Flash Flooding and Hail in Missouri, May 13 to 14, 2001

Name: Flash Flooding and Hail in Missouri, May 13 to 14, 2001
Start: 2001-05-13T20:40
End: 2001-05-14T02:27
Location: Missouri

May 13 to 14, 2001 · NWS DVN · 7 events in 2 counties and zones

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: 7

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 5/13/01-5/14/01:Strong to severe thunderstorms developed over Northeast Missouri during the evening of the 13th. Initially the storms produced large hail up to 1 inch in diameter, gusty winds and heavy rain. During the late evening and overnight hours the threat shifted to torrential rain and flooding, as thunderstorms continuously redeveloped over the region. Hardest hit was Scotland county, where Doppler radar estimated between 3 to 7 inches of rain fell, resulting in widespread flooding and road closures. High water threatened some residents in Memphis nearly prompting evacuations.

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 May 13, 1:36 PM CST, 7 hours 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 13, 1:36 PM CST, 7 hours 4 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
236 PM CDT SUN MAY 13 2001

MCS JUST OUTSIDE OF THE CWA DRIFTING SLOWLY SOUTHEAST WITH A LARGE
COLD POOL ACROSS CENTRAL IOWA. WITH SUCH NONLINEAR PROCESSES
DOMINATING...WARM FRONT IN THE PLAINS HASN/T MOVED MUCH AT ALL. RUC
GOES AGAINST MODELS AND DOESN/T MOVE WARM FRONT MUCH AT ALL
TONIGHT...COMPARED TO ETA/NGM/AVN. WEAK IMPULSES TO GENERATE ANOTHER
MCS TONIGHT WITH IT COMING ACROSS OUR CWA. QG FORCING WEAK BUT LLJ
POINTS RIGHT AT US WITH A RESPECTABLE THETA E RIDGE. ETA/NGM/AVN
PUSH WARM FRONT THROUGH MONDAY BUT IF THE NEW MCS PUTS OUT A COLD
POOL TOMORROW...TEMPERATURES WON/T BUDGE MUCH. THEREFORE WILL DELAY
WARM FRONT A LITTLE WITH IT NOT PUSHING THROUGH ON MONDAY.
POTENTIAL EXITS FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WITH MCS IF COLD POOL
DEVELOPS AND POTENTIAL FOR SVR.

FWC/FAN/MAV SIMILAR BUT WILL DO SOME UNDERCUTTING ON PRETENSE THAT
SOME TYPE OF COLD POOL DEVELOPS MONDAY.

EXTENDED WISE...NOT MUCH TIME TO LOOK AT DUE TO HYDRO CONCERNS.
POTENTIAL LOOKS TO HAVE PRECIP CHANCES EACH DAY WITH WEAK IMPULSES
MOVING THROUGH AREA AND CLOSE PROXIMITY OF FRONTS.

COORDINATED WITH DSM...LSE...AND ILX.

.DVN...
IA...NONE.
IL...NONE.
MO...NONE.

SCHULTZ

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 184 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:41 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 hail, 3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Scotland

When: May 13, 8:40 PM CST
Where: Scotland County, Memphis
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 40.467, -92.167

Nickel sized hail reported by cooperative observer.

Hail, Scotland

When: May 13, 8:51 PM CST
Where: Scotland County, Memphis
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.467, -92.167

Penny sized hail reported by law enforcement.

Hail, Scotland

When: May 13, 8:55 PM CST
Where: Scotland County, Memphis
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.467, -92.167

Quarter sized hail covering the ground. Reported by law enforcement.

Flash Flood, Scotland

When: May 13, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Scotland County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.453, -92.147 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

1 to 2 feet of water along with other debris and floating logs covered many county roads, resulting in numerous road closures. Reported by law enforcement official.

Hail, Scotland

When: May 13, 9:05 PM CST to 9:08 PM CST
Where: Scotland County, Memphis
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.467, -92.167

Penny sized hail fell for 3 minutes. Reported by trained spotter.

Flash Flood, Scotland

When: May 13, 10:03 PM CST
Where: Scotland County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.453, -92.147 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lakes of water up to a quarter mile wide covering several county roads. Street flooding also reported inMemphis. Reported by law enforcement official.

Flash Flood, Clark

When: May 14, 2:27 AM CST
Where: Clark County, Kahoka
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.410, -91.738 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Water over Highway 81 on the approach to Kahoka. Reported by law enforcement.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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, 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: 5250620, 5250621, 5250692, 5250693, 5250694, 5250695, 5250696.