1 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 20, 2:25 AM EST, 3 hours 56 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 225 AM EST WED MAR 20 2002 A NEARLY STATIONARY SURFACE TROUGH...FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST KY...WILL FOCUS TRAINING CLUSTERS OF SHOWERS TODAY. THE NGM...ETA AND AVN MODELS SHOW THAT THE TROUGH WILL BE SLOW MOVING. THE AREA OF MOST CONCERN FOR THIS MORNING WILL BE THE EASTERN KY FOOTHILLS WEST OF A LINE FROM JOHNSON COUNTY TO MCCREARY COUNTY. THE TROUGH WILL SLOWLY DRIFT SOUTHEAST THROUGH THAT AREA UNTIL AROUND NOONTIME... AND THEN OVER THE COUNTIES WITH HIGHER TERRAIN EAST OF THE LINE THIS AFTERNOON. THE ETA AND AVN MODELS SHOW A DOUBLE JET STRUCTURE AT 300 MB OVER EASTERN KY THIS AFTERNOON WHICH COULD ENHANCE THE RAINFALL. ALTHOUGH THE LATEST QPF GUIDANCE FROM THE HPC INDICATES AROUND A HALF INCH OF AREAL AVERAGE RAINFALL DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS... AT LEAST AN INCH SEEMS POSSIBLE BEFORE THE RAIN ENDS THIS EVENING. FOR THURSDAY...AN ARCTIC COLD FRONT TO THE NORTH WILL PASS THROUGH LATE IN THE DAY...WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF A RAIN SHOWER. IT WILL TURN SHARPLY COLDER THURSDAY NIGHT WITH FRIDAY MORNING LOWS AROUND 20. THE NGM MOS TEMPERATURE FORECASTS LOOK MUCH TOO WARM...SO THE AVN IS PREFERRED. THE FORECASTS FOR FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY LOOK GOOD AND WILL NOT BE CHANGED. IFPS/GFE...THE AVN MOS TEMPERATURES AND WINDS WILL BE USED TO POPULATE THE GRIDS FOR THE FIRST FOUR PERIODS. PRELIMINARY CCF... JKL 53/41 54/20 9122 LOZ 58/41 57/20 9122 .JKL...FLOOD WATCH FOR MOST OF EASTERN KENTUCKY THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. SCHAUB
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Prolonged rains caused streams and creeks to flood. This resulted in numerous road closures across Powell County.
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: 5286753.