Flood — Boyd, Kentucky

2025-02-17 to 2025-02-19 · near Bellefonte, Boyd, Kentucky

Event narrative

The Ohio River at Ashland exceeded its flood stage of 52 feet on the afternoon of February 17th, then rose to a crest of around 54.9 feet the next afternoon. The river slowly receded, and fell back below flood stage the afternoon of the 19th. Minor flooding of roads in low lying areas occurred in the midst of the river spilling out of its banks.

Wider weather episode

Light showers started to arrive into northeast Kentucky on the evening of February 14th, with more substantial rain spreading across the area overnight into the 15th as a warm front approached from the south. While precipitation coverage eroded from southeast Ohio and northwest West Virginia during the afternoon, moderate to heavy rain continued to trail across northeast Kentucky. This precipitation band lifted north with a front during the night, then a passing low pushed additional showers through with a cold front on the 16th. Rain turned to snow as cold air moved in behind the front, then light snow showers lingered into the 17th. Two to three inches of rain led to widespread flooding and many road closures across northeast Kentucky.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.4954, -82.6786)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1234605. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.