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 Mar 17, 3:10 PM EST, 7 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 310 PM EST SUN MAR 17 2002 DEFINITELY GOING TO BE CONCERNED WITH THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF CWA AND THE AMOUNT OF RAINFALL THEY WILL SEE. FFA OUT FOR REST OF TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR SOUTHERN HALF OF CWA. AVN SOLN HAS PRECIP MAXIMA OVER OUR BORDER WITH TN WHEREAS ETA SOLN HAS MAXIMA COMPLETELY IN TN/VA. PER HPC DISCUSSION...MODELS HAVE BEEN UNDERESTIMATING PRECIP. A QUARTER TO A HALF N AND ONE TO TWO IN S. CHC RAIN FOR MON AS BOUNDARY STAYS IN THE AREA. MON NIGHT WARM FRONT AND WAVE FROM THE TX LOW MOVES AS FAR NORTH AS KY. THEREFORE CHANCES OF RAIN INCREASE FROM SW TO NE AS THE NIGHT PROGRESSES. AT THIS POINT WITH THE DIFFERENCES IN THE MODEL AND THE TENDENCY TO PUSH SYSTEM WEST FURTHER...IT IS HARD TO SAY WHEN RAIN WILL BEGIN...LOOKS 12ZISH. NOSE OF 8H JET STICKING RIGHT ALONG WITH THE FRONT...LIKE ITS HAS BEEN...AIDING IN PRECIP. TUES: MAIN PRECIP AREA TO OUR NORTH BUT WITH WAVES IN CONSTANT DEVELOPMENT THROUGH THE AREA OUR CHANCES MIGHT LEAN TOWARDS AVN...ALSO SEEING THAT THE THOUGHT IS THAT AVN IS DOING WELL STRENGTH WISE. DIFFERENT TRACK OF TX LOW THAN I REMEMBER YESTERDAY. WITH LOW NOW MOVING RIGHT OVER KY OVERNIGHT WED...ALONG WITH ANOTHER ROUND OF MODERATE PRECIPITATION. RAIN RELIEF AND COOLER TEMPS FOLLOW FINAL COLD FROPA. WED NIGHT/THURS LOOKING DRY. RIDGING ENCROACHES TEMPORARILY OVER OUR AREA...AS WEVE SEEN QUITE A BIT THIS WINTER IN THE WAKE OF SIGNIFICANT SYSTEMS. EXTENDED: WITH THE UNCERTAINTY THE EXTENDED BRINGS...NOT PLANNING ON CHANGING MUCH. IF MRF PLAN PANS OUT WE HAVE A BETTER CHANCE OF CAA/NW FLOW SHSN...BUT IF THINGS ARE DELAYED AND THE ECMWF HAS ITS WAY...LINGERING PRECIP HAS BETTER CHANCE OF BEING LIGHT SHRA AS COOL DOWN HOLDS OFF ABOUT 24 HRS. STILL WORDING THE SHRA/SHSN FOR FRI. START TO SEE MODERATION LATE SUN AS COOL CANADIAN HIGH MOVES EAST TO THE ATLANTIC. GOING ABOVE MOS/KEEPING WITH CURRENT FORECAST THURS NIGHT AND FRI. IFPS/GFE: POPULATED DAY 7 FROM MRF. STILL WORKING ON IT...BUT WANTED TO GET AFD OUT. JKLWRKOZF OUT BEFORE LONG. THANKS TO SDF AND BNA FOR COORDINATION. ADDITIONAL COORDINATION WELCOME. .JKL...FFA FOR THE SOUTHERN 1/2 OR SO OF THE CWA TODAY AND TONIGHT. OUDEMAN
The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 146 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:20 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rains during March 17th caused repeated episodes of flash flooding. Several roads were flooded.
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, March 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: 5286654.