Kentucky, 2002

High Wind in Kentucky, March 9, 2002

March 9, 2002 · NWS ILN · 11 events in 11 counties and zones

High winds in excess of 60 mph blew down numerous trees, power lines, utility poles, and various signs. Several thousand power outages were noted due to the widespread nature of the winds and the resulting damage.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 11 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$93,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
11

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 ILN wrote it up.

High winds in excess of 60 mph blew down numerous trees, power lines, utility poles, and various signs. Several thousand power outages were noted due to the widespread nature of the winds and the resulting damage.

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 Wilmington, OH wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 9, 9:15 AM EST, 5 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 9, 9:15 AM EST, 5 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
915 AM EST SAT MAR 9 2002

14Z SFC ANALYSIS DEPICTED A STRONG COLD FRONT...TRAILING FROM AN
AREA OF DEEPENING LOW PRESSURE OVR NRN WISCONSIN...SOUTH INTO WRN
IL...THEN INTO THE BOOT HEEL OF MO...AND FINALLY SOUTHWARD ALONG THE
MS RIVER VLY.  THIS FRONT WAS ASSOCD WITH A VIGOROUS H5 S/WV OVER
THE LOWER MISSOURI VLY.  BOTH SYSTEMS WILL PIVOT ACRS THE REGION
THIS AFTERNOON...BRINGING THE POTENTIAL FOR PSBL SVR TSTMS AND
SYNOPTIC SCALE HIGH WINDS.

CURRENT FCST IS WELL IN HAND...SO WILL UPDATE MAINLY TO TWEAK
WORDING.  MESOETA CONTINUES TO BRING COLD FRONT INTO THE WRN CWFA
AROUND 18Z...ACRS DAY AND CVG AROUND 20Z...AND THROUGH CMH AND PMH
AROUND 22Z.  WITH DEWPOINTS EXPECTED TO CREEP UP INTO THE LOWER AND
MID 50S...SBCAPES OF 200 TO 400 J/KG COMBINED WITH DYNAMICAL LIFT
WITH AFOREMENTIONED S/WV...A LINE OF CONVECTION IS EXPECTED AHEAD OF
THE FRONT.  THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE WIDELY SCATTERED WITHIN THIS
LINE...BUT WHERE THEY OCCUR...THEY COULD CAUSE DAMAGING WINDS AS
925 MB TO 850 MB WINDS ARE FCST TO BE WITHIN THE 60 TO 75 KT RANGE.
TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY...STEEP ISENTROPIC SURFACES ARE FCST JUST
BEHIND THE FRONT IN WHICH 45 TO 50 KT WINDS WILL LIKELY BE
TRANSPORTED TO THE SFC FOR ABOUT A 2 HOUR PERIOD AFTER FROPA.
HENCE...WILL CONTINUE WITH THE HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE REMAINDER
OF THE AFTN AS WELL AS A SVR WX OUTLOOK.

.ILN...HIGH WIND WARNING ENTIRE CWFA TODAY.

HICKMAN

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 9, 10:10 AM EST, 4 hours 5 minutes before
INZ050-058-059-066-073>075-080-KYZ089>100-OHZ026-034-035-042>046-
051>056-060>065-070>074-077>082-088-092300-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
1010 AM EST SAT MAR 9 2002

...DAMAGING WINDS LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON...

DEEPENING LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE THROUGH THE WESTERN GREAT LAKES
INTO ONTARIO THIS AFTERNOON.  A TRAILING COLD FRONT FROM THIS
LOW WILL MOVE ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY.  VERY STRONG WINDS WILL
BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONT AT THE SURFACE AND ALOFT.

A LINE OF SHOWERS AND EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP AHEAD OF
THE FRONT.  THIS LINE IS FORECAST TO REACH EASTERN INDIANA AND
WESTERN OHIO BY EARLY AFTERNOON...THEN QUICKLY MOVE EAST OF THE
REGION BY EVENING.  DUE TO THE FAVORABLE WIND FIELDS...SOME
OF THE THUNDERSTORMS MAY REACH SEVERE LIMITS...WITH DAMAGING WINDS
THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT.  HAIL WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE WITH
SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS.

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS PLACED THE ENTIRE AREA IN A SLIGHT
RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY.  SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE
REQUIRED.  LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR
FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION.

HICKMAN
Local storm report, Mar 9, 2:15 PM EST, 0 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON, OH
215 PM EST SAT MAR 9 2002

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

0156 PM    DILLSBORO                 IN    MPH NON TSTM WIND GUST
03/09/02   RIPLEY                          68 MPH

JF
Local storm report, Mar 9, 2:15 PM EST, 0 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED EVENT FIELD
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON, OH
215 PM EST SAT MAR 9 2002

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

0156 PM    DILLSBORO                 IN   68 MPH NON TSTM WIND GUST
03/09/02   RIPLEY

JF

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

11 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Gallatin

When
March 9, 2:15 PM EST to 2:45 PM EST
Where
Gallatin forecast zone
Measured
55 kt (63 mph)
Property damage
$8,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.757, -84.859 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Owen

When
March 9, 2:25 PM EST to 2:50 PM EST
Where
Owen forecast zone
Measured
55 kt (63 mph)
Property damage
$8,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.520, -84.828 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Boone

When
March 9, 2:25 PM EST to 2:50 PM EST
Where
Boone forecast zone
Measured
55 kt (63 mph)
Property damage
$12,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.970, -84.728 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Kenton

When
March 9, 2:30 PM EST to 3:00 PM EST
Where
Kenton forecast zone
Measured
55 kt (63 mph)
Property damage
$12,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.934, -84.533 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Grant

When
March 9, 2:45 PM EST to 3:15 PM EST
Where
Grant forecast zone
Measured
55 kt (63 mph)
Property damage
$9,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.649, -84.625 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Campbell

When
March 9, 3:00 PM EST to 3:30 PM EST
Where
Campbell forecast zone
Measured
55 kt (63 mph)
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.947, -84.380 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Pendleton

When
March 9, 3:00 PM EST to 3:30 PM EST
Where
Pendleton forecast zone
Measured
55 kt (63 mph)
Property damage
$8,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.696, -84.360 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Carroll

When
March 9, 3:00 PM EST to 3:30 PM EST
Where
Carroll forecast zone
Measured
55 kt (63 mph)
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.668, -85.124 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Bracken

When
March 9, 3:15 PM EST to 3:45 PM EST
Where
Bracken forecast zone
Measured
55 kt (63 mph)
Property damage
$7,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.689, -84.090 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Robertson

When
March 9, 3:15 PM EST to 3:45 PM EST
Where
Robertson forecast zone
Measured
55 kt (63 mph)
Property damage
$4,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.519, -84.052 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Lewis

When
March 9, 4:30 PM EST to 5:00 PM EST
Where
Lewis forecast zone
Measured
55 kt (63 mph)
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.532, -83.378 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Kentucky in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5287081, 5287082, 5287083, 5287084, 5287085, 5287086, 5287087, 5287088, 5287089, 5287090, 5287091.