Flood, Alexander
- When
- February 19, 4:00 AM CST to February 28, 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Alexander forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 37.192, -89.338 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flooding in Illinois, February 19 to 28, 2001
The Ohio RIver rose above its flood stage at several points along the Illinois shore. The crests were 2 to 3 feet above flood stage, which resulted in minor to moderate flooding of low-lying agricultural bottomland.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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
- 4
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 rose above its flood stage at several points along the Illinois shore. The crests were 2 to 3 feet above flood stage, which resulted in minor to moderate flooding of low-lying agricultural bottomland. The locations which exceeded flood stage were Shawneetown, Brookport, Grand Chain, and Cairo. All locations crested on February 23. Cairo and Grand Chain remained slightly above flood stage into early March, while locations upriver fell below flood stage by the end of the month.
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 Feb 19, 2:58 AM CST, 1 hour 2 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 19, 2:58 AM CST, 1 hour 2 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 258 AM CST MON FEB 19 2001 WATER VAPOR IMAGERY AND PROFILER DATA INDICATED A MID LEVEL SHORTWAVE WAS OVER ERN MISSOURI AT 07Z. THE BACK EDGE OF MID LEVEL CLOUDINESS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM WAS MOVING EAST...AND SHOULD REACH EVV/HOP LINE BY 13Z. LOOKS LIKE A MOSTLY SUNNY MORNING...THEN MORE MID AND HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS WILL ARRIVE LATE TODAY. WILL KEEP MENTION OF BREEZY CONDITIONS TODAY...AS LOW LEVEL WINDS ARE ALREADY CRANKING UP OVER MISSOURI. CONWAY PROFILER SHOWED 45 KNOTS AT 850 MB AT 08Z. FEW IF ANY CHANGES PLANNED FOR HIGH TEMPS TODAY. ETA 700 MB PROGS INDICATE ANOTHER WEAK SHORTWAVE EMBEDDED IN THE ZONAL FLOW WILL CROSS THE FA TONIGHT. ETA IS THE SOLE MODEL SHOWING LIGHT RAIN OVER THE FA WITH THIS SYSTEM. WILL SIDE WITH THE DRY AVN/NGM MODELS...BUT KEEP SKIES MOSTLY CLOUDY. MODELS ARE COMING INTO BETTER AGREEMENT WITH THE TIMING OF THE COLD FRONT LATE TUESDAY. AVN/ETA INDICATE THE FRONT WILL CROSS THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY SOMETIME TUESDAY AFTERNOON OR EARLY EVENING...WITH THE ETA STILL THE FASTER MODEL. REGARDLESS OF MODEL OF CHOICE...IT STILL DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE A BIG PRECIP EVENT. UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT WILL BE ALMOST NON EXISTENT...AS THE 500 MB HEIGHT FALLS AND UPPER LEVEL JET DYNAMICS PASS OVER THE GREAT LAKES REGION. A NARROW BAND OF POST FRONTAL PRECIP SHOULD OCCUR...DRIVEN PRIMARILY BY OVERRUNNING OVER THE SHALLOW COLD AIR. AS USUAL...NGM MOS APPEARS CLUELESS WITH REGARD TO HOW FAST THE SHALLOW COLD AIR ARRIVES. WILL FOLLOW AVN MOS LOWS FOR TUESDAY NIGHT...WHICH ARE 10 DEGREES LOWER THAN NGM. APPEARS MOST OF THE PRECIP WILL BE OVER BY THE TIME THE DEEP COLD AIR ARRIVES...SO EXPECT LITTLE IN THE WAY OF SNOW OR SLEET. FOR THE EXTENDED PERIOD...DECIDED TO INTRODUCE CHANCE OF SNOW FOR THURSDAY. ECMWF HAS NOW COME INTO AGREEMENT WITH THE PAST FEW RUNS OF THE MRF...SHOWING A WEAK SHORTWAVE MOVING EAST ACROSS THE PLAINS WEDNESDAY NIGHT. MODELS ARE SHOWING SOME SFC TROUGHING AND PLENTY OF MID AND UPPER LEVEL MOISTURE. LACK OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE RETURN IS THE BIG LIMITING FACTOR. BASED ON NEW MRF...RAISED TEMPS FOR THE WEEKEND. .PAH...NONE. MY
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
4 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flood, Gallatin
- When
- February 19, 4:00 AM CST to February 28, 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Gallatin forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 37.763, -88.230 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood, Massac
- When
- February 19, 4:00 AM CST to February 28, 11:59 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
- February 19, 4:00 AM CST to February 28, 11:59 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
- Extreme Cold in Michigan, February 19 to 20, 2001
- Wildfire in Florida, February 19, 2001
- High Wind in Arizona, February 19, 2001
- Avalanche in Montana, February 19, 2001
- High Surf in California, February 19 to 21, 2001
- Volcanic Ash in Alaska, February 19, 2001
- Winter Storm in California, February 19 to 20, 2001
- Funnel Cloud in California, February 19, 2001
More
Every storm in Illinois in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, February 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: 5233578, 5233579, 5233580, 5233581.