Heavy rain caused flooding on the Cumberland River and the Kentucky River from April 9 to April 14, 2003. There was no damage reported from this flooding, apparently since much worse flooding occurred recently in February of the same year, not leaving much more to destroy.
Every event with a place to put it; 7 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 episode as NWS JKL wrote it up.
Heavy rain caused flooding on the Cumberland River and the Kentucky River from April 9 to April 14, 2003. There was no damage reported from this flooding, apparently since much worse flooding occurred recently in February of the same year, not leaving much more to destroy.
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 Apr 9, 2:50 AM EST, 4 hours 38 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 350 AM EDT WED APR 9 2003 LOW PRESS ON 05Z SFC CHART LOCATED OVER CUMBERLAND GAP. PCPN STILL ONGOING ALTHO LIGHT FOR ALL BUT FAR N AND FAR S IN CWFA. WRN CWFA HAD BEEN HIT PRETTY HARD WITH RAIN TUE/TUE NITE AND LOOKS TO HAVE NEARLY CAUGHT UP WITH ERN CWFA. SRN STILL THE HEAVIEST SOAKER. LOW CLOUDS AND VIS ALSO PESKY WITH ADDNL RAIN JUST ADDING TO LLVL MOISTURE. 85H LOW OVER BWG AND 50H LOW STACKED TO WEST OVER SGF. MODELS ALL IN AGREEMENT THAT 50H LOW WILL CONTINUE TO DROP SE UNTIL BOTTOMING OUT NEAR PNS BY THU 12Z. THEN TRACKING UP THE EAST COAST...GOING OFFSHORE NEAR CAPE HATTERAS BY EARLY SAT MORN. 85H LOW REMAINS A BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESS CNTRD ROUGHLY NEAR ATL UNTIL 00Z THU WHEN IT ORGANIZES IN FAR SRN AL AND TRACKS WITH THE 50H LOW. AT THE SFC...PESKY SFC TROF REMAINS ALIGNED WITH THE WRN SLOPES OF THE APPLN MTNS AND HENCE KEEPS PCPN IN THE AREA. BY THU NOON THE SFC LOW DRIFTS TO THE CAROLINA COAST AND THE PCPN BRIEFLY EASES UP FOR ERN KY. HOWEVER THIS JUST GIVE THE SFC LOW A CHC TO PICK UP ATLANTIC MOISTURE AND WRAP IT AROUND TO OUR CWFA BY LATE THU. NOT UNTIL LATE FRI DOES THE WHOLE SYSTEM GET FAR ENUF OFF THE COAST TO PULL THE PCPN EAST OF THE MTNS. MEANWHILE ERN KY LOOKS TO KEEP VERY WET THRU ABOUT MIDNIGHT FRI NITE. RIVERS AND STREAMS ARE ALREADY RUNNING HIGH AND ANY ADDITIONAL RAIN WILL ONLY EXABERATE THE SITUATION. FLOOD WATCH FOR ERN KY WILL BE EXPANDED TO INCLUED ALL OF JKL CWFA. SEVERAL RIVERS ARE STARING TO RUN HIGH AND WILL CONTINUE. DO NOT THINK IT WILL GET MUCH PAST FLOOD STAGE IF AT ALL. THE GREENING OF ERN KY HAS HELPED. ALSO THE GRND IS NO LONGER FROZEN AND IS ACTING MORE LIKE A SPONGE. EVEN A SPONGE CAN ONLY HOLD SO MUCH WATER...SO WILL HAVE TO KEEP AN EYE ON ESP THE CUMBERLAND AND THE KY RIVERS. HAVE ISSUED AN EXTENTION TO THE FLS (URBAN & SMALL STREAM) FOR FAR SERN KY AND THIS WILL PROBABLY BE EXPANDED WEST AS WELL IF THE PCPN KEEPS UP TONIGHT. PRELIMINARY GRIDS FOR COORDINATION PURPOSES LOZ 53/43 47/37 54 53334 JKL 52/43 50/36 51 43434 .JKL...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 8 AM THURSDAY FOR EAST KENTUCKY. DUSTY >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> PREVIOUS DISCUSSIONS FOLLOW: ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1125 PM EDT TUE APR 8 2003 CURRENT FORECAST IS IN GOOD SHAPE AND WILL CONTINUE FLOOD WATCH OVERNIGHT. SOME SIGNIFICANT RISES ON SMALL STREAMS AS WELL AS THE CUMBERLAND RIVER THIS EVENING. THE CUMBERLAND RIVER WILL STAY BELOW FLOOD STAGE TONIGHT. A FEW POINTS MAY APPROACH FLOOD STAGE LATER THIS WEEK DEPENDING ON RAINFALL. PELTON ===================================================================== 500 PM EDT TUE APR 8 2003 18Z SFC ANALYSIS SHOWS A WELL DEFINED AREA OF LOW PRESSURE SNEAKING UP THE WESTERN SLOPES OF THE SOUTH APPALACHIANS. THIS HAS AN INVERTED TROUGH LOOK AS WELL AS A WINDING WARM FRONT PUSHING UP INTO SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY...THANKS TO HIGH PRESSURE HOLDING ON EAST OF THE APPALACHIANS. ON SATELLITE...MODERATELY COOL CLOUD TOPS EXIST FROM THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE UP INTO SOUTHERN OHIO. SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO TRAVERSE THROUGH THE CWA WHERE THEY HAVE DEPOSITED UP TO AN INCH AND A HALF OF RAIN OVER FAR EASTERN KENTUCKY. MANY CREEKS AND STREAMS SOUTH AND EAST OF HERE ARE RUNNING AT OR NEAR BANKFULL. THE FORECAST FOR THE UPPER LEVEL PATTERN IS WELL ESTABLISHED WITH THE MODELS JUST DIFFERING SLIGHTLY WITH THE STRENGTH AND TIMING OF THE UPPER LOW. THEY ALL TAKE AN ELONGATED TROUGH FROM THE UPPER MIDWEST SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE DEEP SOUTH AND STRENGTHEN IT INTO A DEEP CLOSED LOW. THE AVN IS THE STRONGEST WITH THIS BOTTOMING OUT LOW...BUT ALSO THE FASTEST WHICH SEEMS OUT OF PLACE. WILL LEAN TOWARD THE COMPROMISE SOLUTION OF THE ETA THAT HAS HAD GOOD CONTINUITY WITH THIS SYSTEM. THIS LOW WILL SLOWLY LIFT OUT OVER THE WEEKEND ALLOWING THE HEIGHTS TO RISE EVEN AS RIDGING MOVES EAST INTO HIGH PLAINS. SENSIBLE WEATHER WILL FOCUS ON THE PERSISTENCE OF THE NEARBY SFC LOW AS A REFLECTION OF THE ADVANCING UPPER LEVEL TROUGH. THIS LOW WILL REMAIN PRACTICALLY IN PLACE THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK WITH ITS WARM FRONT ACTING AS A LIFTING MECHANISM TO HELP MAXIMIZE THE RAIN POTENTIAL ACROSS EAST KENTUCKY. PWS WILL PEAK ABOVE AN INCH WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS FOUND IN FAR EASTERN KENTUCKY. ACCORDINGLY...EXPECT THE THREAT FOR EXCESSIVE RAINFALL TO REMAIN THROUGH FRIDAY BEFORE THE SFC AND UPPER LOWS LIFT OUT. ALONG WITH THE RAIN WE HAVE SEEN EAST OF JKL TODAY...THIS POTENTIAL HAS PROMPTED US TO ISSUE A FLOOD WATCH FOR SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY UNTIL 8 AM WEDNESDAY. DEPENDING ON HOW THE MESOSCALE FEATURES ARE RESOLVED THE FLOOD POTENTIAL COULD REMAIN HIGH INTO FRIDAY. WILL LEAVE IT TO THE LATER SHIFTS TO EXTEND OR ADJUST THE FLOOD WATCH AS NEEDED. ANOTHER INTERESTING CONCERN WOULD BE THE POTENTIAL FOR SNOW ON THE HIGHEST PEAKS OF EAST KENTUCKY AS THE UPPER LOW/S COLD POOL DROPS IN. THE MODELS HAVE NOT PLAYED THIS UP SO FAR WITH 850 MB TEMPS ABOVE FREEZING FOR MOST OF THE AREA...MOST OF THE TIME. THE TIME OF MOST CONCERN WOULD BE WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY MORNING. CERTAINLY IF THIS SYSTEM IS STRONGER THAN FORECAST SNOW WILL BE A BIGGER CONCERN FOR THESE PEAKS. WILL HIT THIS POSSIBILITY IN THE HWOJKL. THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST WILL BE DRY AS THE HEIGHTS RISE AND HIGH PRESSURE MOVES IN TO REPLACE THE SFC LOW. SO AFTER A COOL WORK WEEK THINGS WILL START TO IMPROVE THIS WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK. MOS NUMBERS ARE SIMILAR THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH THE MET/S A BIT WARMER ON WEDNESDAY. DID NOT STRAY FAR WHEN TWEAKING THE TEMP GRIDS. POPS ALSO SIMILAR AND MATCHING MY THOUGHTS. PERFORMED MY REGULAR ROUTINE OF POPULATING AND TWEAKING FROM MESOETA THROUGH 60 HOURS FOR TEMPS AND WINDS. HAD TO REALLY EDIT THE TEMPS DUE TO MESOETA BEING TOO WARM FROM THE GET GO. FOR THE REST OF THE FORECAST BEEFED UP POPS AND SKY THROUGH FRIDAY PER THE ETA SOLUTION. ZONES AND GRAPHICS ALREADY OUT THE REST WILL FOLLOW SHORTLY. PRELIMINARY CCFS: LOZ 044/053 044/049 037 986 JKL 045/052 043/049 037 986 GREIF PREVIOUS DISCUSSIONS FOLLOW: ===================================================================== 1040 AM EDT TUE APR 8 2003 ELEVATED CONVECTION BREAKING OUT ACROSS THE AREA THIS MORNING. 14Z SFC ANALYSIS SHOWING DOUBLE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER ALABAMA WITH AN INVERTED TROF EXTENDING UP THE WEST SIDE OF THE APPS. REGIONAL RADARS SHOWING TWO DISTINCT AREAS OF ACTIVITY. THE FIRST IS JUST WEST OF OUR CWA NEAR KLEX. THIS ACTIVITY WILL CLIP OUR NORTHERN COUNTIES. A SECOND AND MORE EXPANSIVE AREA OF ACTIVITY IS CURRENTLY OVER MIDDLE TENNESSEE AND HEADING TOWARDS US. CURRENT FORECAST IS IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE. WILL UPDATE POPS IN THE SOUTH TO LIKELY AS TENNESSEE ACTIVITY MOVES NORTH. WILL ALSO OPEN UP TEMP RANGES A BIT AS WELL. NEW GRIDS/RDF/ZONES COMING SHORTLY. JARVIS
KYZ044-050>052-058>060-068-069-079-080-083>088-104-106>120-101100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 530 AM EDT WED APR 9 2003 ...FLOOD WATCH FOR MUCH EASTERN KENTUCKY THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL OF OVER ONE INCH IS POSSIBLE TODAY ACROSS EASTERN KENTUCKY. THIS COULD CAUSE SOME SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS TO RISE OUT OF THEIR BANKS OR TOP LOW WATER CROSSINGS. MUD AND ROCKSLIDES WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY HEAVY RAIN WITH OVER ONE INCH OF ACCUMULATION IS POSSIBLE ON THURSDAY. THIS COULD CAUSE STREAMS AND CREEKS TO RISE OUT OF THEIR BANKS AND LEAD TO SOME RIVER FLOODING ON THURSDAY OR FRIDAY. ALSO...THE ATMOSPHERE MAY BE COOL ENOUGH TO ALLOW FOR SOME SNOW OVER THE HIGHEST ELEVATIONS SUCH AS PINE AND BLACK MOUNTAINS EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. ACCUMULATIONS...IF ANY...ARE EXPECTED TO BE LIGHT. HOWEVER...THERE IS A LOT OF UNCERTAINTY IN HOW COLD THE AIR MIGHT BE AND THIS WOULD EFFECT ANY ACCUMULATIONS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. DUSTY
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Cumberland River in Williamsburg crested at 28.71 feet at 22:48 EST.
The Cumberland River in Pineville crested at 1002.40 feet at 12:00 EST.
The Cumberland River in Barbourville crested at 32.89 feet at 13:00 EST.
The Kentucky River in Heidelberg crested at 21.12 feet at 15:51 EST.
The Cumberland River in Pineville crested at 1004.57 feet at 03:30 EST.
The North Fork of the Kentucky River in Hazard crested at 20.36 feet at 01:02 EST.
The South Fork of the Kentucky River in Booneville crested at 28.29 feet at 12:00 EST.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, April 2003
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: 5351139, 5351136, 5351138, 5351142, 5351137, 5351140, 5351141.