Name: Flood in Illinois, December 17 to 30, 2001
Start: 2001-12-17T04:00
End: 2001-12-30T11:00
Location: Illinois

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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: 1

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 Little Wabash River crested at 31.24 feet at Carmi on December 22. Flood stage there is 27 feet. Some county roads were inundated. Floodwaters approached Routes 1 and 14 in Carmi.

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 17, 2:08 AM CST, 1 hour 52 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 17, 2:08 AM CST, 1 hour 52 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
208 AM CST MON DEC 17 2001

MAIN CHALLANGE CONTINUES TO BE DURATION AND AMOUNT OF RAIN. CURRENT
PACKAGE IN PRETY GOOD SHAPE. WILL MAKE A FEW TWEAKS HERE AND THERE
TO ACCOMODATE TIMING OF PRECIP.

LOCAL RADAR LOOPS SHOWS BACK EDGE OF PRECIP SHIELD MAKING ITS WAY
ACROSS CENTRAL MISSOURI AND CENTRAL ARKANSAS. DUE TO QUICK MOVEMENT
OF ONGOING SYSTEM...BOTH ETA/AVN SHOW HEAVY PRECIP EAST OF THE
REGION BY 18Z...HOWEVER WRAP-AROUND MOISTURE AND UPPER TROF COULD
TOUCH OFF SCATTERED SHOWERS THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON. WILL SPLIT THE
FIRST PERIOD OF ALL ZONES TO ACCOMODATE FOR THIS. EXPECT ANOTHER 1
TO 1 1/2 INCHES OF RAIN CWA-WIDE BEFORE PRECIP EXITS WITH THE LOW TO
THE NORTHEAST. THIS SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO CAUSE MOST OF THE CWA TO
HAVE SOME LEVEL OF FLOODING PROBLEMS. AS A RESULT...WILL LEAVE
CURRENT FFA IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM CST. IN THE WAKE OF THIS SYSTEM
UPPER FLOW BRIEFLY BECOMES ZONAL BUT BY TUESDAY NIGHT A SHORT WAVE
AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT COMES WHIPPING ACROSS THE CWA. POST
FRONTAL MOISTURE APPEARS TO BE LIMITED AND BOTH MODELS SHOWING
MAINLY SINGLE DIGIT POPS SO WILL MENTION CLOUDINESS ONLY. AFTER THAT
SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE AND STEADILY RISING HEIGHTS ALOFT SHOULD KEEP
THE REGION DRY THROUGH AT LEAST LATE SATURDAY. WILL NOT MAKE ANY
CHANGES TO THE EXTENDED AT THIS TIME.

.PAH...FLOOD WATCH (FFA) FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...SOUTHERN
ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY THROUGH 4 PM CST
THIS AFTERNOON.

PACKETT

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, White

When: December 17, 4:00 AM CST to December 30, 11:00 AM CST
Where: White forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 38.088, -88.180 (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 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5273619.