Flood, Le Flore
- When
- December 17, 12:00 AM CST to December 19, 7:00 PM CST
- Where
- Le Flore forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Flood in Oklahoma, December 17 to 19, 2001
The Poteau River near Panama rose above its flood stage of 29 feet at 12 am cst on December 17. 6 feet at 4 am cst on December 18.
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 happened
The episode as NWS TSA wrote it up.
The Poteau River near Panama rose above its flood stage of 29 feet at 12 am cst on December 17. The river crested at 36.6 feet at 4 am cst on December 18. The river fell below its flood stage at 7 pm cst on December 19.
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 Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 16, 9:18 PM CST, 2 hours 42 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 16, 9:18 PM CST, 2 hours 42 minutes before
EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 918 PM CST SUN DEC 16 2001 BUSY NIGHT WITH HYDRO...THERE HAVE BEEN REPORTS OF SIGNIFICANT FLOODING DUE TO THE SEVERAL INCHES OF RAIN RECEIVED...WITH THE WORST FLOODING REPORTS COMING FROM LE FLORE COUNTY OK AND MADISON COUNTY AR. MUCH OF THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL HAS MOVED TO THE E OF THE CWFA...AND WL GO AHEAD LET THE FFA GO. RUC AND ETA DEVELOP LGT PCPN OVER WRN N TX...AND SHIFT IT TO THE NE OVERNIGHT...BUT RAINFALL AMOUNTS HAVE BEEN VERY LGT WITH THIS ACTIVITY...AND ATTM DON/T EXPECT ENOUGH RAINFALL TO CAUSE ANY NEW FLOODING. MUCH OF THE FORECAST ALREADY IN VERY GOOD SHAPE...AND WL ONLY MAKE SOME MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO RAISE OVERNIGHT MINS...AS CURRENT INDICATIONS ARE THAT WE WL NOT BE QUITE AS COLD AS PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT...WITH CLD CVR LINGERING UNTIL MORNING EVEN IN THE FAR NW. ALSO HAVE DROPPED POPS SLIGHTLY AS RAFL OVERNIGHT WL BE MORE INTERMITTENT THAN DURING THE EVENING HRS. THANKS FOR THE COORD CALL OUN WL SEND THE COMPLETE PACKAGE BEFORE 1000 PM... MANNING FCSTID = 24 .TSA... AR...NONE. OK...NONE.
In the hours before
Local storm report, Dec 16, 6:40 PM CST, 5 hours 20 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
640 PM CST SUN DEC 16 2001
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0525 PM MUSE OK FLOODING
12/16/01 LE FLORE ROADS FLOODED...SMALL
TRIBUTARIES FLOODING NEAR
PAGE AND MUSE.
0625 PM GREEN FOREST AR FLOODING
12/16/01 CARROLL ROADS FLOODING AND BEING
CLOSED REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT.Local storm report, Dec 16, 7:14 PM CST, 4 hours 46 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
714 PM CST SUN DEC 16 2001
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0655 PM COUNTYWIDE AR FLOODING
12/16/01 CRAWFORD SECONDARY ROADS REPORTED
FLOODED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS.
0700 PM HACKETT AR FLOODING
12/16/01 SEBASTIAN LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS
REPORT FLOODING IN THE
VICINITY OF HACKETT WITH
ROADWAYS BEING CLOSED.
DRMLocal storm report, Dec 16, 7:35 PM CST, 4 hours 25 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
735 PM CST SUN DEC 16 2001
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0715 PM BIG CEDAR OK FLOODING
12/16/01 LE FLORE NUMEROUS ROADS FLOODED
...SOME HOMES BEING
FLOODED WITH EVACUATIONS
BEING CONDUCTED.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
REPORT.
DRMLocal storm report, Dec 16, 8:56 PM CST, 3 hours 4 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
856 PM CST SUN DEC 16 2001
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0830 PM COUNTYWIDE AR FLOODING
12/16/01 MADISON NUMEROUS ROADS FLOODED
WITH SOME BRIDGES WASHED
OUT. SEVERAL CREEKS AND
STREAMS FLOODING. LAW
ENFORCEMENT REPORT.
0835 PM ALTUS AR FLOODING
12/16/01 FRANKLIN EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
OFFICIALS REPORT COUNTY
ROADS SOUTH OF ALTUS
WASHED OUT.
0838 PM GREEN FOREST AR FLOODING
12/16/01 CARROLL SIGNIFICANT HIGH
WATER/STREET FLOODING IN
GREEN FOREST.
DRMLocal storm report, Dec 16, 10:54 PM CST, 1 hour 6 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...DELAYED REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
1054 PM CST SUN DEC 16 2001
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1039 PM ST PAUL AR WIND DAMAGE
11/23/01 MADISON LARGE LIMBS DOWN REPORTED
BY COOPERATIVE OBSERVER.
DRMEvent by event
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Flooding in Indiana, December 17, 2001
- Rip Current in Florida, December 17, 2001
- Flooding in Arkansas, December 17 to 18, 2001
- Flash Flooding in Illinois, December 17, 2001
- Winter Weather in Vermont, December 17 to 18, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Maine, December 17 to 18, 2001
- Flooding in Illinois, December 17 to 18, 2001
- Winter Weather in Vermont, December 17 to 18, 2001
- Flash Flooding in Arkansas, December 17, 2001
- Heavy Snow in New Hampshire, December 17 to 18, 2001
- Flooding in Ohio, December 17, 2001
- Winter Storm in Maine, December 17 to 18, 2001
More
Every storm in Oklahoma in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, 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: 5275167.