Flood, Clark
- When
- May 1, 1:00 AM CST to May 27, 10:00 PM CST
- Where
- Clark forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 40.410, -91.738 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood in Missouri, May 1 to 27, 2001
Widespread major to near record flooding continued on the Mississippi River into May. The month began with continued major flooding along the Mississippi River generally from Burlington northward, and moderate flooding south of Burlington.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
- 1
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.
Widespread major to near record flooding continued on the Mississippi River into May. The month began with continued major flooding along the Mississippi River generally from Burlington northward, and moderate flooding south of Burlington. Continued rain, heavy at times, kept the river above flood stage for most of May. In fact heavy rains helped lead to a second crest on the Mississippi River. This second crest was higher than the first crest, from Keithsburg southward. Persistent heavy rains, especially over Southeast Iowa, Northeast Missouri and West Central Illinois, led to flooding on Mississippi River tributaries, which in turn led to a third crest on the Mississippi River, along with prolonged flooding. The third crest was higher than the second crest, from Burlington southward. Once the Mississippi River began falling, it fell rapidly at times. During the falling limb, Mississippi River stage changes over 24 hour periods were as much as around 1 foot or more. The Mississippi River at Gregory Landing crested at 22.81 feet on the 15th.
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 Apr 30, 1:30 PM CST, 11 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 1:30 PM CST, 11 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 230 PM CDT MON APR 30 2001 18Z SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT EXTENDING FROM MINNESOTA INTO NEBRASKA. SLOW MOVEMENT DUE TO FRONT LYING NEARLY PARALLEL TO UPPER FLOW. SHORTWAVE TROUGH SEEN ON SATELLITE OVER THE PLAINS. DIVERGENCE ASSOCIATED WITH RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF UPPER JET IN COMBINATION WITH APPROACHING SHORTWAVE TROUGH AIDING DEVELOPMENT OF SHOWERS MOVING INTO WESTERN ZONES. MAIN FORECAST CONCERNS ARE WITH PCPN CHANCES AND TEMPS. .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT/TUESDAY MORNING). RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF UPPER JET AND ASSOCIATED DIVERGENCE TO LIFT NORTHEAST OVERNIGHT...TAKING WITH IT BULK OF PCPN. SOUTHERN END OF FRONT WASHES OUT BEFORE GETTING HERE...WHILE NORTHERN END MAINTAINS SOME DEFINITION WHILE HEADING INTO GREAT LAKES ON TUESDAY WITH UPPER ENERGY/FORCING. HIGHEST POPS TONIGHT WILL BE PLACED IN NORTH AND WESTERN ZONES. LEANING TOWARD WARMER MAV GUIDANCE FOR MINS. .(TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY). POTENTIAL FOR MCS TO AFFECT PORTIONS OF REGION. UPPER SYSTEM CURRENTLY MOVING THROUGH PACIFIC NORTHWEST WILL SHIFT EAST ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS. FRONT OVER PLAINS EXPECTED TO SHIFT EAST INTO AREA LATE TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS IN WEST DURING AFTERNOON AHEAD OF FRONT. TUESDAY NIGHT/WEDNESDAY MORNING SHAPING UP TO BE WET FOR PORTIONS OF THE REGION. EXPECTED SOME CONVECTION ALONG FRONT...WITH POSSIBLE MCS DEVELOPING FURTHER WEST AS LOW LEVEL JET/THETA-E ADVECTION FOCUS ON EASTERN NEBRASKA... WESTERN IOWA AND NORTHWEST MISSOURI. CORFIDI VECTORS AND PROGGED THICKNESSES SUPPORT S/SE TRANSLATION...MAY AFFECT SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF CWA. INSTABILITY ENOUGH TO SUPPORT POTENTIAL FOR SOME SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ALONG FRONT DURING AFTERNOON/EVENING...WITH WIND AND HAIL MAIN THREAT. TEMPS BLEND OF FWC/MAV. BEST COMPRESSIONAL HEATING OUT WEST WITH FRONT INTO CENTRAL IOWA BY 00Z. INCREASE IN MOISTURE AND WINDY CONDITIONS TO LIMIT MAXIMUM HEATING. FRONT STALLS OVER REGION ON WEDNESDAY WITH MAIN ENERGY LIFTING WELL NORTH AND UPPER FLOW NEARLY PARALLEL. WITH BOUNDARY AROUND WILL CONTINUE WITH PCPN CHANCES. .EXTENDED (THU-MON). FRONT SAGS SOUTH OF REGION BY FRIDAY AS COOL CANADIAN HIGH BUILDS IN. POTENTIAL FOR BIG BUST ON TEMPS THURSDAY AND FRIDAY WITH LAKE ENHANCED COOLING ON LOW LEVEL NORTHEAST FLOW. TEMP SPREADS COULD BE AROUND 20 DEGS FROM NORTH TO SOUTH ON THURDAY. AVN/MRF/UKMET DEPICT POST FRONTAL PCPN LINGERING THURSDAY AND FRIDAY ALONG H85 BAROCLINIC ZONE...MAINLY NORTH. POTENTIAL THAT SOME AREAS MAY NOT GET OUT OF THE 50S FOR HIGHS ON FRIDAY DUE TO CLOUDS/RAIN. WEEKEND WEATHER WILL BE DOMINATED BY LARGE CANADIAN HIGH CENTERED OVER GREAT LAKES. RESULT IN PLEASANT/NEAR SEASONAL TEMPS. SOUTHERLY FLOW RETURNS LATE IN THE WEEKEND WITH DEVELOPING WARM FRONT. THIS WILL RESULT IN GRADUAL WARMING TREND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH CHAN-CE OF PCPN LATE SUNDAY AND MONDAY AHEAD OF NEXT TROUGH. .DVN... IA...NONE. IL...NONE. MO...NONE. MCCLURE
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Tornadoes and Hail in Minnesota, May 1, 2001
- Drought in Florida, May 1 to 20, 2001
- Tornado and Hail in Wisconsin, May 1, 2001
- Flooding in Wisconsin, May 1 to 18, 2001
- Flooding in Minnesota, May 1 to 16, 2001
- Flooding in Iowa, May 1 to 9, 2001
- Flooding in Iowa, May 1 to 18, 2001
- High Wind in California, May 1 to 2, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Iowa, May 1 to 2, 2001
- Tornadoes and Hail in Minnesota, May 1, 2001
- Tornado and Damaging Wind in Wisconsin, May 1, 2001
- Drought in North Carolina, May 1 to 31, 2001
More
Every storm in Missouri in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Missouri, May 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: 5249637.