Flooding in Missouri, September 17 to 20, 2001

Name: Flooding in Missouri, September 17 to 20, 2001
Start: 2001-09-17T02:00
End: 2001-09-20T18:00
Location: Missouri

September 17 to 20, 2001 · NWS EAX · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

Minor to moderate flooding was reported on the Fishing River in Mosby, Little Platte River in Smithville,and the South Grand River at Urich. 56 feet above flood stage.

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 EAX wrote it up.

Minor to moderate flooding was reported on the Fishing River in Mosby, Little Platte River in Smithville,and the South Grand River at Urich. The Little Platte River at Smithville crested 8.56 feet above flood stage.

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 Kansas City, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 17, 1:07 AM CST, 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 17, 1:07 AM CST, 53 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
207 AM CDT MON SEP 17 2001

...MAIN CONCERNS ARE THUNDERSTORM CHANCES THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING
AND JUST HOW MUCH RAIN WE MAY GET...

RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH THE CWA EARLY THIS MORNING AS
ENERGY ROTATES AROUND THE SOUTHERN SIDE OF UPPER LOW MOVING ACROSS
SOUTHERN MN.  THIS SYSTEM TO MOVE EAST OF AREA TODAY BUT NEXT UPPER
LEVEL STORM TO AFFECT AREA NOW MOVING INTO UTAH.  LATEST MODEL
ANALYSIS SHOWS ETA AND NGM BRINGING THIS STORM SYSTEM INTO CENTRAL
PLAINS AND DEEPENING A BIT BEFORE MOVING OFF TO THE NORTHEAST WHILE
AVN BRINGS A WEAKER...FASTER OPEN WAVE THROUGH PLAINS.  WILL SIDE
WITH THE ETA/NGM SOLUTION AS ABUNDANT MOISTURE AS WELL AS AN
ABUNDANCE OF CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY OVER THE ROCKIES SUGGESTS FAIRLY
STRONG SYSTEM.

CLOUDY...COOL AND WET PATTERN TO REMAIN IN PLACE THROUGH AT LEAST
TUESDAY NIGHT. WILL HAVE POPS IN EACH PERIOD THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT
WITH HIGHEST POPS TONIGHT AND TUESDAY.  THESE HIGHER POPS IN
RESPONSE TO STRENGTHENING PROGRESSIVE TROF MOVING INTO UTAH AT THIS
TIME. WILL CARRY CHANCE/LIKELY POPS TODAY...LIKELY TONIGHT AND
CATEGORICAL FOR TUESDAY. LOOKS LIKE A GOOD CHANCE FOR A HEAVY RAIN
EVENT ON TUESDAY WITH SOME DECENT INSTABILITY...LIS AROUND
-3...CAPE VALUES AROUND 1000 J/KG AND MODERATELY DEEP MOISTURE. WILL
NOT ISSUE A FLASH FLOOD WATCH AT THIS TIME BUT THIS MAY NEED TO BE
LOOKED AT FOR TUESDAY BY THE DAY SHIFT TODAY. PRETTY GOOD SWATH OF 1
TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN TONIGHT ACROSS CWA WITH ISOLATED REPORTS AROUND
4 INCHES.

SOME ISOLATED SEVERE ALSO NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION ON TUESDAY AS
FRONT PASSES THROUGH DURING THE EVENING AND LOW DEEPENS OVERHEAD.
ALSO...DECENT HELICITY ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN COUNTIES WITH AN
APPARENT WARM FRONT PROGGED FROM ABOUT PAOLA TO SEDALIA DURING THE
AFTERNOON.

SYSTEM PASSES WEDNESDAY AND WINDS SWING AROUND TO THE NORTH BRINGING
COOLER AIR.

WILL NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE EXTENDED.

.EAX...
KS...NONE.
MO...NONE.

18

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, Clay

When: September 17, 2:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Clay forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 39.311, -94.421 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Clay

When: September 17, 2:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Clay forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 39.311, -94.421 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Henry

When: September 19, 2:00 AM CST to September 20, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Henry forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.385, -93.793 (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, September 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: 5267477, 5267478, 5267476.