Flooding in Missouri, March 1 to 4, 2001

Name: Flooding in Missouri, March 1 to 4, 2001
Start: 2001-03-01T00:01
End: 2001-03-04T17:00
Location: Missouri

March 1 to 4, 2001 · NWS PAH · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Minor flooding of the Mississippi River continued from late February. In late February, the river rose about 14 feet in just four days.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 of the Mississippi River continued from late February. In late February, the river rose about 14 feet in just four days. The crest at Cape Girardeau occurred on March 2 at 3 A.M. The crest was 34.53 feet, about two and a half feet above flood stage. The flood gate at Themis Street in Cape Girardeau was closed as a precaution. The river fell back below flood stage on March 4.

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.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Cape Girardeau

When: March 1, 12:01 AM CST to March 4, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Cape Girardeau forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.384, -89.684 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Perry

When: March 1, 12:01 AM CST to March 4, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Perry forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.707, -89.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Scott

When: March 1, 12:01 AM CST to March 4, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Scott forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.053, -89.568 (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

Every storm in Missouri in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Missouri, 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: 5236906, 5236907, 5236908.