Isolated, nearly stationary showers and thunderstorms produced locally heavy rainfall. The activity occurred in the vicinity of a weak inverted surface trough extending northward into the Lower Ohio Valley.
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 PAH wrote it up.
Isolated, nearly stationary showers and thunderstorms produced locally heavy rainfall. The activity occurred in the vicinity of a weak inverted surface trough extending northward into the Lower Ohio Valley.
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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 23, 12:03 PM CST, 1 hour 47 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 103 PM CDT WED SEP 23 2009 .UPDATE... UPDATED FOR THE 18Z TAF ISSUANCE. && .DISCUSSION... MAIN AJDUSTMENT FOR THIS AFTERNOON IS TWO-FOLD. FIRST...MINOR SHORTWAVE/INSTABILITY TROUGH MOVING NORTHEAST FROM ARKANSAS IS ALREADY ENHANCING LIFT AND INCREASING THE CLOUD SHIELD ACROSS THE STATE. THIS SHOULD INCREASE CLOUD COVER ACROSS THE AREA TO 80-90 PERCENT OPAQUE LEVEL. THERE MAY...HOWEVER...BE ENOUGH BREAKS TO ALLOW FOR TEMPERATURES TO QUICKLY RISE NEAR 80 DEGREES ACROSS PARTS OF SERN MO AND SWRN IL DURING THE EARLY AFTERNOON HOURS. SECONDLY...THE WORDING FOR PRECIPTATION WAS ADJUSTED FROM PROBABILITY TO COVERAGE WORDING AND ADDED A MENTION OF LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...MAINLY OVER WESTERN KENTUCKY THIS AFTERNOON. I BLENDED DOWNWARD SLIGHTLY ON POP/QPF FOR THE AFTERNOON...BUT THE TREND REMAINS THE SAME. WINDS/TEMPERATURES/DEWPOINTS WERE ADJUSTED CLOSED TO THE RUC/SREF SOLUTIONS AT THIS TIME. DISCUSSION... RATHER CHALLENGING FORECAST AT HAND...AS MODELS CONTINUE TO EXHIBIT DIFFICULTY IN HANDLING PRECIPITATION FORECAST IN SOUTHERLY FLOW EAST OF CUT-OFF LOW CIRCULATION OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS. I HAVE LITTLE CONFIDENCE IN LATEST RUNS...ALTHOUGH THE 06Z NAM DOES AT LEAST SEEM TO BE HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. 00Z GFS WAS WAY TOO FAR WEST WITH ITS QPF PLACEMENT OVERNIGHT. AFTER A LITTLE MORE DIGGING... FOUND THE 00Z CANADIAN TO BE QUITE REPRESENTATIVE OF CURRENT CONDITIONS...AT LEAST WITH RESPECT TO OUR IMMEDIATE AREA. ALSO UTILIZED THE 00Z ARW WRF OUTPUT FROM THE WFO LSX WEB PAGE THROUGH ABOUT THE FIRST 18-24 HOURS. ALL OF THIS EQUATES TO A DRASTIC DECREASE IN PRECIP CHANCES TODAY...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE NORTHWEST 1/2-2/3 OF THE AREA. GIVEN THE RELATIVE LACK OF INSTABILITY AND THE LATEST SPC DAY 1 OUTLOOK...HAVE REMOVED ANY MENTION OF THUNDER FROM ALL BUT THE SOUTHERN PENNYRILE REGION OF WESTERN KENTUCKY FOR TODAY. WILL CARRY THROUGH WITH SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR SHOWERS TONIGHT... GIVEN THE LACK OF NIGHTTIME ACTIVITY THE LAST COUPLE OF NIGHTS. WILL CONTINUE WITH INCREASING SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM CHANCES THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AS THE CUT-OFF LOW FINALLY BEGINS TO MOVE. AT THIS POINT...FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT STILL PRESENT THE BEST RAIN CHANCE AS THE INITIAL TROUGH/FRONT MOVES THROUGH. WHILE SHOWER CHANCES CANNOT BE RULED OUT ON SATURDAY...MODELS ARE IN DECENT AGREEMENT THAT SUNDAY WILL BE DRY...SO PULLED RAIN CHANCES THERE. PASSAGE OF A STRONG FRONTAL BOUNDARY SUNDAY NIGHT WILL USHER IN MUCH COOLER AND DRIER AIR TO START THE FIRST FULL WEEK OF AUTUMN. THE DRY WEATHER SHOULD STICK AROUND FOR A GOOD PART OF NEXT WEEK AS AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS EAST FROM THE WESTERN U.S. GENERALLY USED A BLEND OF GOING FORECAST TEMPERATURES AND MOS GUIDANCE FOR THE SHORT TERM. && .AVIATION... CONVECTIVE THREAT WILL BE LOW THIS AFTERNOON. FEEL THAT BEST CHANCES FOR BONAFIDE THUNDER WILL BE THIS AFTERNOON OVER THE PENNYRILE OF WEST KENTUCKY...INCLUDING THE KOWB TERMINAL. WITH PLENTY OF CLOUD COVER EXPECTED THROUGHOUT THE AREA TONIGHT...SHOULD NOT SEE MUCH FOG. HOWEVER...AS LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WORKS A BIT FARTHER WEST OVERNIGHT...ALL TAF SITES WILL LIKELY SEE MVFR...POSSIBLY IFR CIGS. WILL LIKELY SEE SOME IMPROVEMENT IN CIGS AFTER 15Z THURSDAY. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...NONE. MO...NONE. IL...NONE. IN...NONE. && JAP/KES
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 502 AM CDT WED SEP 23 2009 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-241000- JEFFERSON-WAYNE IL-EDWARDS-WABASH-PERRY IL-FRANKLIN-HAMILTON- WHITE-JACKSON-WILLIAMSON-SALINE-GALLATIN-UNION IL-JOHNSON-POPE- HARDIN-ALEXANDER-PULASKI-MASSAC-GIBSON-PIKE-POSEY-VANDERBURGH- WARRICK-SPENCER-FULTON-HICKMAN-CARLISLE-BALLARD-MCCRACKEN-GRAVES- LIVINGSTON-MARSHALL-CALLOWAY-CRITTENDEN-LYON-TRIGG-CALDWELL- UNION KY-WEBSTER-HOPKINS-CHRISTIAN-HENDERSON-DAVIESS-MCLEAN- MUHLENBERG-TODD-PERRY MO-BOLLINGER-CAPE GIRARDEAU-WAYNE MO-CARTER- RIPLEY-BUTLER-STODDARD-SCOTT-MISSISSIPPI-NEW MADRID- 502 AM CDT WED SEP 23 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TODAY ACROSS PORTIONS OF WESTERN KENTUCKY...GENERALLY SOUTHEAST OF A LINE FROM MAYFIELD TO OWENSBORO. SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED...BUT ANY THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY MAY PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE REST OF THE WEEK...PEAKING FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT. THE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. SEVERE WEATHER DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE A SIGNIFICANT CONCERN LATE IN THE WEEK...BUT ITS POTENTIAL CANNOT BE ENTIRELY ELIMINATED AT THIS POINT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION SHOULD NOT BE NEEDED. RJP
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
A few secondary roads were closed throughout the county for a short period of time due to high water.
Standing water was observed along Highway 132 West for a short period of time.
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, September 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: 194433, 194434.