One of the factors, in determining what our most significant events are is related to how much financial damage it causes. The drought of the Summer/Fall of 1999 wasn’t the most severe in our area (the 1930s, 2007, and 2012 were more intense as far as drought monitor status goes), but the timing of it and its short-term intensity were factors that made it one of the most expensive droughts in our history. Drought may not destroy a neighborhood like a tornado does, but water and crops are very valuable resources to humanity and when you mess with that, the costs on both a societal and a financial scale go up.

What makes 1999’s drought in my opinion one of the worst was that you had a very favorable spring and even into June timeframe. The previous winter was quite warm, we avoided a hard freeze after March, and precipitation wasn’t too wet or too dry. All-in all it allowed for a high potential crop yield heading into July.

When July arrived the rain vanished. Paducah only reported 1.5 inches of rain from July through September. Instantly a flash drought struck. All crops but especially Tobacco, Soybean, and Corn were hit hard. Some tree systems were damaged and due to the heat wave that struck in late July rapid-evaporation occurred. This caused a Water Shortage Warning and almost led to water restrictions in Hopkinsville and Owensboro. Wildfires burned 500-1000 acres by September in several counties even leading to evacuations in some areas. In addition, the July heat wave produced a steady week of temperatures in the 96-104F range with heat index values well over 105F for an entire week, producing 1 fatality.

Why Was This Significant

The 1999 drought was not a long-lasting drought, nor was it the most intense, but a series of circumstances made it one of the most expensive. The combination of going from favorable conditions to rapidly unfavorable conditions led to a potential high-yield of crops to be destroyed. The intensity of the late-July heat wave led to rapid evaporation of surface water and soil moisture, and the extreme lack of the rain in a 3-month period is hard to recover from. We didn’t have some of the drought resistance knowledge back in 1999 that we had now to deal with these flash droughts, which are this short-lasting but intense periods of dryness. All and all the damage in 2024 dollars to this area was likely north of 300 Million. Making this event not only the most expensive of the 1990s, but very likely one of the Top 10 most expensive events in this areas history, especially when you adjust for inflation.

The late July heatwave was deadly and loss of life is always impactful. That last week of July, rivaled events in July/August 1995 and July 1993 as the worst heat wave of the 1990s.

Links:

https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5724820

^^ Storm Event typeup^^

https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/monthly-report/drought/199916

^^ NOAA typeup ^^