Illinois, 2001

Flooding in Illinois, December 1 to 4, 2001

December 1 to 4, 2001 · NWS PAH · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

The Ohio River crested one to two feet above flood stage at Grand Chain and Brookport early in December. The crest at Brookport was on the 2nd and at Grand Chain on the 3rd.

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
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 PAH wrote it up.

The Ohio River crested one to two feet above flood stage at Grand Chain and Brookport early in December. The crest at Brookport was on the 2nd and at Grand Chain on the 3rd. Minor flooding of bottomland and low-lying areas occurred.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 1, 1:00 AM CST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 1, 1:00 AM CST, 2 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
100 AM CST SAT DEC 1 2001

MAIN FORECAST CONCERNS FOR THIS FORECAST ARE FOG IN THE SHORT TERM
AND THEN THE CHANCE OF RAIN LATE IN THE WEEK.

LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED OVER THE GULF
COAST. THE COLD FRONT THAT PASSED THROUGH THE FA YESTERDAY WAS ALONG
THE EAST COAST. ANOTHER COLD FRONT WAS ARCED ACROSS THE NORTHERN
PLAINS INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST. IR SAT PICS SHOW THE LOW CLOUDS HAVE
FINALLY DEPARTED THE NE PORTION OF THE FA. SFC OBS INDICATE WINDS
WERE DIMINISHING OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF OF FA. FOG WAS ALREADY
DEVELOPING OVER THE SE WITH HOP REPORTING OBSTRUCTIONS TO VSBY.

00Z SAT MODEL RUN CONTINUES TO ADVERTISE SOUTHWEST TO NEAR ZONAL
FLOW ALOFT WITH A WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVING THROUGH
SATURDAY AFTN AND NGT. THIS SHOULD PROVIDE SOME HIGH CLOUDS SAT AND
CIGS THROUGH MIDNIGHT. HOWEVER SHOULD EARLY SUN AM. THIS WILL ALLOW
FOR FOG DEVELOPMENT AS WINDS DIMINISH EVEN THOUGH THE FWC HAS NOT
YET PICKED UP ON THIS. IN CONTRAST THE TIME HEIGHT CROSS SECTIONS DO
INDICATE SATURATION NEAR THE SURFACE FOR THAT TIME FRAME IN ADDITION
TO THE MAV. A FOG ADVISORY WILL BE HIGHLY POSSIBLE FOR THAT TIME
FRAME AND DAY SHIFT WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE FINAL CALL. SUNDAY SHOULD
BE SUNNY WITH HIGH CLOUDS WILL RETURN EARLY MONDAY AM. OTHERWISE DRY
UNTIL MID WEEK AND THAT IS WERE THE AVN AND MRF BEGIN TO DISAGREE.
THE AVN IS ADVERTISING A CHANCE OF RAIN WEDNESDAY AND THEN WANTS TO
MOVE IT OUT THURSDAY. IN CONTRAST THE MRF HOLDS IT OVER THE AREA
THURSDAY AND SHOWS MUCH DEEPER MOISTURE. ON ANY ACCOUNT EVEN THE MRF
DRIES US OUT SIGNIFICANTLY FRIDAY WITH A QPF OF .01 IN THE NE
SECTION OF FA. HOWEVER...WILL OPT TO WAIT FOR MORE RUN TO RUN
CONTINUITY AMOUNG THE MODELS BEFORE AFFECTING A CHANGE THERE.
OTHERWISE...NO MAJOR CHANGES TO GOING FORECAST.

FWC WAS TOO WARM TODAY EVEN THOUGH IT HELD CLOUDS OVER THE AREA. THE
CLOUD COVER HELD TEMPS DOWN IN THE LOWER 40S WITH AROUND 50 JUST
SOUTH OF CLOUD COVER. NUMERICAL GUIDANCE IN MUCH BETTER AGREEMENT
EARLY IN THE FCST AND WILL FOLLOW TREND.

.PAH...NONE.

KH

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Massac

When
December 1, 3:00 AM CST to December 4, 10:00 PM CST
Where
Massac forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
37.219, -88.708 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Pulaski

When
December 2, 3:00 AM CST to December 4, 6:00 PM CST
Where
Pulaski forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
37.223, -89.127 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flood
Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Illinois in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, December 2001

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: 5273514, 5273515.