Flooding in Missouri, May 14 to 16, 2001

Name: Flooding in Missouri, May 14 to 16, 2001
Start: 2001-05-14T03:17
End: 2001-05-16T14:25
Location: Missouri

May 14 to 16, 2001 · NWS LSX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

The North, Middle, and South Fabius Rivers all rose out of their banks due to heavy rain during the middle part of the month. Damage was limited to a few flooded roads and flooded farmland.

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 LSX wrote it up.

The North, Middle, and South Fabius Rivers all rose out of their banks due to heavy rain during the middle part of the month. Damage was limited to a few flooded roads and flooded farmland. Location Flood Stage CrestMonticello 17 ft 26.2 ft on 05/15/01 North Fabius RiverMonticello 13 ft 20.5 ft on 05/15/01 Middle Fabius RiverTaylor 9.5 ft 13.7 ft on 05/16/01 South Fabius River

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 St. Louis, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 13, 2:00 PM CST, 13 hours 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 13, 2:00 PM CST, 13 hours 17 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
300 PM CDT SUN MAY 13 2001

ELONGATED BAND OF SHRA/TSRA LCTD FM MID MO NWD CONTS TO REGENERATE
OVR SC IA.  THIS BAND OF PCPN OCCURING TO THE EAST OF THE SYNOPTIC
SCALE WRMFNT AND IN A RGN OF MODEST LOW LVL POS THETAE ADVCTN AT THE
NOSE OF THE ANTICYCLONICALLY CURVED LLJ.  MDLS DON'T APPEAR TO HV
THAT GREAT OF HANDLE ON THE SITN WITH EACH SHOWING A PIECE OR TWO OF
THE PUZZLE.  THEY ALL APPEAR TO BE A BIT FAST SHIFTING THIS WHOLE
LOW LVL THETAE ADVCTN/WAA ZN TO THE EAST THIS EVENING.  WL CARRY AT
LEAST DECENT CHC POPS OR AREAL COVERAGE MENTION FOR ALL BUT MAYBE
SRN SXNS OF THE CWFA.  AFOREMENTIONED N/S ZN OF LOW LVL FRCG PROGGED
TO BE OVR CNTRL IL BY 12Z MON AND THUS WL CONT WITH MRNG POPS TO THE
EAST OF THE MS RVR.  OTW SHUD SEE WRM FROPA OVR THESE LCTNS DURING
THE MRNG HRS AND S TO SW PBL FLOW SPREAD EAST FROM WRN MO.  THIS
SHUD ALLOW FOR GOOD WRMG.  MAV/FWC GUID TMPS ARE HARD TO ARGUE WITH
AND HV BEEN FOLLOWED.

WRM UP SHUD CONT INTO TUE AS HGTS RISE AND PATTERN FLATTENS OUT OVR
MOST OF THE CONUS.  QUESTION FOR TUE INTO WED IS WITH THE BACKDOOR
FRONT.  THE AVN HAS BEEN GETTING SLOWER EACH SUCCESSIVE RUN AND IS
THE AGRESSOR BRINGING A FNT THRU ON TUE NGT...WHICH EVENTUALLY GOES
STNRY OVR SRN SXNS WED MRNG.  THE ETA ON THE OTR HAND IS NOT NEARLY
AGRSV WITH A BACKDOOR FRONT...IF AT ALL.  MUCH OF THE AVN ARRISES FM
IT'S POTENT SHRTWV TROF DROPPING FM THE MIDWEST INTO THE WRN OH VLY
IN THE TUE-WED TIME FRAME.  THE PRVS FCST AND NCEP GUID BRINGS THE
FNT TO STL VCNTY AND WL FOLLOW THIS COURSE ATTM.  ONE THING WHICH
LOOKS PRETTY GOOD IS A VERY WRM DAY ON TUE.  DEEP W TO SW LOW TROP
FLOW IS PERFECT FOR THE RGN WITH THE H85 TMPS CURRENTLY PROGGED.
ALSO DRY GRND IN ALL BUT C/NE MO WL CREATE MORE FVRBL CONDS. FEEL
ALL THE MOS GUID IS A TOO COOL AND WL CONSERVATIVELY BOOST MOST RNGS
TO ARND 90.  NOTE THE ETA 2M TMPS ARE IN THE L90S.

IN THE EXTDD...THE BACKDOOR FNT SHUD PUSH BACK NWD INTO THURS.  A
PAC CDFNT WL THEN TRY TO MAKE IT THRU ON FRI AND MRF SUGGESTS IT MAY
WAVER WITH MID LVL WAVE PASSAGES INTO THE WEEKEND.  WL KP THE
WEEKENpD DRY FOR NOW AS MDLS HV SHOWN NO CONSISTENT TRENDS IN OUTER
PDS AS OF LATE.

.STL...NONE.
GLASS

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, Knox

When: May 14, 3:17 AM CST to May 16, 2:25 PM CST
Where: Knox forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 40.128, -92.148 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Lewis

When: May 14, 3:17 AM CST to May 16, 2:25 PM CST
Where: Lewis forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 40.097, -91.722 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Marion

When: May 14, 3:17 AM CST to May 16, 2:25 PM CST
Where: Marion forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 39.806, -91.622 (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, 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: 5244885, 5244886, 5244887.