Thunderstorms with torrential rainfall moved slowly across the same areas, producing up to three inches of rain per hour in very isolated spots. The storms occurred within a very moist southwest low level wind flow.
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.
Thunderstorms with torrential rainfall moved slowly across the same areas, producing up to three inches of rain per hour in very isolated spots. The storms occurred within a very moist southwest low level wind flow. Surface dew points were in the lower 70's. The storms were aided by a rather sharp 500 mb shortwave trough over Missouri.
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 Aug 30, 7:03 AM CST, 3 hours 57 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 803 AM CDT Sat Aug 30 2014 .UPDATE... Issued at 803 AM CDT Sat Aug 30 2014 Updated aviation discussion only. && .SHORT TERM...(Today through Monday) Issued at 322 AM CDT SAT AUG 30 2014 A mid level shrtwv trof moving ewd across the upper Midwest is forecast to shear out this weekend as it impinges on a dominant sern CONUS ridge. As a result, deep flow over the PAH forecast area will remain srly/swrly, drawing Gulf moisture into our region. This, combined with instability, will allow shower and tstm activity to become common today, especially in the wrn half of the region. As the main trof axis approaches Sat night/Sunday, a sfc wave may develop just ahead of it, making showers/tstms most likely in the sern half of the region, and possibly producing some heavier rainfall rates especially in the Pennyrile region of KY. Precipitable water figures are expected to be in excess of two inches across most of the area. However, at this time, a FF watch does not seem warranted, based on current flash flood guidance. With the passage of what's left of the trof axis Sunday afternoon, pcpn should wane from west to east, leaving Sunday night mostly dry with partly cloudy skies. By Mon, another shrtwv trof moving through the Great Lakes region is progged to push a sfc cold front into the central Plains. Just ahead of the trof axis, there may be enough lift for some convective activity to develop mainly in the nrn half of our region in the afternoon. While lows will remain mostly in the lower 70s, highs will be noticeably cooler for the next couple of days due to pcpn and cloud cover. Mid 80s will be common over the weekend, before rebounding a bit by Mon. .LONG TERM...(Monday Night through Friday) Issued at 322 AM CDT SAT AUG 30 2014 At the beginning of the long term portion of the forecast, a developing frontal system will enter our northern and western counties, as a long wave trof drops down across the upper MS valley. The boundary then lays out across the area Tuesday, and goes quasi-stationary, before returning as a warm sector boundary, Tuesday night into Wednesday. As a result, Pops range from the mid to high chance category thru Wednesday. After that, broader high pressure over the southern U.S. results in sufficient height rises in our area to diminish daily Pops to a slgt chance mention, particularly for the heat of the day possibility of storms, through Thursday. Friday sees the High effectively silence pops out of mention, though an isolated chance possibility cannot be completely ruled out. Temps look to hold near summer like values within just a few degrees of 90 and 70 for highs and lows through the entire extended portion of the forecast. && .AVIATION... Issued at 803 AM CDT SAT AUG 30 2014 As a disturbance in the upper levels of the atmosphere approaches our area...shower and tstm activity will eventually expand ewd into all the taf sites today, but timing will continue to be difficult to forecast. Thunder could occur at any time today, so VCTS wording was used for much of the daylight hours. Mainly VFR vsbys are expected where it is not raining, but vsbys will likely be highly variable since the showers/tstms could be heavy. A break in the shower activity appears likely Saturday evening in the wake of the upper level disturbance, but with all the moisture around, at least MVFR fog is likely in the wee hours. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...NONE. MO...NONE. IN...NONE. KY...NONE. && SHORT TERM...DB LONG TERM...DH AVIATION...DB
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 448 AM CDT SAT AUG 30 2014 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-311000- 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- 448 AM CDT SAT AUG 30 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWESTERN INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL BE MOST COMMON OVER SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI...SOUTHWESTERN ILLINOIS...AND THE PURCHASE AREA OF KENTUCKY TODAY...THOUGH AT LEAST SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO OCCUR ACROSS THE REST OF THE REGION. THE MAIN HAZARDS WITH THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCLUDE FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL. SOME STRONG WIND GUSTS CANNOT BE RULED OUT IN WESTERN KENTUCKY THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. LATER TONIGHT...THERE IS SOME POTENTIAL FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL PRIMARILY IN THE PENNYRILE REGION OF WESTERN KENTUCKY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE WILL DIMINISH FROM WEST TO EAST ON SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT...THEN MAY PICK UP AGAIN FOR LABOR DAY. THIS CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MID WEEK... DIMINISHING BY THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. HOWEVER...REPORTS OF VERY HEAVY RAIN OR LOCALIZED FLOODING ARE ENCOURAGED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
The automated observing system at Barkley Regional Airport measured 4.27 inches of rain in two hours. A street in a subdivision near the airport was covered by flowing water.
A Kentucky mesonet site measured 3.29 inches of rain in a couple of hours.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, August 2014
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: 535922, 535921.