Flooding in Kentucky, April 1 to 5, 2002

Name: Flooding in Kentucky, April 1 to 5, 2002
Start: 2002-04-01T00:00
End: 2002-04-05T02:00
Location: Kentucky

April 1 to 5, 2002 · NWS PAH · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

The Green River remained above flood stage at Paradise and Calhoun into the first week of April. The crest, which occurred in late March, was 4 to 8 feet above flood stage.

Where it happened

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.

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: 2

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.

The Green River remained above flood stage at Paradise and Calhoun into the first week of April. The crest, which occurred in late March, was 4 to 8 feet above flood stage.

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 Mar 31, 2:00 PM CST, 10 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 31, 2:00 PM CST, 10 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
200 PM CST SUN MAR 31 2002

PRIMARY NEAR TERM CHALLENGE IS CLEARING/SCOURING OUT OF LOW CLOUDS
ASSOCIATED WITH FRONTAL SYSTEM TO OUR SOUTH...WHICH SHOULD OCCUR
THIS EVENING AS COMMA HEAD CONTINUES ITS ROTATION EWARD ACROSS LWR
MS VALLEY. BACK EDGE OF CLOUDS ALREADY SEEN SCOURING OUT EARLY PM AS
FAR EAST AS OH RIVER AND THIS TREND SHOULD CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING
WITH MODELS SHOWING A DECENT GRASP ON THIS FIELD AND ITS TIMING.
UPSTREAM CLOUDS IN NRN MO ASSOCIATED WITH VORT MAX ROTATING AROUND
BASE OF UPR TROF BEARS WATCHING...BUT MODELS SHOW THIS FIELD OF
CLOUDS SHOULD REMAIN NORTH OF FA AND WHILE WE WONT PLAN ON THEIR
INCLUSION ATTM...WE WL WATCH IT CLOSELY UP THRU PRESS TIME. SOME
CONCERN FOR PTCHY FOG ACROSS MAINLY SRN TIER OF COUNTIES WHERE MOST
RAIN FELL...AS SKIES SHOULD CLEAR AND WINDS DROP OFF WITH SURFACE
HIGH MOVING OVERHEAD...AND SO WL PROBABLY AT LEAST INCLUDE ITS
POSSIBILITY.

TUE PCPN CHC REMAINS IN TACT ALTHOUGH SOME MODEL DIFFERENCES ARE
NOTED. ETA SUGGESTS PRIMARILY WARM SECTOR FOCUSED WITH EVEN HINTS AT
ELEVATED THUNDER POSSIBILITY (SHOWALTERS DROPPING TO NR ZERO)...WHILE
AVN CONTINUES PCPN MAINLY ALONG OR BEHIND FRONT WITH LESS
DESTABILIZATION. W/PRIMARY LOW SO FAR NORTH AND LIMITED GULF
INPUT...WL HOLD OFF INTRO OF THUNDER AND KEEP GOING LOW CHC POPS.

NEW EXTENDED GUIDANCE STILL SUPPORTS MID WEEK COOL DOWN IN NW FLOW
BUT PERHAPS NOT AS COOL AS PREVIOUS RUNS/GOING FCST AS BOTH FMR AND
MEX DATA JUMP MARKEDLY LATER IN WEEK. WL GO THAT WAY WITH CNTL U.S.
RIDGING MOVING IN BUT NOT BITE ALL THE WAY GIVEN THE PAST SEVERAL
RUNS TREND OF COOLING. MRF HINTS AT DAY7 PCPN AGAIN BUT WL WAIT FOR
MORE CONSISTENCY AND JUST INCREASE THE CLOUDS FOR NOW.

.PAH...NONE.
DH

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, McLean

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 5, 2:00 AM CST
Where: McLean forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.529, -87.264 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Muhlenberg

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 5, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Muhlenberg forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.216, -87.142 (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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Kentucky, April 2002

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: 5292718, 5292719.