Flooding in Missouri, May 9 to 26, 2001

Name: Flooding in Missouri, May 9 to 26, 2001
Start: 2001-05-09T01:45
End: 2001-05-26T16:30
Location: Missouri

May 9 to 26, 2001 · NWS LSX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

The Mississippi River went about 2 - 3 feet over flood stage at some locations in St. Louis and Jefferson Counties.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 Mississippi River went about 2 - 3 feet over flood stage at some locations in St. Louis and Jefferson Counties. Damage was very limited as only a few roads and agricultural areas along the river were flooded. Location Flood Stage CrestArnold 24 ft 27.9 ft on 5/21/01Arnold is actually on the Meramec River, very close to the confluence of the Meramec and Mississippi Rivers.

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 9, 1:30 AM CST, 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 9, 1:30 AM CST, 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
230 AM CDT WED MAY 9 2001

INITIAL 500 FLOW PTRN OF NW FLOW ACRS RGN WILL FLATTEN OUT AS SERIES
OF S/WVS ROLL ACRS THE MIDWEST THRU THE PD.  AT H3, ETA AND NGM ARE
SMLR FOR MIDN TNGT WITH SGNFNT DVRGC ACRS IA BCK INTO SE NEB WHILE
AVN FCSTS BULLSEYE ACRS SD.  850 TEMPS IN THE MID TEENS ARE FCST
ACRS MUCH OF AREA TODAY AND WITH SGNFT SUNSHINE, WOOD EXPCT HIGHS TO
BE IN THE LOW-MID 80S.  MAV TEMPS AND POPS LOOK BTR THAN FWCS AND
WILL TREND TWD THESE.

NGM TIME CROSS SECTS SHOW LTL MSTR FOR TODAY WITH EXTSV HI LVL MSTR
AVBL ON THU.  TEMPS SHOULD RCH THE LOW TO MID 80S AGN ACRS MST OF
AREA WITH SLY FLOW.

AVN FCSTS FNT TO SAG INTO THE NRN OZARKS BY NOON FRI WITH S/WVS
ROLLG OUT OF KS UNDR NW FLOW ALFT.  LRG HI BUILDS IN ON SAT WITH FNT
FCST ACRS NRN AR.  NO MAJOR CHANGES NEEDED TO EXTNDD.

.STL...NONE

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, St. Louis

When: May 9, 1:45 AM CST to May 26, 4:30 PM CST
Where: St. Louis forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.641, -90.443 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Jefferson

When: May 9, 1:45 AM CST to May 26, 4:30 PM CST
Where: Jefferson forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.261, -90.538 (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: 5244883, 5244884.