4 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 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 Lincoln, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 21, 12:40 AM CST, 5 hours 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 140 AM CDT SAT APR 21 2002 MODELS CONT TO BE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE SHORT-TERM WEATHER FEATURES...AND HAVE BEEN FOR THE PAST COUPLE OF RUNS. 120+KT JET ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE WRN TROF WL LIFT THIS SYSTEM INTO THE WRN GREAT LAKE REGION BY LATE IN THE DAY. AT THE SFC...DEVELOPING AREA OF LOW PRESSURE IN NRN TX IS FCST TO TRACK TO NR STL AROUND 18Z TO NR LWV BY 00Z...THEN QUICKLY SHIFT EAST OF THE MIDWEST. ALL PARAMETERS POINT TO HVY RAIN EVENT ACRS ILX CWA TODAY...AND CURRENT WATCH LOOKS TO BE RIGHT ON. LLJ AND 850 THETAE ADV ARE INTERACTING WITH PRECIP H20/S CLOSE TO 1.5 INCHES TO PRODUCE A LARGE AREA OF PRECIP FM NWRN MO THRU CRL IL ATTM...WITH CONVECTION ENHANCING OVR NRN MO. NOCTURNAL FORCING PARAMETERS SUGGEST THE LLJ TO SHIFT THE FOCUS FOR CONVECTION EAST INTO CRL IL BY 12Z. PRECIP TO BECOME MORE SFC FED DURING THE DAY AS THE SFC LOW TRACKS TOWARD OUR REGION. MAIN THREAT FOR SVR WX WL BE CONFINED TO SERN IL...JUST EAST OF THE SFC LOW. LOW-LVL WIND SHEAR AND INSTABILITY PARAMETERS WARRANT THE MENTION OF THE POSSIBILITY IN THE ZONE FCST. MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE ENDING OF MEASURABLE PCPN ACRS AREA BY MIDNIGHT. HOWEVER...GIVEN ABUNDANT LOW-LVL MOISTURE AND WK CYCLONIC FLOW...WL CONT MENTION OF DRIZZLE DURING OVERNIGHT. TEMPS ARE EXPECTED TO STAY WARM ENOUGH AT SFC TO AVOID FREEZING. LOW-LVL RH FIELDS ARE STRUGGLING TO CLR ON MONDAY. TIME-HEIGHT SECTIONS REVEAL WRN AREAS MAY SEE SOME SUN BY AFTERNOON. THE FAR EAST MAY NOT UNTIL EARLY EVE. NEED TO MAKE AN ADJUSTMENT IN THE TIMING OF THE NEXT SYSTEM MID-WEEK. LATEST AVN HAS SPED UP THE MOVEMENT OF THE FNT THRU IL...WITH THU NOW LOOKING TO BE DRY. WL ADJUST THE WORDING FOR NOW...WITH PCPN MENTIONED ONLY EARLY THU. THIS ADJUSTMENT SUPPORTED BY UK MODEL AND 12Z EURO MODEL TIMING. ONLY MADE MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO TEMPS. SPI TB 054/037 054/038 068 81+60 PIA TE 051/035 053/037 067 81+61 DEC TE 054/037 052/038 066 81+60 CMI TE 053/036 051/035 065 81+61 MTO TE 059/039 052/037 066 81960 LWV TE 064/041 055/039 067 81960 .ILX...FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES ENTIRE CWA TODAY. PLAHMER
ILZ027>031-036>038-040>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-211130- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL ILLINOIS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 600 AM CDT SUN APR 21 2002 ...A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT TODAY FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS... ...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER ALONG AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM QUINCY TO LINCOLN TO DANVILLE LINE... HEAVY RAIN WILL CONTINUE TO THREATEN CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS TODAY AS LOW PRESSURE LIFTS INTO THE REGION FROM THE SOUTHWEST. THE LOW IS EXPECTED TO PASS EAST OF ILLINOIS BY EARLY EVENING...ENDING THE HEAVY RAIN THREAT. IN ADDITION...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK THAT SOME OF THE STORMS SOUTH OF A QUINCY TO LINCOLN TO DANVILLE LINE WILL BE SEVERE. THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE FOUND SOUTH OF THIS LINE AND NORTH OF I-70 MAINLY INTO THE EARLY AFTERNOON...WITH THE THREAT ALONG AND SOUTH OF I-70 FROM MID-AFTERNOON INTO EARLY EVENING. PLAHMER
The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 125 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:30 UTC.
4 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Several rural roads north of Scotland had water covering the roads making them unpassable.
Several roads in and around Lake City were closed due to flooding. No structural damage or injuries were reported due to the flooding.
Numerous roads were flooded in Tuscola, Camargo, and Villa Grove, including Illinois Route 130. Several basements were flooded as well. No injuries were reported.
Heavy rains caused several roads on the west side of Taylorville to become flooded for a brief time, including an underpass. No structural damage or injuries were reported due to the flooding.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, April 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: 5290437, 5290438, 5290436, 5290439.