Heavy rains fell over central Kentucky and south central Indiana in late November. Flood waters from these rains reached lower reaches of the Ohio River in early December.
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 LMK wrote it up.
Heavy rains fell over central Kentucky and south central Indiana in late November. Flood waters from these rains reached lower reaches of the Ohio River in early December.
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 Dec 1, 3:12 AM EST, 1 hour 48 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 312 AM EST THU DEC 01 2011 .Short Term (Today and Tonight)... High pressure over the Ohio Valley and flat ridging aloft will be the dominant features in the short term, and the biggest forecast challenge will be the fog potential through the early or mid-morning hours today. Areas of fog have developed across south-central Kentucky, with some patchy river valley fog evident in the 11-3.9 satellite imagery and Lake Cumberland webcams. Expect the river valley fog to hang on for the remainder of the night, but low-level moisture is shallow enough that it should dissipate quickly just after daybreak. Afternoon max temps should be roughly 7-10 degrees warmer than Wednesday based on low-level thickness trends. Will go around 50 in Indiana and the Bluegrass, and mid-50s down along the KY/TN border, leaning toward the warmer GFS MOS. Min temps tonight should also be a few degrees warmer due to slightly stronger boundary-layer winds, which will also lessen the fog potential. .Long term (Friday - Wednesday)... A strong jet stream diving south along the British Columbian coast will bring reinforcing energy to an already established positively tilted trough over Arizona. This will keep troughing across the Desert Southwest in place through at least Sunday with an increasingly fast jet stream forecast to extend from the southern plains through the Western Great Lakes. Across the Lower Ohio Valley, clear skies and seasonal temperatures will continue through early Saturday as high pressure passes just to our north. Expect light and variable winds Friday with highs not far from 50 degrees. South winds will begin Saturday as high pressure moves to our east. A distinct warmup is expected Saturday with highs in the mid to upper 50s. A surface trough will develop late Saturday from Oklahoma through Wisconsin. This surface trough, being parallel to the upper jet will only move very slowly to the east. Moisture will stream northeast along this boundary and showers will move into southwestern Indiana and western Kentucky early Sunday morning. Showers, or more likely, a widespread area of rain will overspread the Commonwealth by late Sunday and will likely continue at least through Monday morning. Both the latest operational GFS and ECMWF hint at this boundary hanging up across southeast Kentucky for a time Monday while a second disturbance rides northeast along this front. Showers will likely continue through Tuesday morning across our far southern counties along with eastern sections of our state. Depending on the exact track of this second feature, widespread soaking rains are possible along and southeast of the Cumberland Parkway. Cooler temperatures filtering into southern Indiana Tuesday night and Wednesday morning may bring some light snow or flurries along and north of the Ohio River. Highs Wednesday may struggle to get out of the 30s. && .Aviation (06Z TAF Issuance)... High pressure will keep winds light and skies mostly clear during this TAF period. The only question is fog. Right now it looks like the worst of any fog development Thursday morning will stay to the east and south of the terminals. Will throw in a TEMPO MVFR BR at BWG for just a few hours since they fog in so easily. Could see a brief dip to 5SM at LEX around dawn but will leave that out of the TAF at this time since chances are low and any restriction would be brief. && .LMK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IN...NONE. KY...NONE. Short Term.......RAS Long Term........JSD Aviation.........13
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 434 AM EST THU DEC 1 2011 INZ076>079-083-084-089>092-KYZ023>043-045>049-053>057-061>064-067- 070>072-020945- ORANGE IN-WASHINGTON IN-SCOTT IN-JEFFERSON IN-DUBOIS IN- CRAWFORD IN-PERRY IN-HARRISON IN-FLOYD IN-CLARK IN-HANCOCK KY- BRECKINRIDGE KY-MEADE KY-OHIO KY-GRAYSON KY-HARDIN KY-BULLITT KY- JEFFERSON KY-OLDHAM KY-TRIMBLE KY-HENRY KY-SHELBY KY-FRANKLIN KY- SCOTT KY-HARRISON KY-SPENCER KY-ANDERSON KY-WOODFORD KY- FAYETTE KY-BOURBON KY-NICHOLAS KY-NELSON KY-WASHINGTON KY- MERCER KY-JESSAMINE KY-CLARK KY-LARUE KY-MARION KY-BOYLE KY- GARRARD KY-MADISON KY-BUTLER KY-EDMONSON KY-HART KY-GREEN KY- LINCOLN KY-LOGAN KY-WARREN KY-SIMPSON KY- 434 AM EST THU DEC 1 2011 /334 AM CST THU DEC 1 2011/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA AND CENTRAL KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. A COLD FRONT WILL BRING PRECIPITATION TO THE AREA SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY. RAIN MAY MIX WITH LIGHT SNOW BEFORE PRECIPITATION ENDS LATE MONDAY INTO TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. KYZ065-066-073>078-081-082-020945- TAYLOR KY-CASEY KY-ALLEN KY-BARREN KY-MONROE KY-METCALFE KY- ADAIR KY-RUSSELL KY-CUMBERLAND KY-CLINTON KY- 434 AM EST THU DEC 1 2011 /334 AM CST THU DEC 1 2011/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA AND CENTRAL KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. PATCHY FOG WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING...ESPECIALLY IN VALLEYS. VISIBILITIES MAY BE LOCALLY REDUCED TO A HALF MILE OR LESS AT TIMES. WITH TEMPERATURES FALLING IN THE 20S SOME SLICK SPOTS WILL BE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY ON BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. A COLD FRONT WILL BRING PRECIPITATION TO THE AREA SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY. RAIN MAY MIX WITH LIGHT SNOW AS PRECIPITATION ENDS LATE MONDAY INTO TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. RAS
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 256 AM EST THU DEC 1 2011 KYZ066-075-077-078-081-082-011300- CASEY KY-MONROE KY-ADAIR KY-RUSSELL KY-CUMBERLAND KY-CLINTON KY- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...LIBERTY...TOMPKINSVILLE...COLUMBIA... JAMESTOWN...BURKESVILLE...ALBANY 256 AM EST THU DEC 1 2011 /156 AM CST THU DEC 1 2011/ ...PATCHY DENSE FOG THROUGH DAYBREAK... AREAS OF FOG WILL PERSIST THROUGH SUNRISE ACROSS PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY. VISIBILITIES WILL BE LOCALLY REDUCED TO A HALF MILE OR LESS AT TIMES...ESPECIALLY NEAR LAKES AND IN RIVER VALLEYS. MOTORISTS SHOULD USE CAUTION AND BE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING VISIBILITIES. RAS
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Ohio River at Tell City crested around 38.0 feet early in the morning of December 1, and remained steady near that level through December 2. Flood stage at Tell City is 38 feet. Minor flooding occurs at this level with parts of Indiana Highway 66 covered by water.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Indiana in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Indiana, December 2011
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: 358199.