1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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 Jackson, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 23, 3:30 PM EST, 6 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 330 PM EST WED JAN 23 2002 19Z SFC ANALYSIS SHOWS AN ELONGATED COLD FRONT STRETCHING FROM NORTHEAST MICHIGAN SOUTHWEST TO EASTERN TEXAS. THERE ARE NUMEROUS WAVES ALONG THIS FRONT. HIGH PRESSURE IS JUST HOLDING ON ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST COAST WITH A STRONG FIELD OF SOUTHWEST WINDS BETWEEN THESE SYSTEMS. ON SATELLITE...THE NEXT WAVE DEVELOPING ALONG THIS FRONT IS EVIDENT OVER THE SOUTHERN PLAINS WITH THE DEEPER CLOUDS OF THE EARLIER WAVE STILL FIRING OVER CENTRAL TENNESSEE. THESE CLOUDS AND WEAKENING SHOWERS END UP DRIFTING NORTHEAST STRAFING OUR THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF KENTUCKY. THE MODELS ARE IN DECENT AGREEMENT WITH THE LONGWAVE PATTERN THROUGH 48 HOURS BEFORE THE QUICKER ETA BECOMES EVIDENT WHEN COMPARED TO THE AVN. THEY ALL GENERALLY AGREE THAT THE STREAMS BEGIN TO SPLIT AS THE NORTHERN ENERGY RACES EAST WHILE LEAVING BEHIND THE SOUTHERN STREAM WAVE. ACCORDINGLY THE SYSTEM DOESN/T APPEAR TO PACK THE PUNCH OF EARLIER RUNS. THIS SOUTHERN WAVE EVENTUALLY MOVES EAST EARLY IN THE WEEKEND KEEPING THE RISK OF RAIN GOING TO OUR SOUTH. THIS WILL ALSO SLOW THE FRONTAL PASSAGE IN EAST KENTUCKY KEEPING RAIN CHANCES GOING INTO THURSDAY NIGHT. RIDGING THEN REDEVELOPS ALOFT OVER THE WEEKEND QUICKLY MODERATING ANY COOL DOWN BEHIND THE FRONT. DESPITE THE SIMILARITIES ALOFT...PLENTY OF DIFFERENCES AND QUESTIONS REMAIN ABOUT THE FRONT/S PASSAGE THROUGH EAST KENTUCKY. THE MODELS IN GENERAL ARE TRENDING TO SLOWING IT DOWN AND KEEPING THE THREAT OF HEAVY RAIN INTO THE AFTERNOON THURSDAY. AT THE SAME TIME...AS THE WAVE RIDES UP THE FRONT IT WILL BRING A LULL TO THE PRECIPITATION OVER EAST KENTUCKY TONIGHT. HOWEVER THE MODERATE AND HEAVY RAIN WILL DEVELOP TOWARD MORNING AND CONTINUE THROUGH NOON AS PWS APPROACH 1.5 INCHES AND DIVERGENCE ALOFT ENHANCE THE LIFT. GIVEN THE RAIN WE HAD THIS MORNING AND ANOTHER INCH PLUS POSSIBLE THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON WILL UPDATE THE FLOOD WATCH TO ENCOMPASS THE ENTIRE CWA AND RUN IT THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON. LINGERING RAINS LAST INTO THURSDAY NIGHT BEFORE HIGH PRESSURE MOVES IN AND KEEP THINGS DRY AND QUIET THROUGH THE WEEKEND. IN THE EXTENDED...THE PATTERN BECOMES MORE AMPLIFIED WITH RIDGING EAST OF US SERVING AS THE DYING GROUND FOR WEATHER SYSTEMS RETURNING EAST KENTUCKY TO A WET PATTERN. NGM AND MAV MOS GUIDANCE CLOSE AND WILL NOT STRAY FAR. GFE/IFPS GRIDS...MAINLY ADJUSTED EXISTING DATABASE FOR CURRENT PREFERRED MODEL BLEND. ADDED LAST DAY FROM MRF RAW MODEL SINCE PROBLEMS STILL EXIST WITH MOS INGEST. WORK ZONES WILL BE ISSUED SHORTLY AS SDFOZFJKL. .JKL...FFA FOR ENTIRE CWA LATE TONIGHT AND THURSDAY. GREIF
The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 78 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:32 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Kentucky highway 38 was closed when reported to be flooded at the site of a bridge.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, January 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: 5279529.