1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
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 May 31, 1:00 PM CST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 200 PM CDT THU MAY 31 2001 VIS SATL THIS AFTERNOON SHOWED THE EFFECTS OF A DRY SLOT SLIPPING IN SOUTH OF THE SFC LOW PRESENTLY OVER CENTRAL MO...ALLOWING TEMPS TO JUMP WELL INTO THE 70S OVER NE AR/SE MO/W KY. SFC ANALYSIS INDICATED A COLD FRONT EXTENDED SOUTH OF THE LOW TO SOUTHWEST AR...WITH A PREFRONTAL TROF JUST AHEAD OF IT. A WARM FRONT EXTENDED EAST OF THE LOW INTO SOUTHERN IL...NORTH OF MVN...TO JUST NORTH OF EVV...AND INTO CENTRAL KY. SWODY1 SPEAKS OF POSSIBLE ISOLATED TORNADOES NEAR THE WARM FRONTAL BOUNDARY TODAY...BUT VERTICAL SHEAR MAY BECOME MORE UNIDIRECTIONAL AS THE THE SFC BOUNDARY MOVES NORTH THIS AFTERNOON. UPPER AIR CHARTS REVEAL THE NEXT TROF OVER SASKATCHEWAN AND MANITOBA IS POISED TO DROP INTO THE MIDWEST FOR THE EARLY PART OF THE WEEKEND. 12Z AVN IS STILL THE FASTEST WITH THE CURRENT SYSTEM AFTER 30 HOURS AS THE SFC LOW MOVES INTO THE EASTERN GREAT LAKES REGION. ALOFT...THE TROF SHOULD PHASE WITH THE AFOREMENTIONED TROF/LOW AS IT SWEEPS THRU THE UPPER MIDWEST...DRAGGING ANOTHER SFC COLD FRONT SOUTH OF IT. WITH MARGINAL MOISTURE AND POSITIVE LIS...IT APPEARS THE FRI NITE SAT FROPA WILL PROBABLY BE ACCOMPANIED BY BRIEF PERIOD OF SHOWERS. IN THE EXTENDED...AGREE WITH NCEP THAT MRF IS QUICK WITH THE NEXT TROF IMPORTED FROM THE PAC NORTHWEST DAY4/DAY5...SO EVEN WITH HINTS AT RETURN FLOW PRECIP CHANCE MON...PLAN TO NOT MAKE MAJOR CHANGES TO THE EXTENDED YET. .PAH...NONE. DB
ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-100- 107>112-114-311915- THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 1112 AM CDT THU MAY 31 2001 THIS OUTLOOK IS VALID FOR SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...AND WESTERN KENTUCKY UNTIL 600 AM THURSDAY. THE LATEST OUTLOOK FROM THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER PAINTS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR THE LOWER OHIO AND MID MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY AREA. A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN MISSOURI AND INTO NORTHERN ILLINOIS BY TONIGHT. IT WILL DRAG A COLD FRONT INTO OUR AREA DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS. THE ENVIRONMENT THAT THE FRONT ENCOUNTERS IS CONTINGENT UPON WHETHER OR NOT THE CLOUDS BREAK OUT TODAY. IF THE CLOUDS BREAK OUT AND ALLOW FOR SUNSHINE...THE LOWER ATMOSPHERE WILL RAPIDLY DESTABILIZE. IF THE CLOUDS HOLD...THE ENVIRONMENT WILL ONLY BE MARGINALLY UNSTABLE. IT IS LIKELY THAT CLOUDS WILL HOLD FOR MUCH OF THE DAY...AND WHILE SOME THINNING OF THE CLOUDINESS IS EXPECTED...THERE IS STILL CONSIDERABLE MOISTURE IN THE ATMOSPHERE THAT DAYTIME HEATING WOULD LIKELY GENERATE SOME ADDITIONAL CLOUDINESS. SO THE ENVIRONMENT IS EXPECTED TO BE MARGINALLY TO MODERATELY UNSTABLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON. WINDS ALOFT ARE GENERALLY UNIDIRECTIONAL...AND WITH THE FREEZING LEVEL FAIRLY HIGH...THE PRIMARY THREAT FOR SEVERE ACTIVITY WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS. LARGE HAIL COULD OCCUR WITH PARTICULARLY STRONG TO SEVERE CELLS. AND ALONG THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY ITSELF...OR OTHER CONVECTIVE OUTFLOW BOUNDARY...THERE MAY BE JUST ENOUGH SHEAR IN THE LOWEST LEVELS TO PRODUCE AN ISOLATED TORNADO. AVERAGE STORM MOVEMENT WILL BE NORTHEAST AT 30 TO 35 MPH. SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO MAINTAIN A BASIC ALERT STATUS AS THEIR ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUESTED LATE TODAY OR EARLY TONIGHT.
ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-100- 107>112-114-311915- THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...CORRECTION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 1112 AM CDT THU MAY 31 2001 THIS OUTLOOK IS VALID FOR SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...AND WESTERN KENTUCKY UNTIL 600 AM FRIDAY. THE LATEST OUTLOOK FROM THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER PAINTS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR THE LOWER OHIO AND MID MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY AREA. A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN MISSOURI AND INTO NORTHERN ILLINOIS BY TONIGHT. IT WILL DRAG A COLD FRONT INTO OUR AREA DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS. THE ENVIRONMENT THAT THE FRONT ENCOUNTERS IS CONTINGENT UPON WHETHER OR NOT THE CLOUDS BREAK OUT TODAY. IF THE CLOUDS BREAK OUT AND ALLOW FOR SUNSHINE...THE LOWER ATMOSPHERE WILL RAPIDLY DESTABILIZE. IF THE CLOUDS HOLD...THE ENVIRONMENT WILL ONLY BE MARGINALLY UNSTABLE. IT IS LIKELY THAT CLOUDS WILL HOLD FOR MUCH OF THE DAY...AND WHILE SOME THINNING OF THE CLOUDINESS IS EXPECTED...THERE IS STILL CONSIDERABLE MOISTURE IN THE ATMOSPHERE THAT DAYTIME HEATING WOULD LIKELY GENERATE SOME ADDITIONAL CLOUDINESS. SO THE ENVIRONMENT IS EXPECTED TO BE MARGINALLY TO MODERATELY UNSTABLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON. WINDS ALOFT ARE GENERALLY UNIDIRECTIONAL...AND WITH THE FREEZING LEVEL FAIRLY HIGH...THE PRIMARY THREAT FOR SEVERE ACTIVITY WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS. LARGE HAIL COULD OCCUR WITH PARTICULARLY STRONG TO SEVERE CELLS. AND ALONG THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY ITSELF...OR OTHER CONVECTIVE OUTFLOW BOUNDARY...THERE MAY BE JUST ENOUGH SHEAR IN THE LOWEST LEVELS TO PRODUCE AN ISOLATED TORNADO. AVERAGE STORM MOVEMENT WILL BE NORTHEAST AT 30 TO 35 MPH. SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO MAINTAIN A BASIC ALERT STATUS AS THEIR ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUESTED LATE TODAY OR EARLY TONIGHT.
The St Louis radar (KLSX), 127 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:47 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A weak tornado briefly touched down in a wooded area of rural Perry County. The tornado was extensively photographed by the general public. Despite an extensive check of the area by local authorities, no damage was found.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Illinois, 2001Warnings in Illinois, May 2001
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: 5243358.