3,183 first-hand accounts of flood events in Kentucky, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
Widespread heavy rainfall fell across the region from February 14th through February 16th. This resulted in moderate to major flooding across the Kentucky, Cumberland, Big Sandy, and Licking River Basins. River crests at many locations were the highest since May, 1984.
Read the full account →Widespread flooding continued from April into May across western Kentucky. Following excessive rain in April, a final dose of heavy rain came between April 30 and May 2.
Read the full account →Rainfall of 2 to 4 inches fell in less than 6 hours duringthe late night and predawn hours across northern Carter,Greenup, and Boyd Counties. Greenup Lock and Dam measured 3 inches, while Ashland had 3.9 inches. An unofficialreport of 6 inches was received from Argillite.
Read the full account →Multiple clusters of thunderstorms intensified during the heat of the day along and south of a warm front that arced over far southern Illinois and across southern Kentucky. The storms occurred ahead of an upper-level disturbance over eastern Missouri.
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 →4 to 9 inches of rain fell in less than 24 hours causing widespread flooding and/or flash flooding resulting in numerous water covered and closed roads, evacuations and rescues. Most of these counties were declared disaster areas and given federal assistance.
Read the full account →On the afternoon of May 30th, a warm front was draped across eastern Kentucky. With extremely moist and unstable air, this boundary helped spark the beginning of a most unusual event for eastern Kentucky, and for that matter, for the country.
Read the full account →May 23, warmer temperatures surged into central Kentucky and southern Indiana behind a northward moving warm front. The surge of warm moist air resulted in scattered thunderstorms producing wind damage that occurred for three days from Logan County to the Bluegrass region of…
Read the full account →Rounds of severe storms hammered southern Indiana and central Kentucky on Friday, July 20, 2018, bringing very large hail, wind damage, heavy rain, and 4 confirmed tornadoes.
Read the full account →The trailing end of a line of thunderstorms oriented from west-northwest to east-southeast became stationary over Todd County. Storm cells repeatedly trained eastward across the county for hours, producing significant flash flooding.
Read the full account →Scattered thunderstorms developed during the heat of the day ahead of a cold front. One of these storms produced a damaging microburst, and another caused flash flooding of roads.
Read the full account →On the morning of July 22nd, a cold front was positioned along the Ohio River. This provided widespread heavy rainfall in front of and behind the front.
Read the full account →A stationary boundary lingered near the Ohio River through the day. The boundary provided a lifting mechanism for a moist and unstable air mass over eastern Kentucky.
Read the full account →A stationary boundary lingered near the Ohio River through the day. The boundary provided a lifting mechanism for a moist and unstable air mass over eastern Kentucky.
Read the full account →A strong storm system brought a prolonged period of moderate to heavy rainfall to the middle Ohio River Valley on the 15th and 16th. While rainfall amounts were never heavy enough to lead to flash flooding, when all was said and done, 2.5 to 3 inches of rain fell over a roughly…
Read the full account →The remnants of Tropical Storm Ida moved north-northeast across the lower Mississippi Valley, spreading moisture northward. Some frontal forcing in the mid levels of the atmosphere across southern Indiana and southern Illinois initiated scattered showers and thunderstorms, some…
Read the full account →Repetitive showers and thunderstorms, moved southeast through southeast Ohio and into portions of northeast Kentucky between 1500E and 1830E on Tuesday, the 10th. In northeast Kentucky, the heaviest rains fell in eastern Greenup County and Boyd County.
Read the full account →A slow moving low pressure system, in combination with the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Gordon, and abundant moisture brought a long duration heavy rainfall event to much of the Bluegrass region of eastern Kentucky.
Read the full account →Widespread heavy rainfall fell across the region from February 14th through February 16th. This resulted in moderate to major flooding across the Kentucky, Cumberland, Big Sandy, and Licking River Basins. River crests at many locations were the highest since May, 1984.
Read the full account →After an overnight rain deposited about a half inch to an inch of rain, clearing occurred for the late morning and early afternoon. With the daytime heating came increase in instability. Thunderstorms formed across northern Kentucky after 1500E. These storms moved east.
Read the full account →Strong to severe thunderstorms blew down trees and utility lines across Laurel and Leslie Counties, while also causing flash flooding across portions of Laurel County on June 30, 2019. Downed utility lines near Wendover in Leslie County resulted in a three car pileup on U.S.
Read the full account →Heavy rainfall occurred across eastern Kentucky on December 16th, following previous rounds of rainfall. Thus, soils were saturated prior to the arrival of an additional 2-3 inches of rain. The heavier rain amounts and associated flooding impacts occurred west of U.S.
Read the full account →Recent heavy rainfall and slow discharge from Buckhorn Lake resulted in continued flooding in and around the town of Confluence from the first of the month through March 17. This led to several homes continuing to be surrounded by flood waters.
Read the full account →A complex of slow moving thunderstorms dropped south from southern Indiana into northern Kentucky during the pre-dawn hours Sunday, July 12th.
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