Flood, Hancock
- When
- October 21, 7:00 PM CST
- Where
- Hancock County, Carthage
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 40.404, -91.165 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Law enforcement reported steet flooding.
Flooding and Hail in Illinois, October 21, 2001
Event Summary for 10/21/01:On the evening of October 21, a strong warm front extended east along the Iowa and Missouri border, through Central Illinois. Warm unstable air riding northward over this boundary, helped several rounds of strong thunderstorms form over Southeast Iowa, Northeast Missouri, and Northwest Illinois.
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
- 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 DVN wrote it up.
Event Summary for 10/21/01:On the evening of October 21, a strong warm front extended east along the Iowa and Missouri border, through Central Illinois. Warm unstable air riding northward over this boundary, helped several rounds of strong thunderstorms form over Southeast Iowa, Northeast Missouri, and Northwest Illinois. These storms produced numerous reports of urban flooding, as well as a few isolated reports of severe hail.
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 Quad Cities, IA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 21, 12:50 PM CST, 6 hours 10 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Oct 21, 12:50 PM CST, 6 hours 10 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 150 PM CDT SUN OCT 21 2001 ELONGATED AND CONDENSED CLOUD BAND SEEN ON LATEST VIS LOOP ACRS SOUTHERN IA...ON SOUTHERN TAIL OF VORT LOBE OFF WI VORT...MAY HAVE TO BE CONSIDERED THIS EVENING ACRS THE SOUTH FOR A CHANCE OF A SPRINKLE OR SHOWER...OTHERWISE STALLING BOUNDARY FROM KS EAST- NORTHEAST TO LOWER MI...TO EVENTUALLY BE MAIN SHORT TERM FEATURE OF CONCERN. MSAS AND LATEST SFC ANALYSIS INDICATE PRESSURE RISES OVER EAST IA HAVE TRANSFORMED/TRENDED TO FALLS...INDICATING BOUNDARY TO START TO SLIP NORTH TONIGHT. SOUTHERN STREAM OF ONGOING QUICK ZONAL FLOW PATTERN TO USHER NEXT MAIN VORT OF CONCERN TO LOCAL AREA...CURRENTLY SEEN ON W/V IMAGERY PUNCHING INTO THE GRT BSN...BY MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. CYCLOGENESIS OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS...INDUCED BY INCOMING VORT ALOFT WILL ALSO ASSIST IN NORTHWARD ADVANCE OF BOUNDARY AS WARM FRONT ON MON...WITH FEATURE ALONG SOUTHERN EDGE OF CWA BY 12Z MON... LIFTING TOO NORTHERN CWA EDGE BY 00Z TUE(TAKING AVN/ETA COMPROMISE). STRENGTHENING SOUTHWESTERLY H85 JET TO 35-40 KTS BY 00Z TUE...AND STRONG ISENTROPIC LIFT(305 K ANALYSIS) OVER LLVL BAROCLINICITY...TO TAP INTO DEEPENING GULF MOISTURE AND SET UP OVER- RUNNING PRECIP/ ELEVATED CONVECTIVE EVENT ON MON ACRS EAST IA/NORTHWEST IL...WITH SOUTHERN CWA TO BE AT RISK AS EARLY AS LATE TONIGHT. SFC LOW REFLECTION TO DEEPEN AND MOVE FROM CENTRAL IA INTO SOUTHERN WI MON NIGHT...WITH CWA GETTING INTO WARM SECTOR AND PRE COLD FRONTAL CONVECTIVE BAND INTO THE LATE NIGHT HOURS...BEFORE EXITING CWA BY TUE MORNING. UPPER LEVEL DYNAMICS TO BE HELPED BY CROSS CIRCULATION EFFECT BETWEEN NORTHERN GRT LKS RIGHT REAR H3 JET MAX...AND SUB TROPICAL 80+ KT JET MAX NOSE SOUTHWEST OF CWA MON EVENING...WITH MANY OTHER SUPPORT FACTORS FOR THUNDERSTORM WORDING NORTH OF WARM FRONT MONDAY...AND AGAIN IN WARM SECTOR MONDAY NIGHT. IMPRESSIVE H3 140-150 KT PROGGED JET TO PUNCH DOWN TOWARD SOUTHERN PLAINS FROM PACIFIC NORTHWEST LATER ON TUE...BIG INGREDIENT OF NEXT DEEPENING TROUGH ACRS THE CENTRAL CONUS. STRENGTHENING SOUTHWEST UPPER FLOW AHEAD OF DEVELOPING FEATURE TO WARM ADVECT TUES NIGHT...WITH EXTENDED AVN BREAKING OUT WAA PRECIP ACRS SOUTHERN CWA LATE WITH NEXT LEAD IMPULSE. WILL LEAN TOWARD MILDER FWC/MAV GUIDANCE FOR BOTH HIGHS AND LOWS THROUGH TUE NIGHT...BEFORE ONCOMING BIG CHILL DOWN. MONDAY HIGHS POTENTIALLY COULD CLIMB WELL INTO 70S WITH EXTENT OF H85/H9 WARMING...BUT CLOUD COVER AND NORTHWARD ADVANCING PRECIP TO TEMPER POTENTIAL. LONGER RANGE(WED-SUN)...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT OF DEEPENING UPPER TROUGH INTO A CUT-OFF ACRS THE NORTHERN PLAINS AND UPPER MIDWEST DURING MID NEXT WEEK PERIOD...WITH WED LOOKING LIKE THE TRANSITION DAY WITH SHOWERS AND POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS AHEAD OF IN-SWEEPING COLD FRONT. MODELS THEN AGREE ON ROTATING POLAR VORTEX TO JAMES BAY VCNTY BY FRI MORNING...LEAVING MIDWEST BATHED IN BROAD CYCLONIC FLOW AND DEEP CAA OFF NORTHERN PROVINCES OF MANITOBA/SASK. LONG RANGE PROGGED CRITICAL LLVL THICKNESSES/TEMPS SUPPORT SNOW FLURRIES/SHOWERS FOR THU AND FRI...IF CYCLONIC FLOW AND INHERENT VORT SPOKES CAN WRING OUT PRECIP THIS FAR WEST. SFC RIDGE TO SLIDE ACRS AREA FOR DRY AND MODERATING WEEKEND...ESPECIALLY ON SUN. WILL LEAN TOWARD GENERAL MEX HIGH/LOW NUMBERS THROUGH PERIOD. .DVN... IA...NONE. IL...NONE. MO...NONE. 12
The radar
The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 143 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:59 UTC.
Event by event
2 flood, 2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Flood, Hancock
- When
- October 21, 9:40 PM CST
- Where
- Hancock County, Carthage
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 40.404, -91.165 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Law enforcement reported 2.25 inches of rain in 3 hours, and numerous reports of urban ponding of water.
Hail, Hancock
- When
- October 21, 11:01 PM CST
- Where
- Hancock County, Carthage
- Measured
- 2 in hail
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 40.417, -91.133
Law enforcement reported 2.00 inch hail.
Hail, Hancock
- When
- October 21, 11:15 PM CST
- Where
- Hancock County, Carthage
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 40.417, -91.133
Law enforcement reported 1.00 inch hail.
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.
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, October 21, 2001
- Hail in Iowa, October 21, 2001
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in Lake Erie, October 21, 2001
- Lightning Strike in New York, October 21, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, October 21, 2001
- Hail in Missouri, October 21, 2001
- Hail in Pennsylvania, October 21, 2001
- Marine Thunderstorm Wind in Gulf of Mexico, October 21, 2001
- High Wind in Alaska, October 21 to 22, 2001
- Hail in New York, October 21, 2001
- Lightning Strike in New York, October 21, 2001
- Heavy Rain in Florida, October 21, 2001
More
Every storm in Illinois in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, October 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: 5270287, 5270288, 5270289, 5270290.