5 feet on May 22. 3 feet on May 31 and remained above flood stage at the end of May.
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.
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.
The episode as NWS OTX wrote it up.
The Saint Joe River at Saint Maries rose above its flood stage of 32.5 feet on May 22. The river crested at 34.3 feet on May 31 and remained above flood stage at the end of May.
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 Spokane, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 22, 1:30 PM PST, 15 minutes earlier.
EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON
230 PM PDT WED MAY 22 2002
THE UPPER LOW OVER MT WILL BE GRADUALLY SLIDE TO THE EAST...ALLOWING
A DRIER WESTERLY FLOW TO DEVELOP OVER THE INLAND NW ON THURSDAY INTO
FRIDAY. THE NEXT FRONT WILL CROSS THE CASCADES LATE FRIDAY NIGHT AND
BRING COOL AND UNSETTLED WEATHER TO THE REGION THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND.
IN THE SHORT TERM...WRAP AROUND MOISTURE IS SLOW TO LEAVE TODAY. IT
WILL BE DECREASING AS THE BANDS OF PRECIPITATION PROPAGATE FURTHER
WEST FROM THEIR SOURCE OVER NE WA AND NRN IDAHO. THE PARENT UPPER LOW
WILL SLIDE EAST ACROSS THE ROCKIES AS THE SHORTWAVE ENERGY WANES.
SNOW LEVELS REMAIN NEAR 5K FT EARLY THIS AFTERNOON AND WILL RISE TO
6K FT BEFORE TAPERING OFF THIS EVENING. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF
0.25-0.75 TODAY HAVE LEAD RISES ON MOST OF THE SMALL STREAMS UNDER
THIS RAIN SHIELD. WILL CONTINUE THE SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORIES
THROUGH THE NIGHT...WHILE THE HEAVY SNOW WARNING FOR THE MOUNTAINS
WILL CONTINUE THE PRECIPITATION TAPERS OFF. COULD SEE LIGHT RAIN
LINGERING IN THE UPPER BASIN AND NORTHERN CASCADES LATE TONIGHT.
UPPER FLOW BECOMES MORE ZONAL AS THE REMNANTS OF THE SHORTWAVE ALOFT
FINALLY SHEERS TO THE EAST. INSTABILITY IN THE LOW LEVELS AND NW FLOW
WILL LEAD TO ISOLATED SHOWERS IN THE CENTRAL PANHANDLE MTNS AND CAMAS
PRAIRIE. WEAK RIDGING WILL DEVELOP ON FRIDAY TO PROVIDE A MAINLY DRY
DAY. AS A 70 KT NW JET SLICES ACROSS INLAND NW...EXPECT ISOLATED
INSTABILITY SHOWERS TO DEVELOP ON THE CYCLONIC SIDE IN NE WA AND FAR
NRN ID. LOW LEVEL WINDS BACK TO THE SW AS A THERMAL HEAT RIDGE
DEVELOPS ACROSS THE BASIN. THE RIDGE TRANSLATES EAST FRIDAY NIGHT AS
A PACIFIC TROUGH MOVES ONSHORE. EXPECT RAIN AND HIGH ELEVATION SNOW
TO REACH THE NRN CASCADES LATE FRIDAY NIGHT AND SPREADING ACROSS MUCH
OF ERN WA AND INTO FAR NRN IDAHO ON SATURDAY. RFOX
IN THE EXTENDED...COOL UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL BE OVER THE DISTRICT ON
SUNDAY WHICH WILL BRING A CHANCE OF PRECIP ALONG WITH COOL
TEMPERATURES. BY MONDAY...THE UPPER LEVEL LOW MOVES EAST SO WE WILL
JUST HAVE TO DEAL WITH ONLY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN. BY TUESDAY AND
WEDNESDAY...500 MB HEIGHTS RISE WITH A BUILDING RIDGE. THE 850 MB
TEMPS WILL ALSO RISE WITH THE HIGH...SO SURFACE TEMPERATURES WILL
WARM UP TO NEAR NORMAL LEVELS. THERE WILL BE SOME WAVES MOVING
THROUGH SOUTHWEST FLOW ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE HIGH ACROSS THE
FORECAST AREA BOTH DAYS...SO THERE WILL STILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF
SHOWERS.
...THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRODUCT CONCERNING WARNINGS AND FORECASTS
IS VALID ONLY AT THE TIME OF ISSUANCE. THE LATEST WARNING AND
FORECAST INFORMATION WILL BE FOUND IN THE APPROPRIATE PRODUCTS...
GEG 040/058/039/064/043/065 810003
COE 039/057/037/063/041/063 810103
PUW 040/058/039/063/043/061 710002
LWS 047/065/046/070/049/069 510001
CQV 040/067/038/072/041/070 810216
SPT 040/060/037/064/040/065 720203
WWP 038/055/037/060/040/061 721202
EAT 047/068/045/072/050/067 200025
MWH 041/069/040/073/046/069 310004
OTX...HEAVY STORM WARNING NRN AND C PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS ABOVE 5000
FEET THROUGH THE EVENING...
...SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY FOR IDAHO PANHANDLE AND PEND
OREILLE COUNTY IN WASHINGTON THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING...
...FLOOD WARNING FOR ST JOE RIVER IN IDAHO THROUGH THURSDAY...The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, May 2002
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: 5299487.