An isolated instance of flooding occurred in Rockcastle county on August 16, 2013. The storm that produced the flooding formed in a warm and unstable air mass ahead of an approaching upper level weather system.
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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.
An isolated instance of flooding occurred in Rockcastle county on August 16, 2013. The storm that produced the flooding formed in a warm and unstable air mass ahead of an approaching upper level weather system.
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 Aug 16, 5:08 PM EST, 22 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 608 PM EDT FRI AUG 16 2013 .UPDATE... ISSUED AT 607 PM EDT FRI AUG 16 2013 ISOLATED SHOWERS CONTINUE ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST HALF OF THE CWA. WENT AHEAD AND EXTENDED OUT ISOLATED POTENTIAL IN THE GRIDS FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS...WITH SHOWERS EXPECTED TO LOSE STRENGTH AND DYE OUT AS WE CONTINUE TO LOSE DAYTIME HEATING. REMAINDER OF FORECAST SEEMS TO BE ON TRACK. && .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT) ISSUED AT 315 PM EDT FRI AUG 16 2013 ISOLATED SHOWERS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER NORTHERN PULASKI COUNTY AND OVER SOUTHERN WAYNE COUNTY. WILL CARRY ISOLATED SHOWERS FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS OVER THE SOUTHWEST PART OF THE FORECAST AREA. ISOLATED SHOWERS WILL DISSIPATE QUICKLY BY EARLY EVENING WITH THE LOSS OF DAYTIME HEATING. EVOLVING UPPER AIR PATTERN WILL BRING A BETTER CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE UPCOMING WEEKEND. AS 5H LOW BEGINS TO CLOSE OFF OVER THE MID MS VALLEY EARLY SATURDAY...THE UPPER FLOW ACROSS EASTERN KY BECOMES MORE SOUTHERLY...AND MOISTURE WILL BE ON THE INCREASE WITH DEEPER MOISTURE FINALLY ARRIVING IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE FORECAST AREA SATURDAY AFTERNOON. AT THE SAME TIME AN UPPER LEVEL JET STREAK AHEAD OF THE UPPER LOW WILL BRING BETTER UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT FOR PRECIPITATION. AS SUCH WILL FORECAST SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE FORECAST AREA SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND GO WITH ISOLATED COVERAGE IN THE NORTH. THE UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT WITH THE JET WILL KEEP A CHANCE OF SHOWERS GOING FOR SATURDAY NIGHT AS WELL. TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO RUN A LITTLE BELOW NORMAL THROUGH THE FIRST PART OF THE WEEKEND. .LONG TERM...(SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY) ISSUED AT 315 PM EDT FRI AUG 16 2013 MODELS ARE IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH THE PERIOD BUT HAVE HAD SOME CONSISTENCY ISSUES BEYOND DY5...TUE. ALOFT...THE FORECAST IS DOMINATED BY AN UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER THE MID SOUTH THAT WILL GRADUALLY OPEN UP AND LIFT OUT TO THE NORTHEAST AS A TROUGH ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH SUNDAY AND MONDAY. HOWEVER...IT NOW APPEARS THAT A WEAK DISTURBANCE COULD WILL FILL IN BEHIND THE EXITING SYSTEM ON TUE...RESULTING IN SOME LINGERING TROUGHINESS OVER OUR AREA FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST WINDOW. MODELS HAVE NOT BEEN CONSISTENT WITH THIS SECOND FEATURE...WITH PREVIOUS FORECAST CYCLES SUGGESTING AT LEAST SOME WEAK RIDGING OVER THE REGION. AT THE SFC...A NARROW INVERTED TROUGH EXTENDING FROM THE DEEP SOUTH TO THE OHIO VALLEY WILL DISSIPATE AS THE MAIN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH LIFTS OUT OF OUR AREA AND A LARGE SFC HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM SHIFTS FROM THE LOWER GREAT LAKES TO THE ATLANTIC COAST. WITH HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED OVER THE EAST COAST BY SUNDAY...BOUNDARY LAYER FLOW WILL VEER TO THE SOUTH RESULTING IN A BETTER MOISTURE FETCH AND A MORE SIGNIFICANT THREAT OF RAINFALL ACROSS THE AREA. AT THIS POINT AND UNTIL MODELS RESOLVE CONSISTENCY ISSUES BEYOND TUE...CAN NOT RULE OUT SOME LINGERING... MAINLY DIURNALLY DRIVEN CONVECTION THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE EXTENDED. IN A NUTSHELL...PREFERRED TO KEEP OUR HIGHEST POPS FOCUSED ON THE SUNDAY/MONDAY TIME FRAME WITH A LOWER...MORE DIURNALLY DRIVEN POP IN THE FORECAST FROM TUESDAY THROUGH TO THE END OF THE WEEK AS WE FALL BACK INTO A MORE SUMMER LIKE REGIME. FOR TEMPS...PREFERRED TO LEAN TOWARDS THE BETTER PREFORMING AND COOLER EUROPEAN MOS. OVERALL THIS WILL KEEP OUR HIGHS AT OR SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL LEVELS AND LOWS NEAR NORMAL LEVELS FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SATURDAY AFTERNOON) ISSUED AT 134 PM EDT FRI AUG 16 2013 HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE OHIO VALLEY WILL KEEP MOSTLY VFR CONDITIONS ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH SATURDAY. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON MAINLY SOUTH OF LOZ AND SME...CLOSER TO THE TN BORDER. WHILE SOME FOG IN RIVER VALLEYS CAN BE EXPECTED LATE TONIGHT...FOG IS NOT EXPECTED TO AFFECT THE TAF SITES. MOISTURE WILL BE INCREASING ACROSS THE AREA ON SATURDAY AS AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM TAKES SHAPE OVER THE MID MS VALLEY...AND THIS WILL BRING A BETTER CHANCE OF SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY AFTERNOON. && .JKL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && UPDATE...JMW SHORT TERM...SBH LONG TERM...RAY AVIATION...SBH
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 621 PM EDT FRI AUG 16 2013 KYZ044-050>052-058>060-068-069-079-080-083>088-104-106>120-171400- 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- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...FLEMINGSBURG...MOUNT STERLING... OWINGSVILLE...MOREHEAD...IRVINE...STANTON...FRENCHBURG... MOUNT VERNON...MCKEE...SOMERSET...LONDON...MONTICELLO... WHITLEY CITY...CORBIN...WILLIAMSBURG...BARBOURVILLE...MIDDLESBORO... PINEVILLE...HARLAN...SANDY HOOK...WEST LIBERTY...PAINTSVILLE... CAMPTON...SALYERSVILLE...PRESTONSBURG...BEATTYVILLE...JACKSON... HINDMAN...BOONEVILLE...HAZARD...MANCHESTER...HYDEN...WHITESBURG... INEZ...PIKEVILLE 621 PM EDT FRI AUG 16 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS EVENING...MAINLY OVER THE CUMBERLAND VALLEY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AT TIMES SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...MAINLY DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. SBH/JMW
The Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 100 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:28 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Water was flowing across Hwy 2250.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, August 2013
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: 466125.