Flash Flooding in Illinois, January 21 to 22, 1999

Name: Flash Flooding in Illinois, January 21 to 22, 1999
Start: 1999-01-21T21:30
End: 1999-01-22T03:00
Location: Illinois

January 21 to 22, 1999 · NWS PAH · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Thunderstorms with very heavy rain repeatedly moved over the same counties during the evening. Rainfall amounts from 2 to 4 inches were common.

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $30,000
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 PAH wrote it up.

Thunderstorms with very heavy rain repeatedly moved over the same counties during the evening. Rainfall amounts from 2 to 4 inches were common. Even though the axis of heaviest rain occurred from Cape Girardeau to Carbondale, areas on either side of this axis received enough rain to flood roadways and small streams.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Perry

When: January 21, 9:30 PM CST to January 22, 3:00 AM CST
Where: Perry County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.084, -89.367 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Alexander

When: January 21, 9:30 PM CST to January 22, 3:00 AM CST
Where: Alexander County, Countywide
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.192, -89.338 (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

Every storm in Illinois in 1999 Every state in 1999 This day in weather history Warnings in Illinois, January 1999

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: 5680580, 5680581.