2 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 Feb 15, 3:00 AM EST, 6 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 300 AM EST SAT FEB 15 2003 INTERESTING BUT MESSY FORECAST FOR THE UPCOMING WEEKEND. AT 07Z...THE WARM FRONT SPLIT THE FORECAST AREA FROM NORTH TO SOUTH WITH BULK OF THE RAIN ALONG AND NORTH OF THE FRONT. SOUTHERN KENTUCKY RECEIVED 1.5 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN YESTERDAY EVENING WITH A COUPLE OF REPORTS OF MINOR FLOODING WHILE THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA RECEIVED GENERALLY ONE HALF TO ONE INCH OF RAIN. THE WARM FRONT SHOULD SAG SLOWLY SOUTH TODAY AS LOW PRESSURE MOVES INTO THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY. THUS...THE HEAVY RAINFALL SHOULD SLIDE SOUTHWARD BACK INTO SOUTHERN KENTUCKY WHERE MARGINAL CONVECTIVE INSTABILITY WILL BE PRESENT (DECREASING THETAE WITH HEIGHT) THUS A CHANCE OF ELEVATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE IN ORDER FOR THAT AREA TODAY AND THIS EVENING. FURTHER NORTH...CONTINUED NORTHEAST FLOW ALOFT WILL ALLOW SURFACE TEMPERATURES TO COOL TO JUST BELOW FREEZING BY THIS AFTERNOON ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 64...AND AROUND FREEZING ALONG THE WESTERN KENTUCKY AND BLUEGRASS PARKWAYS LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR TOWARD EVENING. THE COLD AIR IS RATHER SHALLOW...ONLY A COUPLE THOUSAND FEET DEEP AS SHOWN ON THE THE ETA BUFKIT PROFILES...THUS THE WARM AIR ALOFT WILL MELT ANY PRECIPITATION...LEADING TO A FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET EVENT ACROSS THE NORTH HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA. THE ENERGY METHOD OF PRECIP TYPE (BUFKIT) LEADS TO A PURE FREEZING RAIN EVENT...HOWEVER MORE INCLINED TO THINK THERE WILL LIKELY BE SOME SLEET MIXED IN. THESE TRENDS WILL CONTINUE OVERNIGHT...WITH OCCASIONALLY FREEZING RAIN...SLEET OR FREEZING DRIZZLE ACROSS THE NORTH. TEMPERATURES WILL RANGE FROM THE MID 20S NORTH TO JUST ABOVE FREEZING IN THE SOUTH. SOME SHELTERED LOCATIONS ACROSS THE SOUTH MAY SEE SPOTTY FREEZING RAIN...BUT PREDOMINANTLY A LIQUID EVENT SOUTH HALF. THE MODELS BEGIN TO DIVERGE AFTER 36 HOURS...WITH THE GFS FOCUSING MORE OF THE ENERGY EAST OF THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS...WHILE THE PREFERRED ETA/UKMET/CANADIAN SOLUTION DEVELOPS SOMEWHAT OF A DOUBLE BARRELED STRUCTURE...WITH A LOW IN THE TENNESSEE VALLEY. THE PREFERRED SOLUTION WOULD LEAD TO MORE QPF ACROSS OUR FORECAST AREA ON SUNDAY THAN THE GFS WOULD IMPLY...THUS A CONTINUED THREAT OF FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET ACROSS THE NORTH...WHILE AGAIN...PREDOMINANTLY RAIN ACROSS THE SOUTH. LOCAL MM5 MODEL INDICATES A 36 HOUR QPF ACROSS THE SOUTHERN FORECAST AREA RANGES FROM 2 TO NEAR 2.5 INCHES. WITH SATURATED GROUND ACROSS THE SOUTH...AND POTENTIAL FOR A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF ADDITIONAL QPF...WILL ISSUE A FLOOD WATCH THROUGH SUNDAY FOR THOSE AREAS. OVERALL...ACROSS THE NORTH HALF...THE PROBABILITY OF SIGNIFICANT ICING WILL BE LOW BOTH TODAY AND TONIGHT...THUS WE WILL ISSUE A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE NORTH HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH SUNDAY. HOWEVER...IF THE HEAVIER QPF OCCURS WE MAY NEED TO UPGRADE THIS TO A WINTER STORM OR AN ICE WARNING ON THE DAY SHIFT IF NECESSARY. AS THE COLDER AIR ALOFT RUSHES IN AS THE LOW MOVES AWAY FROM THE REGION SUNDAY NIGHT...THE PRECIPITATION SHOULD CHANGE FROM WEST TO EAST FROM THE FREEZING RAIN/SLEET MIXTURE TO SNOW. STILL TOO EARLY TO TELL...BUT IF THE ETA MODEL PANS OUT...THE EVENT WOULD WIND DOWN WITH AN INCH OR SO OF SNOW BEFORE ENDING BY DAYBREAK MONDAY. THANKS SO MUCH TO ALL SURROUNDING OFFICES FOR GREAT COORDINATION THIS MORNING. .SDF...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY GENERALLY ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 64. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TONIGHT AND SUNDAY GENERALLY ALONG THE WESTERN KENTUCKY AND BLUEGRASS PARKWAYS. FLOOD WATCH THROUGH SUNDAY ACROSS THE SOUTHERN 1/3 OF FORECAST AREA. VLD
INZ076>079-083-084-089>092-KYZ023>043-045>049-053>057-061>067-070>078 -081-082-161200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 500 AM EST SAT FEB 15 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL KENTUCKY AND SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. PERIODS OF RAIN WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE OUTLOOK AREA THIS MORNING. THEN AS COLDER AIR FLOWS INTO SOUTHERN INDIANA AND NORTHERN AND CENTRAL KENTUCKY, THERE WILL BE THE POSSIBILITY OF SOME FREEZING RAIN OR SLEET THIS AFTERNOON. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN IS POSSIBLE AND MINOR FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE ESPECIALLY OVER THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE STATE, HOWEVER NO MAJOR FLOODING PROBLEMS ARE ANTICIPATED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF RAIN...FREEZING RAIN...SLEET OR SNOW OF LIGHT INTENSITY ON SUNDAY. THIS WILL CREATE HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO, LOCAL MEDIA, AND WEATHER.GOV ON THE INTERNET, FOR UPDATES ON THE ICE POTENTIAL. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. RDC
The Louisville radar (KLVX), 31 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:59 UTC.
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Several automobiles were stranded in high water on Highway 62.
Some creeks and streams were out of their banks.
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, February 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: 5344298, 5344299.