Drought in Kentucky, August 1 to 31, 2002

Name: Drought in Kentucky, August 1 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-08-01T00:01
End: 2002-08-31T23:59
Location: Kentucky

August 1 to 31, 2002 · NWS PAH · 22 events in 22 counties and zones

Moderate drought conditions developed over western Kentucky during August as a result of persistent dryness that began in June. 95 inches.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 22 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: 22

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.

Moderate drought conditions developed over western Kentucky during August as a result of persistent dryness that began in June. At Paducah, total rainfall during the period from June 1 to August 31 was only 4.71 inches, well below the normal of 11.95 inches. This was the second driest June through August (meteorological summer) on record at Paducah. This dry period came on the heels of a very wet first half of the year, when 30.20 inches fell from January through May. The main effect of the drought was on agriculture. Farmers anticipated substantial crop losses at harvest time. Heavy spring rains delayed planting of many crops until late May, which made them especially susceptible to the summer drought.

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 Jul 31, 12:53 PM CST, 11 hours 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 12:53 PM CST, 11 hours 8 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
153 PM CDT WED JUL 31 2002

SHORT TERM CHALLENGE FOR TONIGHT WILL BE WHAT TO DO WITH MESOSCALE
VORT CENTER EMBEDDED ALONG THE SHEAR AXIS CUTTING THROUGH THE PAH
FORECAST AREA TODAY. DURING THE MORNING HOURS...THE VORT CENTER
/CONVECTIVELY INDUCED??/ HAS BEEN ANCHORED OVER MISSISSIPPI COUNTY
IN SERN MO...WITH SOME MOVEMENT INTO FULTON COUNTY IN EXTREME
SOUTHWEST KY DURING THE PAST HOUR /17Z/. THE MOST NUMEROUS
CONVECTION WITHIN THE PAH COUNTY WARNING AREA IS NEAR THE CENTER AND
IMMEDIATELY TO THE SOUTH OF THE VORT CENTER. ADDITIONAL CONVECTION
APPEARS ON THE VORTICITY AXIS EXTENDING FROM THIS FEATURE TO THE
WEST AND EAST.

AT THIS TIME...I MAY CONSIDER KEEPING A SMALL POP IN THE SOUTHERN
BORDER COUNTIES OF THE PAH FORECAST AREA INTO THE EARLY EVENING
HOURS...WITH THE STRONGEST STORMS EXPECTED IN THE VICINITY OF THE
VORT CENTER.

THE MESOETA GRAPHICAL GUIDANCE FROM AWIPS SEEMED TO INITIALIZE THE
BEST WITH THE VORT CENTER...ALBEIT A LITTLE TOO FAR S AND W. THE
3-12 HOUR PROGGED MOVEMENT SEEMS IN LINE WITH CURRENT TRENDS.

AVN/MRF MODELS ARE A LITTLE AGGRESSIVE WITH THE MOVEMENT OF THE NEXT
FRONT INTO THE FORECAST AREA LATE THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY. I BELIEVE
THIS IS A LITTLE OVERDONE AS THE RIDGE IS RE-ESTABLISHED OVER THE
AREA IN ADVANCE OF THE S/WV ROTATING ALONG THE BASE OF THE
WESTERLIES ALONG THE UPPER MIDWEST/GREAT LAKES STATES. IN FACT...ALL
MODELS SUGGEST A SMALL BUT NOTICEABLE INCREASE IN THICKNESSES OVER
THE PAH FORECAST AREA. ANY SIGNFICANT MOISTURE WILL LIKELY BE
RELATED TO MID AND HIGH LEVEL CLOUDINESS /ABOVE 6KFT/.

WITH THE RIDGE EXPECTED TO SETTLE BACK IN THE AREA...BASICALLY
CENTERED OVER THE AREA FROM FRIDAY THROUGH NEXT TUESDAY...EXPECT
LITTLE IN THE WAY OF PCPN CHANCES ACROSS THE AREA AFTER THIS
EVENING. MOS GUIDANCE FOR AVN/NGM A LITTLE OFF REGARDING PROGGED
DEWPOINT VALUES FOR AREA IN THE SHORT TERM. WITH INCREASING
SUBSIDENCE...ETC...MAY NEED TO MAKE A GRADUAL ADJUSTMENT TO SLIGHTLY
LOWER DEWPOINTS. DEPENDING ON THE DEGREE OF CLOUD COVER TONIGHT...I
WOULD BE SURPRISED TO SEE SOME PATCHY FOG DEVELOP AFTER MIDNIGHT.

OVERALL...WILL LIKELY LEAN TOWARD THE ETA SOLN FOR MAJOR WEATHER
FEATURES...WITH A COMPROMISE IN TEMPS BETWEEN AVN/NGM MOS IN THE
LONG TERM. I WILL MONITOR OVERNIGHT LOWS/MAXES FOR ANY POTENTIAL FOR
HEAT ADVISORIES INTO THE WEEKEND.

.PAH...NONE.

SMITH

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

22 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Ballard

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Ballard forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.058, -88.999 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Caldwell

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Caldwell forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.145, -87.868 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Calloway

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Calloway forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.621, -88.272 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Carlisle

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Carlisle forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.853, -88.971 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Christian

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Christian forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.894, -87.490 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Crittenden

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Crittenden forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.353, -88.097 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Daviess

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Daviess forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.732, -87.087 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Fulton

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Fulton forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.554, -89.188 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Graves

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Graves forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.723, -88.651 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Henderson

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Henderson forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.796, -87.573 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Hickman

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Hickman forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.678, -88.976 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Hopkins

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Hopkins forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.309, -87.541 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Livingston

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Livingston forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.210, -88.354 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Lyon

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Lyon forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.019, -88.083 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Marshall

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Marshall forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.884, -88.329 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, McCracken

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: McCracken forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.054, -88.713 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, McLean

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: McLean forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.529, -87.264 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Muhlenberg

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Muhlenberg forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.216, -87.142 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Todd

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Todd forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.836, -87.179 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Trigg

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Trigg forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.806, -87.873 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Union

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Union forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.659, -87.945 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Webster

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Webster forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.518, -87.683 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Drought: A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

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, August 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: 5311811, 5311812, 5311813, 5311814, 5311815, 5311816, 5311817, 5311818, 5311819, 5311820, 5311821, 5311822, 5311823, 5311824, 5311825, 5311826, 5311827, 5311828, 5311829, 5311830, 5311831, 5311832.