Flooding in Kentucky, March 22 to 31, 2002

Name: Flooding in Kentucky, March 22 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-03-22T19:00
End: 2002-03-31T23:59
Location: Kentucky

March 22 to 31, 2002 · NWS PAH · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

The Ohio River rose above flood stage on the 22nd and 23rd at most locations along the western Kentucky shore. T.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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: 7

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.

The Ohio River rose above flood stage on the 22nd and 23rd at most locations along the western Kentucky shore. At J.T. Meyers Lock near Uniontown, the river crested at 43.57 feet on March 28. Flood stage there is 37 feet. At Smithland, the crest was just over two feet above flood stage on March 26. Paducah crested almost five feet above its 39-foot flood stage on March 26. Along the entire shore, flooding was minor to moderate, affecting mainly bottomland and surrounding low-lying areas.

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 Mar 22, 1:30 PM CST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 22, 1:30 PM CST, 5 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
130 PM CST FRI MAR 22 2002

FORECAST CONCERNS CENTER AROUND HARD FREEZE POTENTIAL TONIGHT...AND
THEN CHANCE OF SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS FOR SUNDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING.

SHORT RANGE MODELS IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT NEXT 48 TO 60 HOURS.
SUGGEST TONIGHT TO BE A MUCH BETTER RADIATIONAL COOLING NIGHT THAN
LAST NIGHT AS SURFACE HIGH BRUSHES BY JUST SOUTH OF THE AREA. NOT
MUCH IN THE WAY OF CIRRUS AROUND TO WORRY ABOUT...AND WITH PROXIMITY
OF THE SURFACE HIGH...MOST AREAS WILL SEE VERY LIGHT WINDS THROUGH
AT LEAST 09Z SAT. RETURN FLOW MAY BREAK THROUGH SURFACE INVERSION
TOWARD MORNING OVER NORTHERN/WESTERN SECTIONS...BUT ALL IN ALL
SHOULD BE A GOOD RADIATION NIGHT. DEW POINTS ARE CURRENTLY NEAR 10
OVER MOST OF THE REGION...BUT SHOULD RISE SOMEWHAT OVERNIGHT DUE TO
WET GROUNDS AND LIGHT WINDS. STILL...THINK BOTH NGM/AVN MOS MAY BE
3-5 DEGREES TOO WARM IN MOST AREAS. AM LEANING TOWARD NEAR 20 MOST
LOCATIONS AT THIS TIME...SO FREEZE ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED AREA WIDE
TONIGHT INTO SAT MORNING.

SHOULD SEE FAIRLY RAPID WARMUP SAT AFTERNOON INTO SUNDAY AS RETURN
FLOW INCREASES AND HIGHER SUN ANGLE TAKES ITS TOLL. SHOULD SEE CLOSE
TO 35 DEGREE WARMUP FROM MORNING LOWS SAT...WITH HIGHS IN THE 60S BY
SUNDAY AFTERNOON.

NEXT SYSTEM STILL LOOKS TO ENTER THE PICTURE SUNDAY AFTERNOON/SUN
NIGHT AS H50 SHORT WAVE AND ASSOCIATED SURFACE LOW/COLD FRONT MOVE
EAST FROM THE CENTRAL PLAINS. AHEAD OF FRONT...INSTABILITY/MOISTURE
LOOK SUFFICIENT TO INTRODUCE CHANCE OF THUNDER SUNDAY
AFTERNOON/EVENING. HIGHEST RAIN CHANCES WILL BE ALONG/BEHIND THE
FRONT SUNDAY NIGHT.

MONDAY IS PAINTED WET IN CONTINUITY...BUT LATEST AVN RUN SUPPORTS A
BREAK BETWEEN SYSTEMS MUCH OF MONDAY AND INTO MONDAY NIGHT (FLAT
SHORT RIDGE)...WITH MAIN UPPER LOW COMING OUT TUE/TUE NIGHT TIME
FRAME. THIS SEEMS A BIT MORE REALISTIC THAN 60 HOURS CONTINUOUS RAIN
CHANCES. THUS...MAY BACK OFF A BIT ON RAIN CHANCES MONDAY.

.PAH...FREEZE ADVISORY FOR ALL OF CWA TONIGHT AND EARLY SAT.

MEFFERT

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Ballard

When: March 22, 7:00 PM CST to March 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Ballard forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.058, -88.999 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Crittenden

When: March 22, 7:00 PM CST to March 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Crittenden forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.353, -88.097 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Daviess

When: March 22, 7:00 PM CST to March 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Daviess forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.732, -87.087 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Henderson

When: March 22, 7:00 PM CST to March 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Henderson forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.796, -87.573 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Livingston

When: March 22, 7:00 PM CST to March 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Livingston forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.210, -88.354 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, McCracken

When: March 22, 7:00 PM CST to March 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: McCracken forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.054, -88.713 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Union

When: March 22, 7:00 PM CST to March 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Union forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.659, -87.945 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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, March 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: 5280552, 5280553, 5280554, 5280555, 5280556, 5280557, 5280642.