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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 25, 12:00 PM CST, 8 hours 16 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 100 PM CDT SAT MAY 25 2002 LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS DEPICTS LOW NEAR CHI WITH A COLD FRONT EXTENDING SOUTHWESTWARD THROUGH THE UNO AREA INTO NE TEXAS. A WARM FRONT EXTENDED EASTWARD FROM THE LOW...ACROSS IN AND OH. DEWPOINTS WERE WELL INTO THE LOWER 60S OVER THE FA. VIS SAT PICS SHOW A FEW CLOUDS OVER AREA HOWEVER...DENSE CLOUDS REMAINED NEAR THE BOUNDARY AND POST FRONTAL. SURFACE LOW HAD ROCKETED OUT OF THE PLAINS AND INTO NE ILLINOIS OVERNIGHT INTO THIS MORNING. THIS MOVEMENT SHOULD CONTINUE THIS AFTERNOON AS UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVE ROTATES THROUGH. THE 12Z SAT MESO ETA SHOWS DECENT LOW LEVEL INSTABILITY WITH LIS TO -4...CAPES NEAR 1500 J/KG...SHOWALTERS AROUND ZERO...AND K INDICIES AROUND 30. IN CONTRAST...THE SURFACE LOW IS LIFTING NE AWAY FROM THE AREA AND TAKING THE BEST CONVERGENCE WITH IT. KPAH VWP INDICATES LITTLE DIRECTIONAL SHEAR AND RELATIVELY MODEST SPEED SHEAR. THUS ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO BECOME SEVERE WOULD NOT LIKELY BE TORNADIC. WITH A FRONT IN THE AREA AT PEAK HEATING AND THE FREEZING LEVEL AROUND 12K AND WET BULB ZERO AROUND 10K WOULD NOT RULE OUT HAIL OR WIND SHOULD ANY STORMS GET GOING OVER FA. AFTER TODAY SHOULD REMAIN RELATIVELY DRY THROUGH THE WEEK WITH THE BEST CHANCE OF RAIN ARRIVING AGAIN ON THURSDAY. ALTHOUGH ITS THE BEST CHANCE ITS STILL NOT A GOOD CHANCE AND WILL MAINTAIN CURRENT DRY FORECAST UNTIL STRONGER EVIDENCE PRESENTS ITSELF OR MODELS SHOW A BETTER RUN TO RUN CONTINUITY. NUMERICAL GUIDANCE KEEPS MOST OF FA IN THE 80S THROUGHOUT THE RUN AND WILL FOLLOW THAT TREND ESPECIALLY EARLY IN THE WORK WEEK. WILL MODERATE LOWS OUT OF THE 50S AND INTO THE 60S MONDAY NIGHT. .PAH...NONE. KH
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
317 PM CDT SAT MAY 25 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0310 PM MARION IL 1.75 INCH HAIL
05/25/02 WILLIAMSON REPORTED BY SKYWARN STORM
SPOTTERPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
607 PM CDT SAT MAY 25 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0555 PM KY 1.00 INCH HAIL
05/25/02 MCCRACKEN OCCURRED NEAR THE SHAWNEE
STEAM PLANT...REPORTED BY
DESPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
652 PM CDT SAT MAY 25 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0640 PM WHITESVILLE KY 1.00 INCH HAIL
05/25/02 DAVIESSThe Paducah radar (KPAH), 47 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:17 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
U.S. Highway 51 was barricaded south of Clinton. Highway 239 was closed. Thunderstorms produced radar-estimated rainfall of 2 to 3 inches over sections of southern Hickman County.
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: 5295918.