2 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 Louisville, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 17, 1:30 PM EST, 7 hours 52 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 230 PM EDT FRI MAY 17 2002 MODELS SIMILAR. WL NOT CONT FLOOD WATCH WITH NEW FCST CYCL. HIGHEST REFLECTIVITIES OVER THE EASTERN CWA AT 18Z AND MOVEMENT WL TAKE BEYOND CWA ADVANCING SLOWLY EAST WITH FURTHER WEAKENING. NO FLOODING REPORTED THIS EPISODE OF RAIN WITH SEVERAL REPORTS OF AMOUNTS EXCEEDING 1 INCH SOME SRN COUNTIES ALNG THE KY-TN BORDER. SLUGGISH COLD FRONT OVER NRN KY PROJECTED TO MOVE SWD TNGT AND ERLY SAT AS WEAK WAVE OF LOW PRES FORMS ALONG FRONT. AS SGFNT LOW FORMS ALONG FRONT OVR SE KY ERY SAT ...MUCH DRIER AND COOLER AMS WL FLOW OVER RGN AND THKNS VALUES BEGING LOWERING IN EARNEST. ALTHO RGNL TEMPS RATHER COLD FOR MID MAY THIS WEEKEND...WDSPRD FROST NOT LKLY BASED UPON DATA AVBL ATTM. WL CLOSELY MONITOR LATE NIGHT NUMERICAL MODELS. .SDF...NONE. CONGER
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE, KY
445 PM EDT FRI MAY 17 2002
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0340 PM 3 SE SHIPLEY KY WIND DAMAGE
05/17/02 CLINTON ROOFS REMOVED FROM
BUILDING NEAR DALE HOLLOW
LAKE BOAT DOCKS
0345 PM COUNTY WIDE KY WIND DAMAGE
05/17/02 CLINTON TREES DOWN ON ROADS COUNTY
WIDE
JBINZ076>079-083-084-089>092-KYZ023>043-045>049-053>057-061>067- 070>078-081-082-180930- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 835 PM EDT FRI MAY 17 2002 ...TASTE OF THE COOLER SEASONS TO INVADE THE REGION THIS WEEKEND... A LARGE AREA UNSEASONABLY COLD MID AND UPPER LEVEL ATMOSPHERIC LOW PRESSURE WILL WOBBLE OVER EASTERN CANADA THIS WEEKEND. NORTHERLY SURFACE WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FEATURE WILL FUNNEL MUCH COLDER AIR FROM CANADA INTO SOUTHERN INDIANA AND CENTRAL KENTUCKY THROUGH MONDAY. TEMPERATURES SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY WILL RANGE FROM 15 TO 25 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL FOR MID MAY. IN FACT...FORECAST TEMPERATURES FOR SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT ARE SIMILAR TO NORMALS FOR LATE MARCH. THE LOW CLOUDS CURRENTLY OVER THE AREA WILL GRADUALLY CLEAR SATURDAY NIGHT...AND AS DRY SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE ROLLS IN SURFACE WINDS WILL LIGHTEN. AS A RESULT TEMPERATURES WILL DROP INTO THE MIDDLE AND UPPER 30S ACROSS THE REGION EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY FOR SOME SCATTERED LIGHT FROST ESPECIALLY NORTH OF THE OHIO RIVER IF THE SURFACE WINDS BECOME CALM FOR A PERIOD BEFORE SUNRISE. THIS COULD HAVE AN ADVERSE EFFECT ON TENDER AND GROWING OUTDOOR VEGETATION. ON THE BRIGHTER SIDE...WITH THIS FLOW PATTERN LITTLE OR NO SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED FOR THE REGION...THROUGH AT LEAST THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. THIS WILL GIVE MANY AREAS A CHANCE TO DRY OUT CONSIDERING THAT YEARLY RAINFALL TOTALS ARE FROM 7 TO 10 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TELEVISION OR RADIO STATIONS...AND THE INTERNET FOR FURTHER UPDATES ON THE COLD WEEKEND WEATHER. SMALLCOMB
INZ076>079-083-084-089>092-KYZ023>043-045>049-053>057-061>067- 070>078-081-082-180930- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 835 PM EDT FRI MAY 17 2002 ...TASTE OF THE COOLER SEASONS TO INVADE THE REGION THIS WEEKEND... A LARGE AREA UNSEASONABLY COLD MID AND UPPER LEVEL ATMOSPHERIC LOW PRESSURE WILL WOBBLE OVER EASTERN CANADA THIS WEEKEND. NORTHERLY SURFACE WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FEATURE WILL FUNNEL MUCH COLDER AIR FROM CANADA INTO SOUTHERN INDIANA AND CENTRAL KENTUCKY THROUGH MONDAY. TEMPERATURES SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY WILL RANGE FROM 15 TO 25 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL FOR MID MAY. IN FACT...FORECAST TEMPERATURES FOR SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT ARE SIMILAR TO NORMALS FOR LATE MARCH. THE LOW CLOUDS CURRENTLY OVER THE AREA WILL GRADUALLY CLEAR SATURDAY NIGHT...AND AS DRY SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE ROLLS IN SURFACE WINDS WILL LIGHTEN. AS A RESULT TEMPERATURES WILL DROP INTO THE MIDDLE AND UPPER 30S ACROSS THE REGION EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY FOR SOME SCATTERED LIGHT FROST IF THE SURFACE WINDS BECOME CALM FOR A PERIOD BEFORE SUNRISE. THIS COULD HAVE AN ADVERSE EFFECT ON TENDER AND GROWING OUTDOOR VEGETATION. ON THE BRIGHTER SIDE...WITH THIS FLOW PATTERN LITTLE OR NO SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED FOR THE REGION...THROUGH AT LEAST THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. THIS WILL GIVE MANY AREAS A CHANCE TO DRY OUT CONSIDERING THAT YEARLY RAINFALL TOTALS ARE FROM 7 TO 10 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TELEVISION OR RADIO STATIONS...AND THE INTERNET FOR FURTHER UPDATES ON THE COLD WEEKEND WEATHER. SMALLCOMB
The Louisville radar (KLVX), 134 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:22 UTC.
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Three vehicles were washed downstream at Russell Springs. There were no injuries.
Many county roads were closed due to high water.
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, May 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: 5300037, 5300038.