Name: Flooding in Ohio, May 17 to 21, 2001
Start: 2001-05-17T07:00
End: 2001-05-21T15:00
Location: Ohio

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 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 May 17, 2:45 AM EST, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 17, 2:45 AM EST, 4 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
345 AM EDT THU MAY 17 2001

LATEST SFC ANALYSIS INDICATED A FRONTAL BOUNDARY EXTENDING FM THE
MO-IA BORDER SEWD INTO THE APPALACHIANS.  THE BOUNDARY LIES BTWN CVG
AND ILN ACROSS FA OR ALONG GRADIENT OF WET AND RELATIVELY DRY GROUND.

SHORT TERM PROBLEM IS FOG FORMING THIS AM ACROSS FA DUE TO VERY WET
GROUND.  ATTM VSBYS ARE NOT TOO BAD SO WL JUST MENTION PATCHY DENSE
FOG.

MCS MOVG ACROSS IA INTO NWRN IL IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ALONG THE
FRONTAL BOUNDARY AND PUSH INTO FA.  SOME WEAKENING POSSIBLE THIS AM
BUT ACTIVITY SHOULD REINTENSIFY BY THIS PM WITH HEATING. ATMOSPHERE
WL BE MODERATELY UNSTABLE THIS PM WITH DEWPOINTS APPROACHING 70F NE
OF KCVG. WL CARRY 50 POPS ALL AREAS XPCT CVG WHERE WL GO WITH 40
POPS.

MAIN THREAT AGAIN TODAY WL BE HEAVY RAIN WITH ONLY ISOLATED SVR
EXPECTED.  WL ISSUE STATEMENT HIGHLIGHTING FLOOD THREAT BUT WL NOT
ISSUE FLOOD WATCH ATTM.

DUE TO HIGH DEWPOINTS WL CARRY HUMID WORDING.  TEMPS ARE TOUGH AGAIN
TODAY WITH HIGHS DEPENDING ON TIMING OF THUNDERSTORMS.  WL GO A
LITTLE BLO NGM MOS GUIDANCE SINCE XPCT TSRA BEFORE PEAK HEATING.

BOUNDARY PRODG TO LAY OUT MORE EAST-WEST TONIGHT AND FRI. WITH
IMPULSES MOVG ALONG THE BOUNDARY...XPCT SEVERAL ROUNDS OF SHRA/TSRA
TONIGHT AND FRI.  WL KEEP CHC EARLY CVG-PMH FRI NIGHT AND GO DRY
ELSEWHERE.

.ILN...NONE.

WILKINSON

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 17, 4:56 AM EST, 2 hours 4 minutes before

INZ050-058-059-066-073>075-080-KYZ089>100-OHZ026-034-035-042>046-
051>056-060>065-070>074-077>082-088-171600-

SEVERE WEATHER AND FLOOD OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
556 AM EDT THU MAY 17 2001

...HEAVY RAINFALL AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE AGAIN TODAY...

A STATIONARY FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL REMAIN ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY
TODAY.  MORNING SUNSHINE WILL LEAD TO A VERY UNSTABLE AIR MASS ACROSS
OHIO...INDIANA AND KENTUCKY.  A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE
INTO EAST-CENTRAL INDIANA AND WEST-CENTRAL OHIO BY LATE MORNING AND
THEN SPREAD SOUTHEASTWARD INTO SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL OHIO...AND
NORTHERN KENTUCKY BY THE AFTERNOON HOURS.

DUE TO THE VERY WET CONDITIONS ACROSS PARTS OF WEST-CENTRAL
AND CENTRAL OHIO...THESE STORMS COULD LEAD TO FLOODING IF THE HEAVY
RAIN FALLS ACROSS THE SAME AREAS THAT RECEIVED HEAVY RAIN ON
WEDNESDAY.

ALSO...A FEW OF THE STORMS MAY CONTAIN LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE TODAY.

WILKINSON

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, Pickaway

When: May 17, 7:00 AM EST to May 21, 3:00 PM EST
Where: Pickaway forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 39.642, -83.024 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy rainfall caused the Scioto River to overflow its banks at Circleville and Piketon. At Circleville, the river crested at 16.4 feet around 1100 am EST on the 20th. Flood stage is 14.0 feet. Flooding was limited to low lying areas close to the river. At Piketon, the river crested around 24.3 feet at 1000 pm EST on the 20th. Flood stage is 18.0 feet. Low lying county roads near the river were flooded.

Flood, Pike

When: May 17, 7:00 AM EST to May 21, 3:00 PM EST
Where: Pike forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 39.077, -83.067 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Scioto

When: May 17, 7:00 AM EST to May 21, 3:00 PM EST
Where: Scioto forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.804, -82.993 (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 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Ohio, 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: 5247929, 5247930, 5247931.