Flooding in Kentucky, May 18 to 24, 2002

Name: Flooding in Kentucky, May 18 to 24, 2002
Start: 2002-05-18T16:00
End: 2002-05-24T11:00
Location: Kentucky

May 18 to 24, 2002 · NWS PAH · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

The Green River crested about 4 to 5 feet above flood stage at both Calhoun and Paradise. Flooding was minor, consisting of mainly farmland.

Where it happened

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.

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: 2

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 Green River crested about 4 to 5 feet above flood stage at both Calhoun and Paradise. Flooding was minor, consisting of mainly farmland. Planting of crops was delayed or had to be repeated.

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 May 18, 1:00 PM CST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 18, 1:00 PM CST, 3 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
200 PM CDT SAT MAY 18 2002

PRIMARY FORECAST CHALLENGE IS NEAR TERM...POSSIBILITY OF FROST
TONIGHT WITH RECORD LOW TEMPS LIKELY. VISIBLE IMAGERY LOOPS SHOW
SC/CU FIELD FM UPR MIDWEST WELL SOUTH INTO PAH FA...HAVING DEVELOPED
WITHIN H8 50MB CPD FIELD...W/ETA ANALYZED 1000-850MB RH VALUES OF
ONLY AROUND 60%. HOWEVER IT IS DIURNALLY DRIVEN AND THUS EXPECT A
CLR-MOCLEAR EARLY NIGHT SKY AS WINDS GRADUALLY DIMINISH. MODELS THEN
DIFFER...W/NGM-ETA ONLY HINTING AT ADVECTION OF CLOUDS INTO MAINLY
NRN PTNS FA LATE TONIGHT...AND AVN RATHER AGGRESSIVE WITH IT. BUT
NUMERICAL GUIDANCE DOES NOT RESPOND WITH MORE THAN A SCT DECK EITHER
WAY. TIME/HEIGHT CROSS SECTIONS REVEAL 70-80% BL MOISTURE IN THE
NORTH...60-70% SOUTH...AND WITHOUT DIURNAL HELP WL OPT FOR PC SKY
TONIGHT VS GOING MOCLOUDY. ANTICIPATE THIS MAY DIMINISH WIDESPREAD
DEVELOPMENT OF FROST...BUT WL LEAVE SCT FROST MENTIONED IN PACKAGE
TO GIVE A LTL LEEWAY ON SKY COVER.

WHATEVER GUIDANCE YOU CHOOSE WL SEE RECORD LOW TONIGHT...BASED ON
UPSTREAM TDS SHOULD SEE U30S TONIGHT MOST LOCALES. WL KEEP COOL/DRY
FCST UNDERNEATH NW FLOW PATTERN THRU TUE...WHEN SOME MODERATION
EXPECTED AS UPR RIDGE STARTS TO MOVE IN. ACTUALLY WL BRING IN SOME
OF THE AVN DEPICTED HIGHER MOISTURE TO NRN PTNS FA AS LAST STRONG
VORT ROTATES AROUND BASE OF LONG WAVE TROF SUN-SUN NIGHT...BUT WL
LAYOFF ANY MENTION OF PCPN DESPITE LOW POPS PRODUCED BY AVN MOS AND
LIGHT QPF PAINTED BY MODEL...USUALLY OVERDONE BY AVN.

MID-LATE WEEK WARMUP STILL EXPECTED W/GRADUAL INCREASE IN MOISTURE
AS WELL...AS RIDGE MOVES OVERHEAD THEN EAST. WL INTRODUCE SMALL CHC
RA SOUTH ON SAT AS BROAD SRN U.S. ANTICYCLONE STARTS TO YIELD A LTL
TO MORE ZONAL FLOW AND MRF INDICATION OF SRN PLAINS WAVE BRINGING IN
POSSIBLE OVERRUNNING PCPN FIELD BY SAT.

.PAH...NONE.
HUMPHREY

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, McLean

When: May 18, 4:00 PM CST to May 24, 11:00 AM CST
Where: McLean forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.529, -87.264 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Muhlenberg

When: May 18, 4:00 PM CST to May 24, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Muhlenberg forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.216, -87.142 (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, May 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: 5295690, 5295691.