Heavy Rain — Jackson, Kentucky

2022-01-01 to 2022-01-02 · near Eglon, Jackson, Kentucky

Event narrative

A CoCoRaHS observer 8 miles W of McKee measured 3.85 inches of rainfall in a 48-hour period ending at 8am on January 2, 2022.

Wider weather episode

The second warmest December on record for Eastern Kentucky finished with a warm and moist air mass in place on New Year's Eve. A developing warm front slowly lifted northward out of the Tennessee Valley during the early morning hours on New Year's Day 2022 and stalled near the the Hal Rogers/Highway 80 corridor. The combination of strong lifting and near record atmospheric moisture levels for this time of year led to a line of training showers and thunderstorms, some with frequent lightning and intense downpours. The heaviest rainfall occurred from about 4 to 8 AM and led to many instances of flash flooding from Rockcastle County east northeast through Jackson, Owsley, Breathitt, Floyd, and Pike counties. By midday, locations affected by this activity had received 2 to 4 inches of rainfall.

A temporary lull in the showers followed as the front shifted further to the north during the late morning and early afternoon. This allowed temperatures to surge into the 60s across the northeast Kentucky and into the lower to middle 70s closer the Kentucky/Tennessee border.

Strong to severe thunderstorms developed in a high shear, low instability environment during the afternoon as a cold front swept from northwest to southeast across the area. While these storms mainly produced damaging wind gusts, one storm produced a brief spin-up tornado in far northwest Estill County. Impacts did not end with the passage of the cold front though; the excessive rainfall from earlier in the day quickly found its way into the mainstem rivers, sending multiple locations along the Kentucky and Red Rivers into flood stage. The most significant river flooding of the event ' Moderate flood ' was attained along the Kentucky River at Ravenna, the Red River at Clay City, and the South Fork Kentucky River at Booneville. A few other locations surpassed Minor flood stage.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.4300, -84.1400)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1003768. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.