Flash Flood in Nebraska, May 4, 2001

Name: Flash Flood in Nebraska, May 4, 2001
Start: 2001-05-04T20:40
End: 2001-05-04T22:00
Location: Nebraska

May 4, 2001 · NWS OAX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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 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 Omaha, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 4, 8:35 PM CST, 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 4, 8:35 PM CST, 5 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA NE
935 PM CDT FRI MAY 4 2001

HAVE EXTENDED FLASH FLOOD WATCH NORTHWARD FOR REST OF THE NIGHT AS
WIDESPREAD RAIN...HEAVY AT TIMES CONTINUES ACROSS FCST AREA. WATCH
NOW IN EFFECT GNERALLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM AROUND
COLUMBUS THROUGH HARLAN. STILL HAVE TO MONITOR AREAS SE NEBRASKA FOR
A FEW SEVERE EVENTS N OF FNT WHICH IS BEGINNING TO LIFT SLOWLY NWD.
HOWEVER BELIEVE MAIN CONCERN THROUGH NIGHT WILL NOW BE WATER.

.OMA...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT E CNTRL...SERN NE AND SWRN IA.
WIESE

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 4, 5:09 PM CST, 3 hours 31 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
609 PM CDT FRI MAY 04 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0545 PM    2 W DAWSON                NE   TORNADO
05/04/01   RICHARDSON                     REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER. BRIEF
                                          TOUCHDOWN REPORTED.

Special weather statement, May 4, 5:45 PM CST, 2 hours 55 minutes before

IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034-
042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-050201-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
645 PM CDT FRI MAY 4 2001

STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED OVER SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA AND
SOUTHWEST IOWA INTO MID EVENING.

A FRONTAL BOUNDARY EXTENDED FROM SOUTHEAST IOWA ACROSS NORTHWEST
MISSOURI INTO SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS.  A FEW THUNDERSTORMS NORTH OF
THE BOUNDARY ACROSS SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST
IOWA COULD BECOME SEVERE INTO MID EVENING. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS APPEAR TO BE THE MAIN RISK. HOWEVER A FEW TORNADOES AREA ALSO
POSSIBLE.

OTHERWISE UNSETTLED WEATHER IS FORECAST TO CONTINUE ACROSS THE
REGION THROUGH TONIGHT AS THE FRONT STARTS TO LIFT SLOWLY NORTH.
ALTHOUGH THE FRONT SHOULD GENERALLY STILL REMAIN SOUTH OF THE
AREA...INSTABILITY ALOFT WILL INCREASE.  THIS INSTABILITY...IN
COMBINATION WITH A STRENGTHENING LOW LEVEL JET...MAY KEEP SHOWER AND
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY GOING THROUGH THE NIGHT.  AT THIS
TIME...ORGANIZED SEVERE WEATHER DEVELOPMENT IS NOT EXPECTED AFTER
MID EVENING.  THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE  HEAVY RAIN...kWHICH COULD
CAUSE FLOODING IN PARTS OF SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA INTO SOUTHWEST IOWA
WHERE A FLASH FLOOD WATCH HAS BEEN POSTED THROUGH TONIGHT.

GW

Local storm report, May 4, 6:10 PM CST, 2 hours 30 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
710 PM CDT FRI MAY 04 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0648 PM    9 S AUBURN                NE   TORNADO
05/04/01   NEMAHA                         REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

Local storm report, May 4, 6:56 PM CST, 1 hour 44 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
756 PM CDT FRI MAY 04 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0743 PM    5 S COOK                  NE   TORNADO
05/04/01   NEMAHA                         REPORTED BY FIRE AND
                                          RESCUE. REPORTED
                                          TORNAOD ON THE GROUND.

Local storm report, May 4, 7:14 PM CST, 1 hour 26 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
814 PM CDT FRI MAY 04 2001...CORRECTED COUNTY LOCATION...

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0743 PM    5 S COOK                  NE   TORNADO
05/04/01   JOHNSON                        REPORTED BY FIRE AND
                                          RESCUE
            Q

Local storm report, May 4, 7:27 PM CST, 1 hour 13 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
827 PM CDT FRI MAY 04 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0615 PM    3 SE COOK                 NE   TORNADO
05/04/01   JOHNSON                        REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 77 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:40 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Otoe

When: May 4, 8:40 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Otoe County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.649, -96.135 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy rain produced flash flooding of several highways in Otoe county. Highway 50 6 or 7 miles south of Syracuse was under water for a while, as was highway 75 south of Nebraska City. Flooding was also reported in the town of Syracuse in some low lying areas. Upwards of 3 inches of rain was estimated to have fallen across parts of the county that night.

What these are

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 Nebraska in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Nebraska, 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: 5245508.