A very large and fast moving cluster of thunderstorms brought widespread severe weather and areal flooding to eastern Kentucky on the afternoon and evening of June 16th. The bulk of the severe weather occurred south of the mountain parkway as a cluster of thunderstorms raced eastward between the Tennessee border and the Hal Rogers Parkway and Highway 80 corridor.
Every event with a place to put it. 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.
A very large and fast moving cluster of thunderstorms brought widespread severe weather and areal flooding to eastern Kentucky on the afternoon and evening of June 16th. The bulk of the severe weather occurred south of the mountain parkway as a cluster of thunderstorms raced eastward between the Tennessee border and the Hal Rogers Parkway and Highway 80 corridor.
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 Jun 15, 10:30 PM EST, 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 1130 PM EDT MON JUN 15 2009 .SHORT TERM.../THE REST OF TONIGHT/...UPDATED JUST WHEN SHOWERS LOOKED LIKE THEY WERE BEGINNING TO DIE DOWN...THEY HAVE COME BACK TO LIFE. THE HEAVIEST OF THESE ARE ALIGNED JUST SOUTHWEST OF A FLEMINGSBURG TO MOREHEAD LINE. SOME OF THE RAINFALL RATES HAVE BEEN IMPRESSIVE AS THESE ARE LOW CENTROID EFFICIENT HEAVY RAINERS. THERE HAS BEEN AN OVERALL WEAKENING TO THESE...BUT NEED TO UPDATE POPS BASED ON CURRENT RADAR TRENDS...ESPECIALLY NEAR THE INTERSTATE 75 CORRIDOR. THE PREVIOUS SHORT TERM FORECAST DISCUSSION FOLLOWS... /THE REST OF TONIGHT/ MULTI CONVECTIVE VORTEX HAS WEAKENED AND WILL EXIT THE AREA IN THE NEXT HOUR OR SO. ONLY A FEW SHOWERS REMAIN ACROSS EASTERN KENTUCKY AT THIS TIME AND DO NOT EXPECT ANY RESURGENCE DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS...AS ATMOSPHERE WILL CONTINUE TO STABILIZE AND NO ADDITIONAL TRIGGERS WILL MOVE IN. PLENTY OF CLOUD COVER REMAINS IN THE WAKE OF THE COMPLEX OF STORMS THAT MOVED THROUGH...AS WELL AS IN ASSOCIATION WITH ANOTHER MORE INTENSE MCS CURRENTLY DROPPING SOUTH ACROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY. THIS SHOULD KEEP ANY WIDESPREAD DENSE FOG IN CHECK AS WELL AS KEEP TEMPERATURES UP IN THE MIDDLE AND UPPER 60S. THE PREVIOUS SHORT TERM FORECAST DISCUSSION FOLLOWS... /TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/ ON TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT A SIGNIFICANT SURFACE LOW PRESSURE IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AND MOVE NORTHEAST OVER THE MIDWEST. THIS WILL BRING FOCUSED WARM AIR ADVECTION AND LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE TO THE LOCAL AREA. POPS WITH THIS PEAK ON TUESDAY NIGHT. WEDNESDAY MORNING THE FOCUS SHIFTS TO OUR EAST AND SOUTHEAST. THE GFS MOS HOLDS ON TO LIKELY POPS OVER MUCH OF THE AREA ON WEDNESDAY. BASED ON MODEL DATA IN BOTH THE GFS AND WRF...THE WRF MOS POPS LOOK MORE REASONABLE... RESTRICTING THE LIKELY POPS ON WEDNESDAY TO OUR FAR SE COUNTIES. WITH LOWER POPS...WILL EXPECT TEMPS ON WEDNESDAY CLOSER TO THE WARMER WRF MOS. HAVE SOME CONCERN FOR REDEVELOPMENT DURING THE DAY WEDNESDAY. THE WRF REMAINS MORE MOIST THAN THE GFS IN THE LOWER LEVELS...AND IF STORMS OCCURRED THEY HAVE A POTENTIAL FOR A SEVERE THREAT DUE TO THE DEGREE OF INSTABILITY AND AMOUNT OF SHEAR ALOFT. SHEAR IS ALSO SUPPORTIVE OF SEVERE WEATHER LATE TUESDAY AND TUESDAY EVENING...BUT THE INSTABILITY MAY BE A LIMITING FACTOR. .LONG TERM.../WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/ THE PERIOD STARTS OUT WARM AND HUMID AS AN H5 RIDGE CENTERED OVER TEXAS RIDGES NORTHEASTWARD INTO THE TENNESSEE VALLEY. THIS WILL ONLY BE A TEMPORARY START TO SUMMER THOUGH AS PROGS INDICATE A SHARP TROUGH DIVES INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST AND ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY. AS A RESULT... A COLD FRONT SHOULD PUSH SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE AREA FRIDAY NIGHT OR SATURDAY MORNING... BRINGING A DRIER AND SLIGHTLY COOLER AIRMASS INTO THE REGION FOR SUNDAY AND MONDAY. PROGS ARE FAIRLY SIMILAR IN HANDLING THESE EVENTS WITH NO BIG DISCREPANCIES SO FORECASTER CONFIDENCE IN THE DETAILS IS REASONABLY HIGH. A WARM FRONT SHOULD BE JUST TO OUR NORTH WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY... CLOSE ENOUGH FOR LOW CHANCE POPS. THE BUILDING RIDGE SHOULD THEN SUPPRESS MOST OF THE CONVECTION THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY... ALTHOUGH WILL HOLD ONTO A 20 POP FOR ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT MAY FIRE DURING THE HEAT OF THE DAY. WE WILL THEN CONTINUE CHANCE POPS FOR THE PROGGED FRONTAL PASSAGE FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. THE CASE COULD THEN BE MADE FOR A POP MENTION SUNDAY AND MONDAY AS ANY DISTURBANCE DROPPING DOWN IN THE NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT COULD SPONSOR CONVECTION... BUT WILL SIDE WITH A DRY FORECAST FOR NOW AS CONFIDENCE IN THAT OCCURRING IS JUST TOO LOW AT THIS TIME. AS FOR TEMPS... PROGS INDICATE A 20C PLUS 850 MB AIRMASS BUILDING INTO THE AREA THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. THIS COULD EASILY SUPPORT LOW TO MID 90 HIGH TEMPS BUT WILL GENERALLY SIDE WITH THE COOLER GFSX MOS NUMBERS AS WE SEEM TO BE HAVING TROUBLE REALLY WARMING UP SO FAR THIS YEAR... NO DOUBT DUE TO HOW WET IT HAS BEEN. THE HUMID AIRMASS WILL ALSO KEEP LOW TEMPS RATHER UNCOMFORTABLY AROUND 70 WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. COOLER TEMPS ARE THEN EXPECTED BEHIND THE FRONT SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY WITH FORECAST TEMPS DROPPING BACK TOWARD CLIMO. && .AVIATION.../00Z TO 24Z/ SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS PRETTY MUCH DIED AS THEY MOVED ACROSS EASTERN KENTUCKY. WITH THE RESIDUAL MOISTURE...SOME PLACES LIKE JKL WENT DOWN TO IFR...HOWEVER SHOULD RETURN TO MVFR OR VFR UNTIL IT GOES BACK DOWN TO IFR NEAR DAWN. THE BIG QUESTION IS HOW WILL THE OVERCAST CLOUDS EFFECT THE FOG FORMATION. IF THE CLOUDS BREAK OUT...THEN THE FOG WILL MOST LIKELY GET WORSE. LOZ AND SME GOT A WHOLE LOT MORE RAIN IN THE AREA AND ARE A BIT LOWER IN ELEVATION...AND AS SUCH WILL MOST LIKELY BE MUCH LOWER THAN JKL. EXPECT THE FOG TO BREAK OUT BY 9 AM AND THEN FOR SOME MORE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO FORM TOMORROW AFTERNOON. MIGHT SEE SOME TEMPO MVFR CIGS IF HEAVIER SHOWERS ACTUALLY GO OVER THE TAF STATIONS. && .JKL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && SHORT TERM...HAL/GEOGERIAN LONG TERM....ABE AVIATION...JJ
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 438 PM EDT MON JUN 15 2009 KYZ044-050>052-058>060-068-069-079-080-083>088-104-106>120-162345- FLEMING-MONTGOMERY-BATH-ROWAN-ESTILL-POWELL-MENIFEE-ROCKCASTLE- JACKSON-PULASKI-LAUREL-WAYNE-MCCREARY-WHITLEY-KNOX-BELL-HARLAN- ELLIOTT-MORGAN-JOHNSON-WOLFE-MAGOFFIN-FLOYD-LEE-BREATHITT-KNOTT- OWSLEY-PERRY-CLAY-LESLIE-LETCHER-MARTIN-PIKE- 438 PM EDT MON JUN 15 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT. AN ALREADY WET GROUND FROM RECENT RAINFALL...COMBINED WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCALIZED HEAVY RAIN TONIGHT...COULD PRODUCE SOME LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING PROBLEMS. IN ADDITION...LOCALLY DENSE FOG WILL BE POSSIBLE LATE TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE FOR MOST LOCATIONS...MAINLY IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS FROM TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. AN ALREADY WET GROUND FROM RECENT RAINFALL...COMBINED WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERAL ROUNDS OF RAIN THIS WEEK COULD PRODUCE SOME LOCALIZED FLOODING PROBLEMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. HAL/JJ
The Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 93 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:00 UTC.
29 thunderstorm wind, 9 funnel cloud, 2 hail, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
At around 1am, two inches of rain fell in a short period of time in the Ball Fork and Ball Branch area. The emergency manager estimates the flowing water was bout 18 inches deep. This caused extensive damage to roadways and culverts.
Trees and power lines down in Monticello and throughout the county.
Trees were blown down.
A funnel cloud was spotted 10 miles east of Somerset.
A member of the public reported seeing a funnel cloud in Burnside.
Three structures were damaged by thunderstorm wind gusts.
Trees were blown down by thunderstorm wind gusts.
Trees down in Whitley City and throughout the county.
A funnel cloud was spotted heading toward Bald Rock.
A trained spotter estimated winds of up to 60 mph with multiple trees down 3 miles southeast of Whitley City.
Trees were down and blocking Highways 1193 and 192.
Quarter to half dollar size hail occurred. Damage also occurred to trees in Clio.
Trees down and power out across the county.
Two trees were down on Woodbine Avenue.
A sign pole was bent and shifted with part of the logo of the sign blown out.
A funnel cloud was sighted at East Laurel water treatment plant.
A funnel cloud was spotted between 522 and 537 am in Ferguson.
Trees and power lines down.
Trees were blown down. A wind gust of 70 mph was estimated to have occurred.
A funnel cloud was sighted along Old Whitley Road.
Trees were blown down on Highway 119 and at Right Fork.
The public spotted a funnel cloud at mile marker 10 on the Hal Rogers Parkway, moving toward Manchester.
Trees were blown down on Crawfish Road in the Horse Creek area.
A trained spotter reported that 5 trees had been blown down near his and that he had lost power.
Trees were blown down in Whitley City between 553 and 623 pm.
Power lines were blown down.
Trees were blown down.
Power lines were blown down.
One tree was blown down in Cutshin, injuring one person. Other trees were also blown down in the area.
Trees were blown down.
Trees were blown down.
Power lines were downed by thunderstorm wind gusts.
One tree down along Highway 463.
One tree was blown down along Highway 7.
Power lines were blown down.
One tree and several power lines were blown down.
Trees were blown down.
One tree and one power line were blown down.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, June 2009
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: 181247, 181258, 181260, 181263, 181265, 181266, 181267, 181269, 181271, 181248, 181272, 181273, 181274, 181276, 181249, 181281, 181284, 181282, 181283, 181285, 181287, 181289, 181290, 181288, 181291, 181293, 181251, 181294, 181295, 181296, 181297, 181298, 181299, 181300, 181301, 181302, 181303, 181304, 181305, 181306, and more.