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 May 17, 9:15 PM EST, 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 1015 PM EDT FRI MAY 17 2002 ...1015 PM...HAVE EXTENDED THE FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 4 AM FOR THE ENTIRE CWA. REST OF THE DISCUSSION THE SAME AS FOLLOWS.... BRIEF AFD DUE TO ACTIVE WEATHER IN THE CWA. ISSUED SEVERAL SVR WARNINGS EARLIER AND SOME FLS...MAINLY FOR URBAN AND SMALL STREAM TYPE FLOODING. HEAVIEST RAINS THUS FAR THIS EVENING HAS BEEN OVER MCCREARY AND WHITLEY COUNTIES WHERE 2-3 INCH AMOUNTS ARE INDICATED BY RADAR. HEAVIEST RAINS OVERALL HAVE BEEN ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE DANIEL BOONE PARKWAY. RADAR MOSAICS SHOWING ANOTHER BATCH OF MODERATE TO HEAVY PCPN MOVING TO THE EAST FROM CNTRL TN AND CNTRL KY. THIS BAND IS JUST NORTH OF THE MAIN SFC LOW. HEAVIEST RAINS FROM THIS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE I-75 CORRIDOR AREA SHORTLY. 00Z SFC CHART SHOWING THE COLD FRONT STRETCHING ACROSS SOUTHERN WV TO NEAR JKL/LOZ AND INTO THE MAIN LOW NEAR BNA. MUCH COOLER AIR NOTED ALONG THE OHIO RIVER AND POINTS NORTH (SOME 20 DEGREES COOLER AS CLOSE AS CVG). MAIN QUESTION AT THE MOMENT IS TO EXTEND THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT UNTIL 4 AM OR TO LET IT EXPIRE AT MIDNIGHT. WILL HAVE TO WATCH A FEW MORE RADAR LOOPS BEFORE MAKING FINAL DECISION. 18Z MESOETA GIVING SHOWS THE HEAVIEST RAINS TONIGHT BETWEEN 00-06Z AND THEN TAPERING OFF TO SHOWERS DURING THE LATE NIGHT. THIS APPEARS REASONABLE AT THIS TIME. STILL...LEANING TOWARD EXTENDING THE WATCH UNTIL 4 AM. ZONE UPDATE PLANNED AROUND 11-1130 PM OR SO. .JKL...FFA FOR MOST OF ERN KY THROUGH 4 AM SATURDAY MORNING. HALL
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON, KY
645 PM EDT FRI MAY 17 2002
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0620 PM WHITLEY CITY KY WIND DAMAGE
05/17/02 MCCREARY SEVERAL TREES DOWN IN
WHITLEY CITY AND STEARNS.
REPORTED BY 24 HOUR WARNING
POINT.
JPPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON, KY
853 PM EDT FRI MAY 17 2002
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0549 PM 1 NW NORTH CORBIN KY WIND DAMAGE
05/17/02 LAUREL 5 HOUSES WITH ROOF DAMAGE.
NUMEROUS SHEARED OFF TREES.
REPORTED BY LOCAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED EVENT TIME
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON, KY
853 PM EDT FRI MAY 17 2002
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0553 PM 1 NW NORTH CORBIN KY WIND DAMAGE
05/17/02 LAUREL 6 HOUSES WITH ROOF DAMAGE.
NUMEROUS SHEARED OFF TREES.
REPORTED BY LOCAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT.The Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 92 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:28 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rains caused one to two feet of water to flow across area roads, including the intersection of highways 150 and 1129.
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: 5298573.