Flooding in Illinois, April 24 to 30, 2002

Name: Flooding in Illinois, April 24 to 30, 2002
Start: 2002-04-24T14:00
End: 2002-04-30T23:59
Location: Illinois

April 24 to 30, 2002 · NWS PAH · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

The Ohio River rose above flood stage toward the end of the month at Shawneetown, Grand Chain, and Cairo. Through May 1, only minor flooding of low-lying agricultural bottomland occurred.

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 happened

The episode as NWS PAH wrote it up.

The Ohio River rose above flood stage toward the end of the month at Shawneetown, Grand Chain, and Cairo. Through May 1, only minor flooding of low-lying agricultural bottomland occurred.

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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 24, 10:30 AM CST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 24, 10:30 AM CST, 3 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
1130 AM CDT WED APR 24 2002

MAIN CONCERN FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS WILL BE FOCUSED AREA FOR
SIGNIFICANT...POTENTIAL SEVERE CONVECTION THROUGH CWA.

MAIN SURFACE BOUNDARY ALONG THE MO/AR BORDER...WITH ROUGH 925-850 MB
WARM FRONTAL ZONE SLOPE STRETCHING FROM W OF KCGI TO KSTL...THEN
SEWD TO KEVV AND KHOP.

LATEST TRENDS FROM BLOOMFIELD PROFILER FROM 11Z-14Z INDICATED DEEP
MOISTURE AND OMEGA FROM 850-600 MB /PER >70DB PEAK POWER RETURNS/
ALONG WITH CONSISTENT 35 TO 45KT W-SWLY FLOW FROM 900-700 MB. A MID
LEVEL CAP FROM 550-500 MB /WITH WINDS NEAR 50KT/ SHOULD WEAKEN WITH
THE APPROACH OF THE DEEPENING SHORTWAVE OVER KS...SHARPENING MID
LEVEL LAPSE RATES. SOUTH WINDS BLO 900 MB ALREADY BACKING WITH
SLIGHT NORTHWARD SHIFT OF FRONTAL BOUNDARY PAST PROFILER SITE.

CURRENT 40KM RUC SEEMS TO HAVE THE MOST REALISTIC HANDLE ON THE
SITUATION...WITH AVN A LITTLE TOO FAR NORTHEAST WITH DEVELOPING SFC
LOW AND THE ETA A LITTLE TO FAR SW. THE LOW PROGGED NEAR PERRY
COUNTY MO AT 20Z APPEARS TO BE IN LINE WITH NORTHWARD PROGRESSION OF
WARM FRONTAL BOUNDARY.

ATTM...WITH UPDATE ZONE TO ADD MENTION OF HAIL TO SEVERE MENTION OF
THUNDERSTORMS. ADDITIONAL CONCERN...WITH FOCUSED LIFT NEAR BOUNDARY
WILL BE STRONG...POSSIBLY SUSTAINED UPDRAFTS WHICH MAY BE ENOUGH TO
SUPPORT ISOLATED TORNADIC DEVELOPMENT THIS AFTERNOON.

INITIAL...AND MOST SIGNIFICANT THREAT AREA SHOULD STRETCH FROM
PIEDMONT AND PERRYVILLE MO...EASTWARD TO CARBONDALE AND HARRISBURG
IL...ONWARD TO HENDERSON KY...THEN SOUTH TO CHARLESTON
MO...SMITHLAND KY.

WILL UPDATE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK TO HANDLE CHANGES IN SEVERE
THREAT THIS AFTERNOON. WILL TRY TO GET BOTH ZONES AND HWO OUT BEFORE
1230 PM AT THE LATEST.

.PAH...NONE.

SMITH

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 24, 11:22 AM CST, 2 hours 38 minutes before

ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-100-
107>112-114-242105-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
1222 PM CDT WED APR 24 2002

...UPDATED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...WESTERN KENTUCKY...AND SOUTHWEST INDIANA...

THREATS...
A RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXISTS OVER THE ENTIRE QUAD STATE
REGION THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY TONIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS WITH THE
POTENTIAL OF DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL AND THE POTENTIAL FOR
ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON...INTO THE EARLY
EVENING HOURS.

DISCUSSION...
THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED OVERNIGHT AND MOVED ACROSS SOUTHEAST
MISSOURI...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND EXTREME SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. THIS
STALLED THE NORTHWARD MOVEMENT OF A WARM FRONT ACROSS THE OUTLOOK
AREA. THIS WARM FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL BEGIN TO MOVE NORTHWARD ACROSS
THE OUTLOOK AREA DURING THE EARLY AFTERNOON...REACHING NEAR A
PERRYVILLE MISSOURI...MARION ILLINOIS TO HENDERSON KENTUCKY LINE
AROUND 4 PM.

WARM...MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR IS EXPECTED SOUTH OF THE WARM FRONT...
WITH TEMPERATURES EXPECTED TO RISE INTO THE UPPER 70S AND LOWER
80S. AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES INTO SOUTHEAST MISSOURI AND SOUTHWEST
ILLINOIS THIS AFTERNOON...THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL
INCREASE DRAMATICALLY. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL THEN SPREAD EASTWARD
INTO SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY THROUGH THE EARLY
EVENING.

INITIALLY...THE GREATEST THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER THIS AFTERNOON
WILL STRETCH FROM NEAR PERRYVILLE AND CHARLESTON MISSOURI...EAST TO
CARBONDALE AND HARRISBURG ILLINOIS...AND ONWARD TO HENDERSON AND
SMITHLAND KENTUCKY.

THE MAIN LIMITING FACTOR TO THE COVERAGE OF THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
TODAY WILL BE THE AMOUNT OF CLOUDS LEFT OVER FROM THUNDERSTORMS THIS
MORNING. THE MORE SUNSHINE AVAILABLE THIS AFTERNOON...THE GREATER
THE THREAT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL FORM.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NECESSARY THIS AFTERNOON AND
EARLY THIS EVENING. SPOTTERS IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI AND SOUTHWEST
ILLINOIS SHOULD MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR ANY CHANGES IN THIS
DEVELOPING SEVERE WEATHER SITUATION.

&&

SMITH

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, Alexander

When: April 24, 2:00 PM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Alexander forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.192, -89.338 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Gallatin

When: April 24, 2:00 PM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Gallatin forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.763, -88.230 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Pulaski

When: April 24, 2:00 PM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Pulaski forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.223, -89.127 (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

Every storm in Illinois in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Illinois, April 2002

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: 5292713, 5292714, 5292715.