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 Louisville, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 31, 5:39 PM EST, 21 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 639 PM EDT SUN AUG 31 2003 UPDATED ZONES TO ADD FLOOD WATCH FOR THE KENTUCKY COUNTIES. TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT FOR A FEW SOUTHERN INDIANA COUNTIES. ...PREVIOUS AFD... .SHORT TERM... A WARM FRONT WAS LOCATED FROM NORTH OF EVV TO SDF AND JUST SOUTH OF LEX AT 18Z. S/W ENERGY MOVING ACROSS CENTRAL INDIANA WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SHOWERS ACROSS THE NORTH PORTION OF OUR COUNTY FORECAST AREA AND SOUTHERN INDIANA FOR MUCH OF THE MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST PORTION OF THE CFA IN THE UNSTABLE AIRMASS SOUTH OF THE WARM FRONT. INTERESTING FORECAST FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY. THE MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT ON SHIFTING THE WARM FRONT NORTH INTO CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND INDIANA FROM A SURFACE LOW OVER MISSOURI. MOISTURE FROM T.D. GRACE WILL STREAM NORTH INTO OKLAHOMA, KANSAS, AND MISSOURI TONIGHT AND MONDAY AND WORK ITS WAY EAST ALONG THE WARM FRONT. CURRENT INDICATIONS ARE THAT THE BULK OF THIS MOISTURE WILL REMAIN NORTH AND WEST OF OUR CFA. THE SURFACE LOW WILL SHIFT EAST TO OHIO BY TUESDAY MORNING. DURING THIS TRANSITION, WIND FIELDS WILL INCREASE ACROSS THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY MONDAY AFTERNOON. WE EXPECT THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP DURING THE AFTERNOON WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR WIND DAMAGE. FOR THIS REASON THE SPC AS PUT MUCH OF THE CFA IN A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER MONDAY. A TRAILING COLD FRONT WILL CROSS KENTUCKY TUESDAY BUT WILL LINGER ACROSS THE LOWER OHIO AND TENNESSEE VALLEY INTO WEDNESDAY. .EXTENDED DISCUSSION (WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY)... BEGINNING OF THE PERIOD STILL CONTAINS MUCH UNCERTAINTY TO WHEN THE OLD FRONTAL BOUNDARY KICKS OFF TO THE EAST. 12Z GFS INDICATES REINFORCING SHORTWAVE TROUGH RIDES OVER STALLED BOUNDARY ON THURSDAY AND GENERATES ANOTHER SFC WAVE AND ADDITIONAL PRECIP. OLD EUROPEAN INDICATES UPPER TROUGH WILL STILL BE OVER THE OH VALLEY BY NEXT SATURDAY. FOR NOW WILL CONTINUE A DRY FORECAST ON THURSDAY DUE TO THE UNCERTAINTY. WILL INCREASE SKY CONDITION TO PARTLY CLOUDY THROUGH THE PERIOD AND TEMPS A NUDGE BELOW CLIMATOLOGY...AROUND 60 FOR LOWS AND AROUND 80 FOR HIGHS. .LMK...FFA FOR THE KENTUCKY COUNTIES IN CENTRAL KENTUCKY UNTIL 8 AM EDT. JA/JB
INZ076>079-083-084-089>092-KYZ023>043-045>049-053>057-061>067- 070>078-081-082-011100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 1100 AM EDT SUN AUG 31 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL KENTUCKY AND SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. A FRONTAL BOUNDARY ACROSS CENTRAL KENTUCKY WILL GRADUALLY LIFT NORTH THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE FRONT. ABUNDANT MOISTURE ALREADY IN PLACE SUGGESTS THAT SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN...WITH LOCAL FLASH FLOODING A POSSIBILITY. GUSTY WINDS AND LIGHTNING WILL ALSO OCCUR. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. WARM AND VERY HUMID CONDITIONS WILL HELP PROMOTE MORE THUNDERSTORMS ON LABOR DAY. ROBUST WIND FIELDS...ON MONDAY AFTERNOON AND MONDAY NIGHT...MAY ALLOW A FEW STORMS TO REACH SEVERE LIMITS WITH DAMAGING WINDS POSSIBLE. MEANWHILE...A HEAVY RAIN THREAT WILL ALSO PERSIST MONDAY. A COLD FRONT WILL GRADUALLY EDGE ITS WAY THROUGH OUR REGION EITHER LATE MONDAY NIGHT OR TUESDAY...WITH A CHANCE OF MORE THUNDERSTORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER REPORTS FOR HEAVY RAIN ARE ENCOURAGED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. JA
The Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 112 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:02 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rains caused area creeks and small streams to flow out of their banks. Roadways, underpasses, and low lying areas were flooded. Several vehicles were stranded in water on Nicholasville and Richmond Roads in Lexington.
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: 5377099.