Ohio, 2001

Flooding in Ohio, December 17, 2001

December 17, 2001 · NWS ILN · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

6 flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 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
6

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 Wilmington, OH wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 17, 2:30 AM EST, 6 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 17, 2:30 AM EST, 6 hours 40 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
230 AM EST MON DEC 17 2001

MODELS HAVE COME INTO PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT ON TRACK OF SURFACE
LOW.  SURFACE LOW OVER SE ARKANSAS WILL LIFT NORTHEAST TO NEAR SDF
BY 18Z AND CKB BY 00Z TONIGHT.

LATEST LOOK AT RADAR LOOP IS SHOWING A SIGNIFICANT NORTHWARD PUSH OF
THE MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN ACROSS INDIANA. THIS IS ALLOWING THE SW
QUARTER OF FA...WHERE FFA IS OUT...TO GET DRY SLOTTED.  ISENTROPIC
LIFT AT 395K AND 300K IS SHOWING GOOD LIFT ACROSS SRN IN/KY FOR 6
HOURS ENDING AT 06Z.  THIS LINES UP WELL WITH CURRENT POSITION OF
MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN.  THIS LIFT WORKS EASTWARD INTO SW OH BY
12Z.  EXPECT THE PCPN TO MOVE BACK INTO THE FA BY SUNRISE AS LIFT
INCREASES.  WONT EXPAND FLOOD WATCH AREA.  BEST ISENTROPIC LIFT
SWINGS FROM SW OH INTO SOUTH CENTRAL OH.  SINCE SOUTH CENTRAL
OHIO/NE KY HASNT RECEIVED A LOT OF RAIN WITH THE SYSTEM SO
FAR...FEEL THAT THEY CAN HANDLE THE EXPECTED QPF AND FFG CONCURS.

AS SURFACE LOW PUSHES EAST OVERNIGHT...RAIN WILL COME TO AN END AND
EXPECT SOME CLEARING IN THE NORTHWEST BY TUESDAY MORNING.  WEAK
UPPER RIDGE BUILDS IN ON TUESDAY...BUT HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE WILL MAKE
FOR A PARTLY CLOUDY DAY.

WONT MAKE MAJOR CHANGES TO CURRENT TEMPERATURES FORECAST.  ONLY A
TWEAK A DEGREE HERE OR THERE.

CLEMISILN OUT LATER.

.ILN...FLOOD WATCH TODAY FOR SW OHIO...SE INDIANA AND N
       CNTRL KENTUCKY.

SITES

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Butler

When
December 17, 9:10 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where
Butler forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.439, -84.576 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Greene

When
December 17, 5:00 PM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where
Greene forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.692, -83.890 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Warren

When
December 17, 5:00 PM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where
Warren forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.428, -84.167 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Darke

When
December 17, 7:45 PM EST to 9:45 PM EST
Where
Darke forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
40.133, -84.619 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High water forcer road closures throughout southwest Ohio and the Miami Valley. Creeks were reported out of their banks in Butler and Preble Counties.

Flood, Preble

When
December 17, 8:00 PM EST to 9:45 PM EST
Where
Preble forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
39.742, -84.648 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Miami

When
December 17, 9:15 PM EST to 9:45 PM EST
Where
Miami forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
40.053, -84.229 (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

More

Every storm in Ohio in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Ohio, December 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: 5274151, 5274152, 5274153, 5274060, 5274061, 5274150.