Name: Flash Flood in Kentucky, July 2, 2002
Start: 2002-07-02T19:20
End: 2002-07-02T21:20
Location: Kentucky

Where it happened

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.

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: 1

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 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 Jackson, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 2, 3:35 PM EST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 2, 3:35 PM EST, 3 hours 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY
435 PM EDT TUE JUL 2 2002

A BIT MORE IN THE WAY OF STORMS TODAY. A FEW OF THEM HAVE PULSED
SEVERE YIELDING LARGE HAIL. WILL EXPECT A REPEAT OF YESTERDAY WITH
THE CONVECTION DYING OFF WITH LOSS OF HEATING THIS EVENING.

SEE LITTLE CHANGE FOR THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS. WEAK FLOW AND LITTLE
FORCING FOR PRECIP SEEN TOMORROW...BUT INSTABILITY SHOULD BE GREAT
ENOUGH TO BREAK THE CAP AGAIN. SAME ON THURSDAY...EXCEPT THAT BY
LATE IN THE DAY A BACK DOOR COLD FRONT WILL BE APPROACHING.

THERE ARE DIFFERENCES IN TIMING/POSITION AMONG THE MODELS FOR THIS
FRONT. THE ETA IS SLOWER AND TH AVN FASTER AND MORE PROGRESSIVE. THE
ETA INITIALIZED THE NEARBY UPPER RIDGE TOO STRONG TODAY AND HOLDS
ONTO IT A BIT STRONGER THAN THE AVN. WILL LEAN TOWARD THE AVN...BUT
EVEN SO...CONFIDENCE IN THE HANDLING OF THE FRONT IS NOT HIGH.

BASED ON LATEST GUIDANCE...WILL MAINTAIN CONTINUITY IN THE FORECAST
AND KEEP IT DRY FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY. BUT CONFIDENCE IS STILL NOT
HIGH. THERE IS UNCERTAINTY CONCERNING THE AMOUNT OF DRYING FRIDAY
AND SATURDAY...AND ALSO WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF MOISTURE RETURN ON
MONDAY. LOOKS LIKE NEXT COLD FRONT POSES A CHANCE OF PRECIP TUESDAY.
THE OPERATIONAL 00Z AVN LOOKS TOO DEEP WITH AN EASTERN U.S. UPPER
TROUGH ON TUESDAY...BUT THE ENSEMBLE DOES STILL SUPPORT A WEAKER
TROUGH WITH AN ASSOCIATED SURFACE COLD FRONT ARRIVING TUESDAY.

FOR TEMPS...WILL USE A COMPROMISE OF MAV AND FWC IN THE NEAR TERM.

.JKL...NONE.

HAL

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 2, 5:41 PM EST, 1 hour 39 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON, KY
641 PM EDT TUE JUL 2 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0210 PM    2SE BILLOWS               KY   1.75 INCH HAIL
07/02/02   LAUREL                         ALONG THE PULASKI AND
                                          LAUREL COUNTY LINE REPORTED
                                          BY LAW ENFORCEMENT

CEG

Local storm report, Jul 2, 5:45 PM EST, 1 hour 35 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON, KY
645 PM EDT TUE JUL 2 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0410 PM    CLOVER BOTTOM             KY   .75 INCH HAIL
07/02/02   JACKSON                        REPORTED BY
SPOTTER

0415 PM    5NW JACKSON               KY   1.00 INCH HAIL
07/02/02   BREATHITT                      REPORTED BY
PUBLIC

CEG

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Pike

When: July 2, 7:20 PM EST to 9:20 PM EST
Where: Pike County, Dorton
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 37.469, -82.396 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

People were cut off by rising water from Beefhide Creek.

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Kentucky in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Kentucky, July 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: 5312152.