2 heavy rain, 1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 Louisville, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 11, 1:20 PM EST, 2 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 220 PM EDT MON AUG 11 2003 .SHORT TERM DISCUSSION... A PERSISTENT UPPER LEVEL TROUGH ANCHORED OVER THE GREAT LAKES AND OHIO VALLEY WILL FINALLY MOVE OUT OF THE REGION DURING THIS FORECAST PERIOD. A CLOSED UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON WILL GRADUALLY RETROGRADE SOUTHWEST AND EVENTUALLY END UP OVER THE FOUR CORNERS REGION OF THE SOUTHWEST STATES. IN ITS PLACE A WESTERN ATLANTIC RIDGE WILL INCH INTO THE EASTERN PORTION OF THE UNITES STATES INCLUDING THE OHIO VALLEY. IN THE INTERIM WE WILL STILL NEED TO MENTION CHC POPS ACROSS THE AREA TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AS AN INVERTED LOW LEVEL TROUGH DEVELOPS OVER KENTUCKY. WE WILL GO WITH A DRY FORECAST THURSDAY AS THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE REALLY BEGINS TO TAKE HOLD. IN ADDITION WE WILL SEE A RETURN TO AVERAGE OF ABOVE AVERAGE MID AUGUST TEMPERATURES WITH READINGS TOPPING OUT AROUND 90 BY THE END OF THE WEEK. .EXTENDED DISCUSSION (THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY)... UPPER HIGH PRES RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER THE FA EARLY IN THE PERIOD. HOT AND HUMID WEATHER...NOT UNCOMMON OF LATE SUMMER IN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHERN INDIANA...IS EXPECTED TO RETURN BY THE END OF THE WORK WEEK. HIGHS AROUND 90 AND LOWS AROUND 70 WILL BE FORECAST EARLY IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD. AS RIDGE BREAKS UP OVER THE WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK...TEMPS WILL FALL BACK TO NEAR CLIMATOLOGY. STRONG UPPER LEVEL IMPULSE FORECAST BY MODELS LATE IN THE WEEK TO DROP THROUGH THE NORTHERN GRT LAKES TROUGH...HWVR DUE TO LACK OF ANY CERTAINTY IN REGARD TO THIS SYSTEM...WILL CONTINUE TO FORECAST NO PRECIPITATION THROUGH THE PERIOD. .LMK...NONE. JA/JMB
INZ076>079-083-084-089>092-KYZ023>043-045>049-053>057-061>067- 070>078-081-082-121100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 345 PM EDT MON AUG 11 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL KENTUCKY AND SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE OUTLOOK AREA THROUGH MIDNIGHT. SOME OF THE STRONGER STORMS WILL PRODUCE SMALL HAIL, GUSTY WINDS, DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING, AND A BRIEF PERIOD OF VERY HEAVY RAIN. A FEW LOCATIONS MAY SEE AN INCH OR 2 OF RAIN WITHIN AND HOUR. PATCHY DENSE FOG MAY DEVELOP LATE TONIGHT MAINLY IN LOCATIONS THAT EXPERIENCED RAIN DURING TODAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AGAIN TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. AS IN PREVIOUS DAYS...THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD DEVELOP DURING THE AFTERNOON AND DIMINISH BY MIDNIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. JA
The Louisville radar (KLVX), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:27 UTC.
2 heavy rain, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Water was flowing over Highway 259 at the Bear Creek Bridge.
Highway 224 was flooded in spots in eastern Grayson County.
Main Street in downtown Leitchfield was flooded.
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, August 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: 5376856, 5376857, 5376858.