Flash Flood, De Kalb
- When
- May 19, 3:40 PM CST to 4:30 PM CST
- Where
- De Kalb County, Countywide
- Coordinates
- 41.894, -88.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flooding in Illinois, May 19, 1998
Heavy rain caused street flooding in eastern De Kalb and western Kane Counties. Interstate 88 was closed due to flooding at Watson Road in Kane County.
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 LOT wrote it up.
Heavy rain caused street flooding in eastern De Kalb and western Kane Counties. Interstate 88 was closed due to flooding at Watson Road in Kane County. Perry Road in northern De Kalb County was closed. There was standing water in fields and basements were flooded.
The radar
The Chicago radar (KLOT), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:38 UTC.
Event by event
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash Flood, Kane
- When
- May 19, 3:40 PM CST to 4:30 PM CST
- Where
- Kane County, West Portion
- Coordinates
- 41.939, -88.429 (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
- Tornadoes and Flooding in Iowa, May 19, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, May 19 to 20, 1998
- Flash Flood and Hail in Ohio, May 19 to 20, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Illinois, May 19, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, May 19, 1998
- Flash Flooding in Illinois, May 19 to 20, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Illinois, May 19, 1998
- Tornado in Illinois, May 19, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Illinois, May 19, 1998
- High Wind in Kansas, May 19, 1998
- Tornadoes and Hail in Indiana, May 19, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in Michigan, May 19, 1998
More
Every storm in Illinois in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, May 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: 5651943, 5651944.