6 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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 27, 12:55 AM CST, 9 hours 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
155 AM CDT SAT APR 27 2002
MAIN CONCERNS FOR THE FORECAST WILL BE THE POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING
TODAY INTO TONIGHT...AND A MAJOR SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK LATE THIS
EVENING INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS.
LATEST SFC ANALYSIS HAD LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPING IN NE NEW MEXICO
WITH A WARM FRONT TO THE SOUTHEAST ACRS NCENT TX TO SE LOUISIANA. A
NEGATIVELY TILTED UPR TROF IN THE FOUR CORNERS REGION ON THE WATER
VAPOR LOOP HAD A STRONG UPR JET PUNCHING INTO THE SRN PLAINS...WITH
A PLUME OF SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE INTO TX-ARK. RAIN AND ELEVATED
T-STORMS WERE RAPIDLY SPREADING NE ACRS ERN KS AND WRN MO IN
RESPONSE TO AN INCREASING LOW LEVEL JET.
THE MODELS ARE IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE MAIN SYNOPTIC
FEATURES IN THIS EVOLVING SITUATION. THE SFC LOW IS XPCTD TO TRACK
FROM NW KS LATE THIS MORNING TO SE IOWA BY LATE EVENING. STRONG LOW
LEVEL WINDS...PLENTY OF DEEP MOISTURE AND LOTS OF LIFT/UPR
DIVERGENCE WILL RESULT IN WIDESPREAD MDT/HVY RAIN SPREADING INTO
CENT IL FROM MID-MORNING INTO EARLY AFTERNOON. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF
1-2 INCHES WILL BE COMMON ACROSS A LARGE AREA BY EARLY AFTERNOON.
WITH FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE SHOWING 1-1.5 INCHES FOR 6 HOURS...WILL
KEEP FLOOD WATCH GOING. WILL MAKE MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO SE EDGE OF
WATCH SO THAT ALL AREAS NW OF I-70 WILL BE INCLUDED.
OUR ATTENTION WILL QUICKLY SWITCH TO SEVERE STORMS THIS EVENING AND
OVERNIGHT AS THE SFC LOW LIFTS FROM NW MO (00Z) TO XTRM NW IL (06Z)
INTO SW MICH (12Z SUN). THE MOST IMPRESSIVE FEATURE IS THE AMOUNT OF
LOW LEVEL AND DEEP LAYER WIND SHEAR...WITH ABOUT 40KTS IN THE LOWEST
1.5 KM AND 50KTS FROM 0-6 KM BY LATE EVENING. DIRECTIONAL SHEAR ALSO
IMPRESSIVE WITH MORE THAN 90 DEGREES OF TURNING FROM 0-6 KM...
ESPECIALLY IN WCENT/NW IL CLOSER TO THE SFC LOW/UPR TROF TRACK. THE
LIMITING FACTOR MAY BE AMOUNT OF INSTABILITY AND WHETHER THE STORMS
CAN BE ROOTED IN THE BLYR. THE MODELS ARE IN AGREEMENT THOUGH THAT
THE WARM FRONT WILL RAPIDLY LIFT NORTH EARLY THIS EVENING...PUTTING
CENT IL IN THE WARM/UNSTABLE SECTOR. MODELS IMPRESSIVE IN SHOWING
MDT TO STRONG SFC BASED INSTABILITY PERSISTING OVERNIGHT. FINALLY...
THE MODELS ALSO DEVELOP A DEW POINT DISCONTINUITY/PRE-COLD FRONTAL
DRY LINE AND SHIFT IT EAST TWD WCENT IL BY LATE EVE. ALL OF THIS
POINTS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUPERCELLS TO OUR WEST EARLY THIS
EVE...TRACKING INTO LOCATIONS ALONG AND WEST OF I-55 BETWEEN
9 PM-1 AM. AFTER THAT THE STORMS SHOULD BECOME OUTFLOW DOMINATED
...BUT WOULD BE VERY CAPABLE OF WIDESPREAD WIND DAMAGE AND HAIL IN
THE REST OF THE FORECAST AREA AFTER MIDNIGHT. WILL CONTINUE TO
MENTION SEVERE STORMS IN FORECAST FOR TONIGHT...AND HIGHLIGHT TIMING
AND MAIN THREATS IN HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK AT 6 AM.
EXPECTING LINGERING LOW LEVEL CLOUDS ON SUNDAY...SO WILL GO WITH
MOSTLY CLOUDY AND DROP TEMPS A NOTCH OR TWO. THE REST OF THE
FORECAST LOOKS GOOD WITH PARTLY SUNNY CONDITIONS MONDAY. A WET
PATTERN IS THEN IN STORE FOR US MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH MIDWEEK AS A
FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE NW AND THEN SLOWS DOWN IN CENT IL...
ALLOWING SEVERAL AREAS OF LOW PRESSURE TO APPROACH IN A DEVELOPING
SW UPR FLOW.
COORDINATED WITH SPC.
...PRELIMINARY CCF FOR COORDINATION PURPOSES...
SPI TB 063/053 061/043 070 23+81
PIA TB 058/051 057/042 068 23+81
DEC TB 064/053 061/043 068 23+81
CMI TB 061/052 060/042 066 23+81
MTO TB 064/056 063/044 066 23+81
LWV TB 067/058 070/045 070 23+82
.ILX...FLOOD WATCH TODAY INTO TONIGHT NORTH OF I-70
ILZ027>031-036>038-040>057-061
MILLERILZ027>031-036>038-040>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-271300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL ILLINOIS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 600 AM CDT SAT APR 27 2002 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND FLOODING RAINS LIKELY TODAY AND TONIGHT... A STRONG STORM SYSTEM APPROACHING THE UPPER MIDWEST TODAY WILL PRODUCE RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS MORNING INTO EARLY AFTERNOON. HEAVY RAIN IS LIKELY...WITH RAINFALL TOTALS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES MAINLY NORTH OF I-70 BY EARLY AFTERNOON. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS ARE THEN EXPECTED TO ERUPT IN WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS EARLY THIS EVENING...AND SPREAD INTO CENTRAL AND EASTERN ILLINOIS DURING THE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY BE SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. TORNADOES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY WEST OF A LINE FROM PONTIAC...THROUGH RANTOUL...TO TAYLORVILLE. THE LATEST DATA SUGGESTS THAT THE GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR TORNADIC THUNDERSTORMS WOULD BE FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING UNTIL 3 AM SUNDAY. LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES...EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS...STORM SPOTTER GROUPS...AND OTHER INTERESTED CONCERNS SHOULD MONITOR THIS SITUATION CLOSELY AND TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION FOR THE POTENTIAL OF HEAVY RAINFALL AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY INTO TONIGHT. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL TELEVISION AND RADIO STATIONS...OR YOUR LOCAL CABLE TV PROVIDER FOR LATER STATEMENTS CONCERNING THIS POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SEVERE WEATHER THREAT. MILLER
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
One foot of water covering southbound lane of Illinois Route 123 between Alexander and Ashland.
Water was over numerous roads in Cass County, including Illinois Route 125 west of Ashland and Illinois Route 78 just north of Chandlerville. Workers had to sandbag this area around Panther Creek due to rising waters. No structural damage was reported.
The Glasgow Blacktop and Lower Alsey roads were flooded for a time due to the heavy rains.
Illinois Route 104 at the Waverly Blacktop was flooded. Also, roads were flooded in the Buffalo area. No structural damage was reported from the flooding.
Numerous rural roads had water over them.
An underpass on Old Route 66 was flooded on the northside of Lincoln.
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: 5290440, 5290493, 5290494, 5290441, 5290443, 5290442.