Flooding in Illinois, January 26 to 31, 2002

Name: Flooding in Illinois, January 26 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-01-26T16:00
End: 2002-01-31T23:59
Location: Illinois

January 26 to 31, 2002 · NWS PAH · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

The Ohio River rose above flood stage along the Illinois side late in January. Flood stage was exceeded downriver from the confluence of the Tennessee River at Paducah.

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 along the Illinois side late in January. Flood stage was exceeded downriver from the confluence of the Tennessee River at Paducah. At Brookport, where flood stage is 37 feet, the river crested at 41.1 feet on January 31. This resulted in minor flooding of lowlands, including portions of Fort Massac State Park, where an access road was closed. Further downriver at Grand Chain and Cairo, the crest did not occur before the end of the month.

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 Jan 26, 1:33 PM CST, 2 hours 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 26, 1:33 PM CST, 2 hours 27 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
134 M CST SAT JAN 26 2002

WEAK SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE AND SLOWLY RISING HEIGHTS ALOFT TO KEEP
THE SHORT TERM PART OF THE FORECAST CONTINUE HIGH AND DRY. MAIN
FORECAST CHALLENGE WITH THIS PACKAGE WILL START ON TUESDAY AND
CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY AS THE NEXT SYSTEM CROSSES OUR CWA.

12Z ETA/AVN MODELS ARE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT ON TIMING/LOCATION OF
THE UPCOMING SYSTEM. FAVOR THE SOMEWHAT SLOWER AVN SOLUTION...
ESPECIALLY GIVEN THE FACT THAT THE DRIVING UPPER LOW WITH THIS
SYSTEM WILL BE LOCATED OVER THE EXTREME SW US. 12Z AVN RUN SHOWS A
SLIGHTLY SLOWER COLD FROPA ON TUESDAY...WITH THE FRONT STALLING
BARELY TO THE SOUTH AND EAST OF OUR CWA. AS RESULT...THE NEW
FORECAST TRACK WILL TAKE THE LOW ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN THIRD OF
THE CWA. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR BETTER TEMPERATURE AND MOISTURE
ADVECTION AS WELL AS A MORE UNSTABLE AIRMASS. AS A SURFACE LOW
DEEPENS AND MOVES NE ALONG THE FRONT AND ACROSS THE CWA WEDNESDAY
NIGHT...A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF MOISTURE WILL BE LIFTED UP AND OVER
THE FRONT. THIS COMBINED WITH THE STRENGTH OF THE DEEPENING LOW AND
IMPRESSIVE UVVS WILL MAKE THIS SYSTEM A FAIRLY EFFICIENT PRECIP
PRODUCER...HOWEVER IF THE CURRENT FORECAST TRACK OF THE LOW PANS OUT
OKAY...THE BAND OF HEAVIEST PRECIP WILL BE NORTH AND WEST OF THE
HEAVY PRECIP RECEIVED WITH OUR LAST SYSTEM. LIFTED AND SHOWALTER
INDICES BOTH INDICATE THE POSSIBILITY OF THUNDER AT LEAST THROUGH
MIDNIGHT WEDNESDAY. WITH MASSIVE WRAP-AROUND MOISTURE A CHANCE OF
LINGERING SHOWERS EXISTS THURSDAY MORNING. 1000-850MB CRITICAL
THICKNESSES WOULD INDICATE THE LIGERING PRECIP ON THURSDAY POSSIBLY
CHANGING TO FLURRIES OR LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS JUST BEFORE ENDING...BUT
THE 1000-700MB CRITICAL THICKNESSES WOULD INDICATE AN ALL RAIN
EVENT. DUE TO THIS UNCERTAINITY...WILL NOT MENTION A CHANGEOVER AT
THIS TIME. COLD HIGH PRESSURE IN THE WAKE OF THIS SYSTEM WILL KEEP
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY SUNNY TO MOSTLY SUNNY AND COOL.

MODEL TEMP GUIDANCE SIMILAR SO WILL FOLLOW CLOSELY.

.PAH...NONE.

PACKETT

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: January 26, 4:00 PM CST to January 31, 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, Massac

When: January 26, 4:00 PM CST to January 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Massac forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.219, -88.708 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Pulaski

When: January 26, 4:00 PM CST to January 31, 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, January 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: 5277246, 5277247, 5277248.