3,183 first-hand accounts of flood events in Kentucky, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
Heavy rainfall in March set the stage for major flooding when record-setting rains fell in April and May. At Paducah, 15.91 inches of rain fell in April, which was 10.96 inches above normal.
Read the full account →Tropical Storm Cindy made landfall in southwestern Louisiana on the 22nd. The storm weakened after making landfall and became post tropical as it moved through the Mississippi and lower Ohio River Valleys into the 23rd.
Read the full account →Severe thunderstorms downed trees and powerlines, while also causing damage to some buildings and homes across McCreary County during the late evening hours of March 12th.||One of these storms produced an EF-1 tornado just north of downtown Whitley City.
Read the full account →A slow moving low pressure system drifted across the Ohio Valley on May 18 and 19, bringing several rounds of heavy rain to the eastern reaches of the Commonwealth.
Read the full account →The heaviest rains with a thunderstorm complex trained over western Lawrence County during the late night hours. The heaviest rains fell between 2300E on the 18th to 0100E on the 19th.
Read the full account →A midlevel shortwave trough was situated over the Upper Midwest Sunday night (31st) into Monday morning (1st). At the surface, a strong occluded low was also present.
Read the full account →A warm front stalled north of the Ohio Valley early on January 1st as a low pressure system developed near the area. These features brought widespread moderate to heavy rainfall to the area.
Read the full account →Moderate to major river flooding developed during the month. After a wet January, the active weather pattern continued into February. Frequent moderate to heavy rain events continued pushing not only the monthly and seasonal precipitation totals higher but also the rivers.
Read the full account →Moderate to major river flooding developed during the month. After a wet January, the active weather pattern continued into February. Frequent moderate to heavy rain events continued pushing not only the monthly and seasonal precipitation totals higher but also the rivers.
Read the full account →A warm front moved slowly northward from the Gulf Coast states on the night of the 19th, reaching the lower Ohio Valley on the morning of the 20th. This warm front brought the third widespread heavy rainfall event so far in February.
Read the full account →Periods of rain worked back into eastern Kentucky early on February 20 as a warm frontal boundary lifted north across the Commonwealth. A cold front brought additional rainfall through the afternoon and evening, before drier conditions worked into eastern Kentucky during the…
Read the full account →Moderate to major river flooding developed during the month. After a wet January, the active weather pattern continued into February. Frequent moderate to heavy rain events continued pushing not only the monthly and seasonal precipitation totals higher but also the rivers.
Read the full account →The Ohio River remained above flood stage at Cairo due to a persistent wet pattern through the winter and spring. May rainfall totals cracked the top five in many locations. At Paducah, 11.09 inches of rain fell, shattering the previous May record by over an inch.
Read the full account →Periods of rain moved across eastern Kentucky from the afternoon hours of Friday February 26th through the morning of Monday March 1st. By the time the event was over, 4 inches or more of rain had accumulated over parts of eastern Kentucky and led to moderate river flooding on…
Read the full account →On September 5, 2018, the remnants of Tropical Storm Gordon moved north from the Gulf of Mexico. It carried copious amounts of moisture as it continued to rotate while slowly moving north.
Read the full account →During a time without any major weather systems moving through the region, a moist atmosphere with differential heating and remaining outflows from earlier thunderstorms was enough for thunderstorms and heavy rain to develop across central Kentucky.
Read the full account →A cold front sank slowly southeast on the 9th. Widespread rain showers were along and south of the front during the predawn and morning hours. The area of showers was oriented west to east, along the mean flow.
Read the full account →A strong low pressure system produced multiple weather hazards. Scattered supercell thunderstorms developed ahead of a cold front on the morning and early afternoon of the 14th, producing isolated wind damage, large hail, and several tornadoes.
Read the full account →Beginning on February 3rd, numerous rounds of rainfall began to impact eastern Kentucky. This continued through February 7th, highlighted by heavy rainfall from the evening of February 5th through the first half of February 6th.
Read the full account →A prolonged line of thunderstorms developed on the evening of July 22nd near the Ohio River, slowly propagating southward late in the evening and after midnight into the 23rd.
Read the full account →Major flash flooding occurred from the evening of July 6 through the early morning of July 7. A slow-moving thunderstorm complex backed slowly southwestward across western Kentucky and southern Illinois.
Read the full account →Periods of rain worked back into eastern Kentucky early on February 20 as a warm frontal boundary lifted north across the Commonwealth. A cold front brought additional rainfall through the afternoon and evening, before drier conditions worked into eastern Kentucky during the…
Read the full account →Numerous rounds of rainfall occurred on this date across the city of Morehead. As a cold frontal boundary approached from the northwest, showers and thunderstorms began to train along and ahead of the boundary as they produced 3 to 4 inch daily rainfall totals across portions of…
Read the full account →December 16, 2019, a flood watch was in place for areas of central Kentucky as widespread rainfall was expected to continue across the region.
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