Drought in Kentucky, September 1 to 30, 2002

Name: Drought in Kentucky, September 1 to 30, 2002
Start: 2002-09-01T00:00
End: 2002-09-30T18:00
Location: Kentucky

September 1 to 30, 2002 · NWS PAH · 22 events in 22 counties and zones

A prolonged summer drought gradually worsened, becoming severe in early September. Many parts of western Kentucky received no measurable rainfall through the first two weeks of September.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 22 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: $70 million
Events: 22

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.

A prolonged summer drought gradually worsened, becoming severe in early September. Many parts of western Kentucky received no measurable rainfall through the first two weeks of September. At Paducah, the three-month period from June through August of 2002 was the second driest such period on record. Total rainfall during the period from June 1 to September 15 was only 5 inches, well below the normal of about 13 inches. The main effect of the drought was on agriculture. Crop loss estimates totalled around 70 million dollars. The corn crop, which was especially susceptible to the combined effects of heat and drought, took the biggest hit. About 35 million dollars in corn was lost in western Kentucky. About 20 million dollars in tobacco was lost, and another 15 million dollars was lost in soybean production. Some trees and shrubs died in the drought, especially newly planted ones with shallow root systems. A few counties declared bans on outdoor burning due to the high fire danger. A fire burned 50 acres of pasture along Interstate 24 near the Grand Rivers exit. However, the effects of this drought on trees, shrubs, and the soybean crop were considerably less than the drought of 1999. The remnants of Tropical Storm Isidore provided very heavy rainfall late in September. Four to eight inches of rain fell over most of western Kentucky, which greatly eased the drought.

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 Aug 31, 1:00 PM CST, 11 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 31, 1:00 PM CST, 11 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
200 PM CDT SAT AUG 31 2002

88D AND IR SHOWS SOME CONVECTION...AS EXPECTED...FIRED UP IN FAR
SERN PTNS FA IN DAYTIME HEAT. WL UTILIZE PERSISTENCE STRATEGY AND
CONTINUE A SMALL CHC FOR THE FAR SE INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. WL
WAIT CLOSE TO PRESS TIME FOR FINAL CALL ON AREAL EXTENT.

THE NEW MODEL RUNS ARE NOT TOO DISSIMILAR. THEY STILL SHOW A GRADUAL
EVOLUTION OF THE UPPER PATTERN OVER DAYS 3-5 AS AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE
STRENGTHENS OVER THE MID SECTION OF THE COUNTRY. AS A RESULT...WE WL
INTRODUCE A CHC OF PCPN ON TUE...WHEN THE INCREASE IN MOISTURE IS
SUFFICIENT TO WARRANT AT LEAST A DIURNAL POP IN THE DESTABILIZED
ATMOS. THIS POP MAY BE AIDED BY THE PASSAGE OF A SURFACE REFLECTED
FRONT AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE GREAT LAKES...SO WELL
CONTINUE IT INTO TUE NIGHT.

WED SHOULD BE DRY AND UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE GREAT LAKES HIGH.
THEN THE MEAN ATMOS MOISTURE REBOUNDS ON SLYS BY THU-FRI...SO WELL
RE-INTRODUCE AT LEAST A DIURNAL CHC PCPN....WITH ANOTHER SUBTLE WAVE
PASSAGE SAT RETURNING DRY WX/TAD COOLER TEMPS.

WL CONTINUE THE GOING TREND OF AOA GUIDANCE ON HIGHS AND NR GUIDANCE
ON LOWS.

.PAH...NONE.
DH

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

22 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Ballard

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Ballard forecast zone
Crop damage: $70 million
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.058, -88.999 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Caldwell

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Caldwell forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.145, -87.868 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Calloway

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Calloway forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.621, -88.272 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Carlisle

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Carlisle forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.853, -88.971 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Christian

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Christian forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.894, -87.490 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Crittenden

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Crittenden forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.353, -88.097 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Daviess

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Daviess forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.732, -87.087 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Fulton

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Fulton forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.554, -89.188 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Graves

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Graves forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.723, -88.651 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Henderson

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Henderson forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.796, -87.573 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Hickman

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Hickman forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.678, -88.976 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Hopkins

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Hopkins forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.309, -87.541 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Livingston

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Livingston forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.210, -88.354 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Lyon

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Lyon forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.019, -88.083 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Marshall

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Marshall forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.884, -88.329 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, McCracken

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: McCracken forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.054, -88.713 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, McLean

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: McLean forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.529, -87.264 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Muhlenberg

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Muhlenberg forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.216, -87.142 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Todd

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Todd forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.836, -87.179 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Trigg

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Trigg forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.806, -87.873 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Union

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Union forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.659, -87.945 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Webster

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Webster forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.518, -87.683 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Drought: A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

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, September 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: 5316415, 5316416, 5316417, 5316418, 5316419, 5316420, 5316421, 5316422, 5316423, 5316424, 5316425, 5316426, 5316427, 5316428, 5316429, 5316430, 5316431, 5316432, 5316433, 5316434, 5316435, 5316436.