO SOME PROBLEMS. MAIN CONCERN
IS EXACTLY WHEN AND WHERE.

MOST MODEL GUIDANCE PUTS THE AXIS OF HEAVIEST RAINFALL IN A
NORTH/SOUTH CORRIDOR ACROSS WEST KENTUCKY AND SW INDIANA. THIS
LOCATION COINCIDES WITH THE 850 MB MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY
AXIS...AND ALSO WITH THE LOCATION OF THE STALLED SURFACE FRONT. PAST
SEVERAL HOURS OF RADAR DATA SEEM TO VERIFY THE MODELS...WITH ECHOES
TRAINING ACROSS PARTS OF WEST KENTUCKY. MODELS INDICATE THE PRECIP
WILL BECOME MORE CONVECTIVE WITH TIME...AS LAPSE RATES STEEPEN AHEAD
OF THE APPROACHING UPPER LOW. PER THE NEW DAY 2 OUTLOOK FROM
SPC...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE STORMS THURSDAY
AFTERNOON/EVENING. THE SEVERE THREAT WOULD DEPEND STRONGLY ON THE
TRACK OF THE SURFACE LOW. ETA TAKES THE LOW ALMOST STRAIGHT UP THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER. THE AVN/NGM TAKE THE LOW FURTHER EAST...NEAR A
MEM/HOP LINE. GIVEN THE STRONGLY NEGATIVE TILT OF THE 500 MB
SHORTWAVE...THE LOW MAY VERY WELL BE WEST OF THE AVN/NGM TRACK. THIS
WOULD RESULT IN MARGINAL SURFACE BASED INSTABILITY ACROSS EASTERN
PARTS OF THE FA. THE SEVERE WEATHER/FLASH FLOODING THREAT WILL BE
GREATEST WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE SURFACE LOW THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND
EVENING. AFTER THAT...SEVERAL DAYS OF QUIET WEATHER APPEAR LIKELY.

12Z AVN IS CONSISTENT WITH PREVIOUS RUNS REGARDING A WEAK COLD FRONT
PASSAGE ON SATURDAY. MOISTURE IS STILL MARGINAL FOR SHOWERS WITH
THAT SYSTEM. THE 500 MB SHORTWAVE SUPPORT ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONT
WILL PASS MAINLY NORTH OF THE OHIO VALLEY. OTHER THAN PLENTY OF
CLOUDS...EXPECT LITTLE IMPACT FROM THIS SYSTEM. HIGH PRESSURE WILL
BUILD IN FOR SUNDAY AND MONDAY...ENSURING LOTS OF SUNSHINE AND
SEASONABLY COOL TEMPS.

OUTLOOK FOR DAYS 6 AND 7...A TRANSIENT SHORTWAVE IN THE BASICALLY
ZONAL FLOW PATTERN WILL BRING A CHANCE OF SHOWERS FOR MID WEEK.

.PAH...FLOOD WATCH THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING...GENERALLY EAST OF A
BLOOMFIELD...CAPE GIRARDEAU MISSOURI TO MOUNT VERNON ILLINOIS LINE

YORK

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Trigg

When: November 28, 2:15 PM CST to November 30, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Trigg forecast zone
Property damage: $40,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.806, -87.873 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Calloway

When: November 28, 6:30 PM CST to November 30, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Calloway forecast zone
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.621, -88.272 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Christian

When: November 28, 11:00 PM CST to November 30, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Christian forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.894, -87.490 (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, November 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: 5272810, 5272809, 5272811.