1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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, 2:50 PM EST, 1 hour 59 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 350 PM EDT FRI MAY 17 2002 CHALLENGES...HOW HARD TO HIT POPS AND HOW MUCH QPF. LATEST SFC ANALYSIS SHOWS SFC LOW OVER NW TN WITH NEARLY STATIONARY FRONT EXTENDING NE TO JUST N OF LEX TO JUST N OF HTS AND THEN TO THE OFF THE NE ENGLAND COAST. COLD FRONT EXTENDS S FROM THE SFC LOW TO THE GULF OF MEXICO. HIGHS PWS OVER THE REGION (AROUND 1.6)...BUT BEST INSTABILITY IS S OF THE FRONT...ESPECIALLY S OF THE DANIEL BOONE PARKWAY NEAR TN LINE. AS THE FRONT CROSSES AND UPPER SW/V APPROACHES THE FRONT SHOULD FINALLY GET A BOOT TO THE EAST WITH COLD AIR TO FOLLOW IN ITS WAKE. SOUTHERN MCS ALONG THE GULF COAST APPEARS TO BE ROBBING MOISTURE FROM THE SYSTEM...BUT WITH SOME RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION DYNAMICS TO WORK WITH THIS EVENING...FEEL THAT IT IS PRUDENT TO KEEP FLOOD WATCH GOING THOUGH DONT FEEL ANY PROBLEMS THAT MIGHT DEVELOP WILL BE THAT WIDESPREAD. ONE INTERESTING CELL JUST TO SW OF CWA LOOKS TO BE MOST INTERESTING THING OUT THERE NOW. WITH SOME AREAS S OF FRONT SEEING SOME SOLAR HEATING TODAY AND MODERATE SHEAR PROFILE A COUPLE OF STORMS WITH LARGE HAIL OR STRONG WINDS IS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION OVER THE S GIVEN OUTFLOW INTERACTIONS...BUT INSTABILITY PARAMETERS DECREASE SUBSTANTIALLY N OF KY/TN LINE. EVERYONE SHOULD MEASURE SO CATEGORICAL POPS IN ORDER TONIGHT. SOME WRAPAROUND MOISTURE ALONG WITH COOLER AIR MOVING IN AND SOMEWHAT UPSLOPE FLOW WITH ANY SOLAR HEATING WILL KEEP SC/CU AROUND AND POSSIBLY A SHOWER OR TWO TOMORROW AFTERNOON SO WILL GO WITH SLIGHT CHANCE POPS. WITH DEEP TROUGHS SETTING UP ON BOTH COASTS AND RIDGING OVER THE ROCKIES AND THEN BUILDING E INTO THE PLAINS...COOL WEATHER TO MOVE IN FOR THE WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK. SEVERAL DISTURBANCES TO DROP INTO TROUGH ON NW FLOW AND THEY SHOULD KEEP THE CHANCE FOR AT LEAST DIURNAL CU AROUND. ONE STRONGER VORT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION MON AFTERNOON SO HAVE GONE WITH CHANCE POPS NORTHERN 2/3 OF CWA...WITH SLIGHT CHANCE SOUTH. EXTENDED...MODERATING TREND TO SET UP. AS UPPER PATTERN SHIFTS EAST AND RIDGING SETS UP ALONG EAST COAST. TEMPS SHOULD BE AT OR ABOVE NORMAL TO END THE PERIOD. TEMPS GENERALLY CLOSE TO GUIDANCE...BUT WENT A CAT ABOVE MEX GUIDANCE FOR THU AND FRI. THANKS SURROUNDING NDFD OFFICES FOR COORDINATION. .JKL...FFA FOR MOST OF BERN KY THRU MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. PELTON
KYZ044-050>052-058>060-068-069-079-080-083>088-104-106>120-180000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED TYPO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 1030 AM EDT FRI MAY 17 2002 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE IN SOUTHEASTERN KENTUCKY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS INDICATED THAT A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXISTS ACROSS FAR SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A COLD FRONT IS PRESSING SOUTH INTO EASTERN KENTUCKY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP AHEAD OF THIS FRONT LATER THIS AFTERNOON. ANY SUNSHINE AND DAYTIME HEATING WILL ONLY ENHANCE THE INSTABILITY ACROSS SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY THIS AFTERNOON. WIND AND MOISTURE PROFILES INDICATE THAT THE GREATEST THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE FROM LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...MAINLY SOUTH OF THE DANIEL BOONE PARKWAY. HEAVY RAINFALL IS ALSO A THREAT THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING DUE TO INCREASING MOISTURE...LARGE INSTABILITY AND THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THE FRONT. FOR THIS REASON A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF EAST KENTUCKY UNTIL MIDNIGHT. RESIDENTS OF EASTERN KENTUCKY SHOULD STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR UPDATES. SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NECESSARY THIS AFTERNOON. FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION BE SURE TO VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/JKL. GREIF
The Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 98 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:50 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A brief tornado touched down just northeast of the highway 25 and 25E interchange near Corbin and concluded to the northeast of Campground Road. Eleven home received minor damage, as well as two barns and one out building. A cluster of trees were also blown down.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Kentucky, 2002Warnings 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: 5297754.