Flash Flood, St. Clair
- When
- August 18, 6:30 AM CST to 9:00 AM CST
- Where
- St. Clair County, West Portion
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 38.470, -89.928 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flooding in Illinois, August 18, 1998
Rainfall up to 4 inches created havoc during the morning rush hour as streets quickly flooded. Interstate 64 in East St.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS LSX wrote it up.
Rainfall up to 4 inches created havoc during the morning rush hour as streets quickly flooded. Interstate 64 in East St. Louis had to be closed, as did Metrolink, the area light rain mass transit system. Route 203 in southwest Madison County also had to be closed. A woman in East St. Louis had to be rescued from her vehicle when her car stalled in high water under a railroad trestle. The water later rose to the roof of the car. The water was up to car door level on other streets in East St. Louis.
The radar
The St Louis radar (KLSX), 70 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:27 UTC.
Event by event
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash Flood, Madison
- When
- August 18, 6:30 AM CST to 9:00 AM CST
- Where
- Madison County, Southwest Portion
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 38.830, -89.905 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flooding in Texas, August 18, 1998
- Damaging Winds in South Carolina, August 18 to 30, 1998
- Flood in Texas, August 18 to 19, 1998
- Lightning Strike in Delaware, August 18, 1998
- Flood in Texas, August 18 to 19, 1998
- Lightning Strike in North Dakota, August 18, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, August 18, 1998
- Flood and Hail in Georgia, August 18 to 20, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Georgia, August 18, 1998
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Connecticut, August 18, 1998
- Flash Flooding in Texas, August 18, 1998
- Flash Flooding in Missouri, August 18, 1998
More
Every storm in Illinois in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, August 1998
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5660707, 5660708.