A potent upper level disturbance fueled scattered showers and thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. A few of these resulted in flash flooding across portions of Bell and Clay Counties as rainfall amounts of two to three inches occurred.
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 potent upper level disturbance fueled scattered showers and thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. A few of these resulted in flash flooding across portions of Bell and Clay Counties as rainfall amounts of two to three inches occurred. Isolated wind damage also took place in Laurel County.
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 4, 2:55 PM EST, 35 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Jackson KY 355 PM EDT THU AUG 4 2016 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Friday night) Issued at 355 PM EDT THU AUG 4 2016 A mid level shortwave is moving through the Lower OH Valley region this afternoon between ridging centered off the Carolina Coast and another ridge from the Southern Plains into the mid MS Valley region. Further northwest, a closed low is moving across western Ontario with associated shortwave trough south into the Upper MS Valley and northern Plains areas. At the surface, an area of high pressure was centered to the east and northeast of the area with a surface reflection of the shortwave trough extended from southern IL and trailed south into middle TN. Upstream of the area, an area of low pressure was moving across Ontario with a cold front trailing south into the Plains. Shower and thunderstorm coverage is greatest at present near the center of the slow moving shortwave and over the Cumberland Valley with coverage more isolated further east. Moisture is also deepest across this area with analysis of 1.8 inches or greater in these areas. These storms into this evening and possibly the overnight will be slow moving in general. Where outflows interact or some training of activity occurs, locally heavy rain will be a concern. The shortwave will only slowly make its way toward the Appalachians and should not depart east of the area until Friday afternoon. Thus even overnight tonight, isolated to scattered showers and some thunderstorms cannot be ruled out. Outside of these showers and any thunderstorms some breaks in the clouds will occur and with a moist airmass in place in the lower levels patchy fog will develop and might become dense in a few spots. This would particularly be the case near where heavier rain has fallen or will fall. The initial shortwave departing should combine with daytime heating for an increase in coverage of convection through the day on Friday, especially across the eastern two thirds of the area. This activity should wane with shortwave departing and loss of daytime heating on Friday evening. However, as the next shortwave and associated cold front approaches, chances will increase from the northwest late in the period. Temperatures will remain seasonably mild, with mid to upper 80s and some locations possibly touching 90 for highs on Friday. Lows tonight and Friday night should again be a couple of degrees either side of 70. .LONG TERM...(Saturday through Thursday) Issued at 301 PM EDT THU AUG 4 2016 Confidence is high on a cold front swinging south across eastern kentucky on Saturday with better shower and storm coverage across most of the area. For this reason, have trended pops upward and generally on the high side of guidance. PW's up near 2 inches will lead to some locally heavy rainfall, but modest storm movement out of the northwest at 15 to 20 mph should keep flooding threat at bay. Should be our last good chance of rain for several days as surface high builds in from the north. GFS tries to bring moisture back into the area as early as Monday with some precipitation again possible. ECWMF is dry through Tuesday. Given the boundary may wash out just to our south, it wouldn't take much to bring moisture back to the north. Thus, will leave a small mention of showers/storms on Monday afternoon and Tuesday, but both days could easily end up dry. By Wednesday, enough moisture should return to support better chances for afternoon/evening showers/storms. That will continue through the end of the week, as we maintain the summer pattern with upper level ridging across the eastern CONUS. Highs will generally remain at or a few degrees above guidance in the mid to upper 80s through the period. Lows will start off a bit cooler early next week with a few upper 50s possible Monday morning, with warmer lows expected as we head through the week and humidity returns. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Friday afternoon) ISSUED AT 158 PM EDT THU AUG 4 2016 Shower and thunderstorm activity should increase through the afternoon in advance of slowly approaching shortwave. This system will only slowly move across the area and shower and thunderstorm chances should linger through the period. Any direct hit from showers and thunderstorms at a TAF site would result in a period of MVFR to IFR conditions. Probabilities for convection on site appears greatest at SME so a period of prevailing MVFR was included from 20Z to 22Z. Low level moisture levels will remain high tonight and at least if breaks occur in the clouds or some rain occurs at all sites, fog may become a concern. MVFR in fog was included from about 6Z to 13Z for all sites at this time, but confidence in this is not high. && .JKL Watches/Warnings/Advisories... None. && SHORT TERM...JP LONG TERM...KAS AVIATION...JP
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 332 PM EDT THU AUG 4 2016 KYZ044-050>052-058>060-068-069-079-080-083>088-104-106>120-052245- 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...CAMARGO... JEFFERSONVILLE...MOUNT STERLING...OWINGSVILLE...MOREHEAD... IRVINE...RAVENNA...CLAY CITY...STANTON...FRENCHBURG...BROADHEAD... MOUNT VERNON...MCKEE...ANNVILLE...BURNSIDE...SOMERSET...LONDON... MONTICELLO...STEARNS...WHITLEY CITY...CORBIN...WILLIAMSBURG... BARBOURVILLE...MIDDLESBORO...PINEVILLE...CUMBERLAND...HARLAN... SANDY HOOK...WEST LIBERTY...PAINSVILLE...CAMPTON...SALYERSVILLE... PRESTONSBURG...WHEELWRIGHT...BEATTYVILLE...JACKSON...HINDMAN... PIPPA PASSES...BOONEVILLE...HAZARD...MANCHESTER...HYDEN... JENKINS...WHITESBURG...INEZ...COAL RUN...ELKHORN CITY... PIKEVILLE...SOUTH WILLIAMSON 332 PM EDT THU AUG 4 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH A FEW OF THE STORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AT TIMES FROM FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING. SOME OF THE STORMS DURING THIS TIME COULD PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AT TIMES FROM MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... MAINLY DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. AR/JP
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY
1206 PM EDT THU AUG 04 2016
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0700 PM TSTM WND DMG MONTICELLO 36.84N 84.85W
08/01/2016 WAYNE KY EMERGENCY MNGR
WIND DAMAGE TO ROOF OF WALMART. ALSO 3000 CUSTOMERS WERE
WITHOUT POWER AS A POWER POLE WAS SNAPPED DUE TO HIGH
WINDS.
&&
ABEThe Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 93 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:31 UTC.
2 flash flood, 2 flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A citizen reported via social media that two trees were blown down southwest of London.
A county official reported Muddy Gap, White Street, and Green Street in Manchester were impassable due to swiftly flowing water over them.
An NWS employee observed as much as six inches of water over portions of Quicksand Road in Jackson, while a citizen reported several inches of water inside a portion of Breathitt County High School.
A trained spotter observed over one foot of water flowing across Kentucky Highway 2011 southwest of Beverly. Portions of Mud Lick Branch Road as well as an upstream bridge were washed away.
A county official reported Kentucky Highway 638 northwest of Manchester was impassable due to water over the roadway.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, August 2016
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: 642480, 642482, 642484, 642483, 642481.