2 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 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 Louisville, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 8, 2:20 AM EST, 5 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 320 AM EDT WED MAY 8 2002 LOW PRES...LOCATED IN SW KS ATTM...WILL MOVE RAPIDLY TO SE NE THIS MRNG. WARM FRONT EXTENDS ACROSS LOWER MS VALLEY AND INTO CTRL KY...WITH MCS ACCELERATING INTO WRN KY AND SRN IL ATTM. SOME SHRA STARTING TO POP UP ACROSS WRN FA ON LVX RADAR. AS LOW MOVES NE LATER THIS MORNING...BEST LIFT WILL SHIFT NORTH OF THE FA ALONG WITH WARM FRONT. EXPECT AXIS OF HEAVIEST RAIN TO BE NORTH OF THE OHIO RIVER...AND DISSIPATE AROUND MIDDAY. WILL RAISE A FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL OF SRN IN COUNTIES...PLUS JEFFERSON...OLDHAM... TRIMBLE...AND HENRY COUNTIES IN KY. WILL CONTINUE PREVIOUS FCST LIKELY POPS NRN PORTION FA AND CHANCE POPS OVER SRN PORTION...WITH DRY CONDS THIS AFTN. TONIGHT AND THU...DRY FCST UNTIL LATE WHEN COLD FRONT APPROACHES THE FA. A LINE OF SHWRS AND TSTMS IN ADVANCE OF THE FRONT SHOULD MOVE INTO THE WRN PORTIONS OF FA LATE TONIGHT. WILL CONTINUE CHANCE POPS FOR LATE TONIGHT...THEN LIKELY POPS FOR THU MORN... TAPERING TO CHANCE POPS DURING THE AFTN. HEAVY RAINFALL AGAIN POSSIBLE BEFORE FROPA THU MORN. SVR THREAT ACROSS CTRL KY SRN IN RATHER MINIMAL FOR THU MORNING...ALTHOUGH SVR SQUALL LINE NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION. FLOODING THREAT AGAIN LOOKS MORE LIKELY. THU NIGHT...COLD FRONT BEGINS TO WASH OUT ACROSS ERN KY AND WRN VA. BNDRY AND LLVL MOISTURE SHOULD ALLOW CHANCE SHWRS TO CONTINUE ACROSS THE ERN PORTION OF FA DURING THE EVE HRS...THEN CLEARING TREND OVERNIGHT. LOW TEMPS BY FRI MORN WILL BE MID TO UPPER 40S. SHORT TERM TEMPS...MAV/ETA EXP BLEND LOOKS GOOD...HWVR LOW TEMPS TNGT A LITTLE WARMER SINCE COOLING WILL BE DIFFICULT WITH ABUNDANT LOW CLOUDS AND APPROACHING PRECIP. .SDF...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 17Z FOR ALL OF SOUTHERN INDIANA COUNTIES...PLUS JEFFERSON...OLDHAM...TRIMBLE...AND HENRY COUNTIES IN CENTRAL KENTUCKY. JB
INZ076>079-083-084-089>092-KYZ023>043-045>049-053>057-061>067- 070>078-081-082-081430- CENTRAL KENTUCKY AND SOUTH-CENTRAL INDIANA SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 451 AM EDT WED MAY 8 2002 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS INDICATED THAT A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXISTS ACROSS CENTRAL KENTUCKY AND SOUTH-CENTRAL INDIANA TODAY. A COMPLEX OF THUNDERSTORMS...ASSOCIATED WITH DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE OVER THE GREAT PLAINS...WILL MOVE EAST THIS MORNING. THE COMPLEX WILL AFFECT NORTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY AND SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA... MAINLY DURING THE MORNING HOURS. ALTHOUGH THIS COMPLEX HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING SEVERE WEATHER...IT IS EXPECTED TO DIMINISH ENOUGH IN INTENSITY THAT MOST OF THE ACTIVITY WILL BE BELOW SEVERE CRITERIA. EVEN SO...A FEW OF THE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE STRONG WITH SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH. HEAVY RAINFALL IS EXPECTED TO OCCUR...PRIMARILY NORTH OF THE OHIO RIVER. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WILL ALSO ACCOMPANY THIS COMPLEX OF THUNDERSTORMS. LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY THURSDAY MORNING...A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE OHIO VALLEY. NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AHEAD OF THIS SYSTEM...AND MOVE INTO SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA AND NORTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY DURING THE PRE DAWN HOURS. INSTABILITY IN THE LOWER LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE...ALONG WITH WIND SHEAR...OR A CHANGE IN THE DIRECTION OF THE WINDS...MAY HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO GENERATE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. LATER THURSDAY MORNING...THE THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF CENTRAL KENTUCKY. THIS IS A PRELIMINARY OUTLOOK. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OR THE LOCAL MEDIA FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THIS WEATHER SITUATION. SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. JB
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A vehicle was washed off State Road 56 at Ireland Road. water also covered State Road 56 in several other locations.
Water covered roads in and near the town of French Lick.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Indiana in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Indiana, May 2002
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: 5300030, 5300031.