Flood, Alexander
- When
- March 1, 12:01 AM CST to March 4, 7:00 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, March 1 to 4, 2001
Minor flooding on the Ohio River continued from late February. The early March flooding was downriver from Metropolis and Paducah to Cairo.
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 PAH wrote it up.
Minor flooding on the Ohio River continued from late February. The early March flooding was downriver from Metropolis and Paducah to Cairo. The river fell below flood stage at Grand Chain on March 2, and at Cairo on March 4. Crests at both locations were on February 23. The river was held above flood stage longer at Cairo due to some backwater effects from the flooding Mississippi River. A secondary crest of 43.24 feet occurred at Cairo on March 1. The flood stage at Cairo is 40 feet.
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 28, 2:00 PM CST, 10 hours 1 minute earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 28, 2:00 PM CST, 10 hours 1 minute before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 200 PM CST WED FEB 28 2001 12Z ANALYSIS OF 850MB SHOWS WARM SECTOR BOUNDARY EXTENDING FM CNTL TX-SRN MS. MIDDAY SURFACE PLOT REVEALS LINGERING QUASI-STATIONARY BOUNDARY ACROSS GULF COASTAL STATES...WITH INVERTED TROF FM E TX INTO WRN AR...WHERE DEW POINT RIDGE WAS NOTED. IR SATELLITE IMAGERY/88D MOSAIC SHOWS PCPN IN COLD FIELD ACROSS MUCH OF SRN NE/OK/NRN TX. HOWEVER AS THIS AREA ADVECTS EWARD IT WAS RAPIDLY EVAPORATING UPON ENCOUNTERING ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM DRY AIR MASS ENTRENCHED OVER LOWER OH VALLEY...WHICH WAS STRENGTHENING ITS HOLD AS POWERFUL H3 POLAR JET CONTS TO SAG SOUTHWARD. TWO PRIMARY WX FEATURES THIS PACKAGE. THE FIRST IS 120+KT H3 JET STREAK WHICH ROTATES OUT OF SW U.S. LOW...ACROSS PLAINS AND INTO NRN MO OVERNIGHT. THIS WL COINCIDE WITH LOOSENING HOLD OF DRY AIR WEDGE OVER LOWER OH VALLEY AS POLAR JET STREAK DEPARTS DELMARVA PENINSULA BY 12Z THU. MODEL OF CHOICE WITH THIS SYSTEM IS THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD AVN...WHICH HAS HANDLED LAST 24-48 HOURS WELL. WEAK VORT LOBE HELPS MODEL PAINT SMALL CHC LIGHT QPF IN FAR SW PTN FA TONIGHT AS PRIMARY MOISTURE FIELDS ARE SHEARED OFF TO OUR NORTH AND SOUTH. ETA IS SIMILAR BUT SEEMS OVERDONE WITH MOISTURE FIELD AND NGM REMAINS SLOWER...BUT EVEN FWC GUIDANCE SHIFTS CHC CATEGORY POPS AS FAR N AS NE AR. WL THEREFORE INTRODUCE VERY SMALL CHC -RA FAR SW QUAD...WITH 1000-850MB THICKNESSES AND ABOVE FREEZING TEMPS (FAR SW PTN FA ONLY) SUPPORTING LIQUID PCPN. NEXT FEATURE OF NEAR TERM SIGNIFICANCE IS THE EWARD MOVEMENT OF THE MAIN LONG WAVE LOW...WHICH WL CAUSE THE WARM/MOIST AIR ACROSS THE DEEP SOUTH TO BEGIN TO BUBBLE NWARD. AVN EJECTS SHORT WAVE ENERGY ACROSS LOWER MS VALLEY THU NIGHT AS DEEPENING SWLY FLOW ALOFT INCREASES MOISTURE ADVECTION INTO PAH FA. ETA/NGM RESPOND WITH INTRO OF CHC CATEGORY PCPN...WHILE AVN FOCUSES PCPN CHANCES TO THE SOUTH...WHERE WE BELIEVE THEY SHOULD BE. WL THEREFORE KEEP CONSIDERABLE CLDS FOR THU NIGHT-FRI BUT REFRAIN FROM POP INTRO AND THUS UNDERCUT FWC...IE MORE AKIN TO MAV POPS. WITH AVN MODEL OF CHOICE AND MAV BASED GUIDANCE COMPROMISE NUMBERS BEST PERFORMING LAST 24 HOURS...WL LEAN TOWARD MAV THRU PACKAGE. IN ADDITION MAV APPEARS TO BE SHAKING COLD BIAS WHILE AVN BASED FAN DOES NOT. DON'T SEE MUCH MORE THAN MINOR TWEEKING ON TIMING FOR EXTENDED WITH PCPN CHC CLOSELY LINKED TO EJECTION OF LONG WAVE AND OTHERWISE DRY WX EXPECTED. .PAH...NONE. DH
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flood, Pulaski
- When
- March 1, 12:01 AM CST to March 4, 7:00 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
- Ice Storm in Kansas, March 1, 2001
- Rip Current in California, March 1, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Mississippi, March 1 to 3, 2001
- Heavy Rain in Georgia, March 1 to 31, 2001
- Flash Flooding in Louisiana, March 1 to 3, 2001
- Dense Fog in Arizona, March 1, 2001
- Heavy Snow in New York, March 1, 2001
- Cold in West Virginia, March 1 to 31, 2001
- Drought in North Carolina, March 1 to 31, 2001
- Drought in South Carolina, March 1 to 31, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Mississippi, March 1, 2001
- Drought in Texas, March 1 to 31, 2001
More
Every storm in Illinois in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, March 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: 5236051, 5236052.