Kentucky Derby Day Weather


(The following records are for the entire day...not necessarily race time...unless otherwise noted)

Coldest Minimum Temperature:  36 degrees May 4, 1940 and May 4, 1957
Coldest Maximum Temperature:  47 degrees May 4, 1935 and May 4, 1957* (record for the date)
Coldest Average Daily Temperature:  42 degrees May 4, 1957
Warmest Maximum Temperature:  94 degrees May 2, 1959
Warmest Average Daily Temperature:  79 degrees May 14, 1886
Warmest Minimum Temperature:  72 degrees May 14, 1886
Wettest:  2.31" of rain May 11, 1918

Sleet has been recorded on Derby Day.  On May 6, 1989, sleet fell from 1:01pm to 1:05pm EDT (along with rain).  Snow then fell the following morning (just flurries).

*The record cold temperatures on Derby Day 1957 were accompanied by north winds of 20 to 25mph!

Out of 134 Derby Days, 61 experienced precipitation at some point during the day (46%).

Longest stretch of consecutive wet Derby Days:  6 (1989 - 1994)
Longest stretch of consecutive dry Derby Days:  12 (1875 - 1886)

In the following table, a "T" for precipitation means there were just a few sprinkles.

Date High Temp Low Temp Precipitation Miscellaneous
5/17/1875  68  46  0  
5/15/1876  86  65  0  
5/22/1877  81  63  0  
5/21/1878  76  64  0  
5/20/1879  90  63  0  
5/18/1880  86  62  0  
5/17/1881  75  55  0  
5/16/1882  63  44  0  
5/23/1883  67  44  0  
5/16/1884  68  55  0  
5/14/1885  73  50  0  
5/14/1886  85  72  0  
5/11/1887  79  59  T  
5/14/1888  56  42  0  
5/9/1889  90  66  0  
5/14/1890  63  54  0.31"  
5/13/1891  71  53  0  
5/11/1892  55  51  T  
5/10/1893  79  54  0  
5/15/1894  87  66  0.04"  rain from 12:30pm to 1:40pm
5/06/1895  82  66  0  
5/06/1896  84  60  0  
5/12/1897  76  61  0.82"  rain from 3:10pm to 9pm and again after 10pm
5/4/1898  62  57  0.35"  rain from 7am to 7:05am, 10:05am to 11:55am, and 12:34pm to 3:10pm
5/4/1899  80  60  T  sprinkles from 12:38pm to 12:40pm and 5:20pm to 5:35pm
5/3/1900  66  46  0  
4/29/1901  83  52  0  
5/3/1902  89  65  0  
5/2/1903  74  40  0  
5/2/1904  73  55  0  sprinkles from 4:12pm to 4:17pm
5/10/1905  89  63  0.58"  thunderstorm between 6am and 8am
5/2/1906  83  63  0.25"  southwest winds gusted to 35 mph
5/6/1907  67  56  0.67" rain from before midnight through 7:55am
5/5/1908  72  52  0.72" thunderstorm. rain from before midnight through 6:03am.
5/3/1909  57  43  0.21" rain from 5:40am to 6:45am, 7:15am to 11:40am, and 5:10pm to 5:12pm.
5/10/1910  82  61  0  
5/13/1911  82  60  0  
5/11/1912  77  60  1.04" A halo was observed around the sun.  Thunderstorm.  Rain fell for much of the morning before 9:30am, and again from about 5pm to 8pm.
 5/10/1913  61  46  0  
 5/9/1914  72  49  0  
 5/8/1915  71  51  T Sprinkles fell from 6:30pm to 6:32pm and from 7:31pm to 7:45pm.
 5/13/1916  83  54  T Sprinkles fell from 8:45am to 9am.
 5/12/1917  60  40  0  
 5/11/1918  68  49  2.31" Thunderstorm.  Rain fell from 6:38am to 11:55am, 6:15pm to 10pm, and from 11pm to the end of the day.  Northwest winds gusted to 30 mph.
 5/10/1919  57  48  0.09" Rain fell early in the morning, ending at 8am.
 5/8/1920  72  53  0  
 5/7/1921  73  48  0  
 5/13/1922  77  64  0  
 5/19/1923  85  60  0  
 5/17/1924  74  55  0 Southwest winds gusted to 34 mph.
 5/16/1925  86  60  0.14" Thunderstorm with hail and wind gusts to 60 mph.  Rain fell intermittently from 8:33am to 9:15am, from about 4:30pm to 5pm, and from 7:30pm to 9pm.  Heavy rain and hail fell from 4:52pm to 4:54pm.
 5/15/1926  64  46  T Sprinkles fell from 12:25pm to 12:45pm.
 5/14/1927  64  49  0.35" Thunderstorm with west winds gusting to 45 mph.  Rain fell intermittently from 2pm to 6pm and from 9pm to 10pm.
 5/19/1928  75  61  0.62" Thunderstorm.  Rain fell from 1:30pm to 5:30pm.
 5/18/1929  77  54  1.19" Thunderstorm.  Rain fell from 7:35am to 8:45am, 9:55am to 11:15am, 1:40pm to 1:50pm, and from 3:50pm through the evening.
 5/17/1930  69  59  0.11"  Rain fell from 12:45pm to 1:10pm, 3:35pm to 3:45pm, and 4:20pm to 6:50pm.
 5/16/1931  84  61  0  
 5/7/1932  83  68  0  
 5/6/1933  59  53  0.09"  Rain fell early, ending by 3:30am.
 5/5/1934  76  65  0.04"  Rain fell from 6:20am to 6:30am, 6:45am to 6:55am, and 10:43am to 11:50am.
 5/4/1935  47  40  0.14"  Rain fell from 8am to 10:15am, 11:40am to 1pm, and 3:30pm to 7:17pm.  West winds gusted to 40mph.
 5/2/1936  78  64  0.34" Thunderstorm. Rain fell from 4:35am to 5:30am and 9:20am to 9:30am.
 5/8/1937  71  48  0  
 5/7/1938  80  57  0  
 5/6/1939  83  56  0  
 5/4/1940  62  36  0  
 5/3/1941  76  54  0  
 5/2/1942  87  67  0  
 5/1/1943  58  39  0  
 5/6/1944  51  40  0  
 6/9/1945 77 63  0.50" Rain began at 3:26pm and continued into the evening.
 5/4/1946  68  45  0.01" A few showers moved through around 4:30pm.
 5/3/1947  57  47  0.02" Showers were in the area around sunrise.
 5/1/1948  72  51  0.80" Rain fell around 4:30pm, 5:30pm, 7pm, and as thunderstorms came in just before midnight.
5/7/1949  75  57  0  
 5/6/1950  70  51  0.11" thunderstorm
 5/5/1951  67  51  0.02"  
 5/3/1952  79  55  0  
 5/2/1953  76  55  0  
 5/1/1954  84  66  0.15" thunderstorm
 5/7/1955  85  57  0.01" A thunderstorm grazed the area from 3:40pm to 5pm, with a few sprinkles after that.
 5/5/1956  82  48  0  
 5/4/1957  47  36  0 north winds up to 25mph
 5/3/1958  86  64  0.11" Rain fell from 3:03am to 5:42am and from 5:50am to 6:57am.
 5/2/1959  94  58  0  
 5/7/1960  64  40  0.20"  Rain fell until 1:25am.  A cold front passed through at 2:14am.  Rain fell again from 2:05am to 4:26am.
 5/6/1961  81  52  0.25" Showers were in the area from 4am to 9:30am.  Showers and thunderstorms moved through from 7:20pm to the end of the day.
 5/5/1962  81  47  0  
 5/4/1963  80  49  0  
 5/2/1964  76  49  0  
 5/1/1965  84  60  0  
 5/7/1966  80  46  0  
 5/6/1967  63  57  0.78" It rained for nearly the entire day, including a continuous rain from 9:03am to midnight.  Thunderstorms with heavy rain moved through around 11pm.
 5/4/1968  72  56  0  
 5/3/1969  81  53  0  
 5/2/1970  64  48  0.28"  Rain fell from midnight until 10:40am.
 5/1/1971  73  37  0.01" There was a little light rain around midnight that night.
 5/6/1972  81  51  0  
 5/5/1973  67  39  0  
 5/4/1974  66  44  0  
 5/3/1975  72  56  0.23" Light rain fell from 8:53am to 9:05am, 10:40am to 10:44am, 11:20am to 12:15pm, and 6:06pm to 7:05pm.
 5/1/1976  73  52  0.01" Light rain fell from 6:20pm to 8:15pm.
 5/7/1977  77  61  0.03" Light rain fell from 1:25am to 3:30am, 4:40am to 5:10am, and 10:40am to 1:30pm.
 5/6/1978  67  43  0  
 5/5/1979  65  39  0  
 5/3/1980  75  54  0  
 5/2/1981  68  45  0  
 5/1/1982  75  55  T Sprinkles fell from 9:35am to 9:59am.
 5/7/1983  81  58  0.54" Showers and thunderstorms moved through the city from 5pm to midnight.  The thunder was from 5pm to 6:30pm and 10:15pm to 11:15pm.
 5/5/1984  71  46  0.09" Light rain fell intermittently from 5:22pm to midnight.
 5/4/1985  74  46  0  
 5/3/1986  63  40  0  
 5/2/1987  87  61  0  
 5/7/1988  81  50  0 Thunderstorms developed southwest of Louisville and headed northeast, but dissipated before getting here.
 5/6/1989  51  39  0.09" Sleet fell from 1:01pm to 1:05pm.  Also, rain fell off and on for the entire day.
 5/5/1990  63  48  T Drizzle and sprinkles fell intermittently from 8:22am to 4:39pm.
 5/4/1991  80  64  0.06" Thunderstorm from 5:56pm to 6:32pm.
 5/2/1992  81  65  0.83" Thunderstorms with heavy rain, bringing visibility down to half a mile, moved across the area from 7pm to 9pm.  A cold front crossed Louisville at 7:55pm.
 5/1/1993  76  57  0.02" Showers were in the area 2:46pm to 6:45pm.
 5/7/1994  70  50  0.63" Rain and fog were reported from midnight to 5am.  Showers and thunderstorms moved through from 2pm to 4:30pm.
 5/6/1995  74  46  0  
 5/5/1996  81  58  0.46" A widespread severe storm outbreak occurred, with many Tornado Warnings, Severe Thunderstorm Warnings, and Flash Flood Warnings issued by the Louisville NWS office.  Thunderstorms with frequent lightning crossed the city from 3:20pm to 7:15pm.  The heaviest rain hit around 6:30pm.  A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for Jefferson County at 4:07pm. 
 5/3/1997  60  47  0.22" Thunderstorms hit very early, ending by 1:30am.  However, there were still a few showers around in the afternoon and evening.  Winds were gusty, peaking at 35mph shortly after 1pm.
 5/2/1998  75  49  0.03" Thunderstorms were in the area from 9pm to 10:45pm.
 5/1/1999  75  46  0  
 5/6/2000  86  63  T There were a few thunderstorms in the area from 4pm to 6pm.
 5/5/2001  86  58  0  
 5/4/2002  71  49  0  
 5/3/2003  65  52  0  
 5/1/2004  75  53  0.46" Showers and thunderstorms were over the city from 6am to 9am, around noon, and from 5pm to the end of the day.
5/7/2005  80  48  0  
5/6/2006  68 52  0  
5/5/2007 78 62 T Sprinkles fell at Louisville International Airport from 4:19 am to 4:51am and from 2:54pm to 3:11pm.  At Derby race time a shower was located just seven miles east of the track but it never affected Churchill Downs.
5/3/2008 75 50 0.69" The rain ended by 8am, with plenty of sunshine breaking out by race time with brisk west winds.  At 6pm the temperature was 67 degrees with west winds of 25 mph and 45% relative humidity.
5/2/2009 62 51 0.07" The light rain that fell ended at 8:01am.  At 6pm the temperature was 62 degrees with cloudy skies and a calm wind.
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