This Horrific July Storm Is Considered the Worst in Kentucky’s History

For Kentucky, weather has been an overarching theme for 2025. Winter storms and flooding in February were followed by that crazy Owensboro hailstorm in March. Then came extreme severe weather events, seemingly one right after another, in April, May (the tornado outbreak), and June. Here it is July, and the big story has been the relentless humidity.

Kentucky Floods

When it comes to this time of year, the main culprit with most bad storms is usually flooding. And that was the case in July of both 2022 and 2023. The Weather Channel's data indicates the '22 flood in Eastern Kentucky was the nation's deadliest non-tropical flash flood in 45 years.

In July 2023, Western Kentucky saw extraordinary flooding. Earlier this year, from April 2nd through the 6th, disaster declarations were issued in 18 Kentucky counties due to a second statewide flooding event.

The Worst July Storm in Kentucky's History

But it was back in 1939 when Kentucky incurred the wrath of what would come to be classified by the National Weather Service as the worst July storm in the Commonwealth's history. Devastating flash flooding occurred on July 4th and 5th of that year, and during those overnight hours, up to 9 inches of rain fell in a relatively short period of time. Mind-boggling, terrifying. This home in Rowan County was upended by the Triplett Creek flood that summer.

In fact, in Rowan County, it only took less than an hour for water to rise 10 to 15 feet. Additionally, the rapidly rising waters destroyed the Kentucky Mountain Bible Institute, which was rebuilt as the Kentucky Mountain Bible College.

All told, 79 lives were lost across the 21 counties affected by the flooding. A 1939 account of the storm by the Department of the Interior can be found at weather.gov/media/jkl/1939FloodPaper.