Flooding in Illinois, June 1 to 2, 2002

Name: Flooding in Illinois, June 1 to 2, 2002
Start: 2002-06-01T00:01
End: 2002-06-02T14:00
Location: Illinois

June 1 to 2, 2002 · NWS PAH · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

The Ohio River fell below flood stage at Cairo and Grand Chain for the first time since late April.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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: 2

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 fell below flood stage at Cairo and Grand Chain for the first time since late April.

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 May 31, 12:15 PM CST, 11 hours 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 31, 12:15 PM CST, 11 hours 46 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
115 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 2002

LOOKS AS THOUGH SUMMER WILL ARRIVE THIS WEEKEND...AS H50 UPPER HIGH
RECENTERS ITSELF FARTHER EAST FROM THE PLAINS INTO THE SOUTHEAST 1/4
OF THE NATION BY SUN. IN THE MEANTIME...COLD FRONT WELL TO THE NORTH
THIS AFTERNOON WILL SINK SOUTHEAST AND TAKE ON A WEAK BACKDOOR
APPEARANCE BY 12Z SAT AS UPPER FLOW REMAINS NWLY. RIPPLES OF ENERGY
ALOFT WILL TREK SE DOWN THE FRONTAL ZONES TONIGHT/SAT/SAT NIGHT
BEFORE H50 HIGH SHIFTS EAST AND LIFTS FRONT BACK NE AS WARM FRONT ON
SUNDAY. THUS...HIGHEST CHANCE FOR ANY PRECIP WILL BE OVER OUR
NORTHERN/EASTERN COUNTIES...ESPECIALLY SW INDIANA LATER TONIGHT
THROUGH SAT NIGHT. THINK SMALL CHC POPS (30% OR SO) ARE IN ORDER IN
THOSE AREAS. HIGHER POPS MAY BE WARRANTED JUST NORTHEAST OF OUR
AREA. FOR NOW...WILL NOT MENTION RAIN CHANCES SOUTH/WEST COUNTIES
DUE TO LESS INTEGRATED MOISTURE AND MORE CAP STRENGTH.

NO POPS RIDING IN CURRENT FORECAST FOR SUN...AND WILL GO ALONG WITH
THIS THINKING FOR NOW EVEN THOUGH AVN MOS INDICATES SCT POPS
NORTH/EAST COUNTIES. BELIEVE FRONT WILL BE ON ITS WAY OUT AND ETA
H70 TEMPS 8C TO 10C SHOULD PUT A PRETTY STRONG CAP OVER THE FA.

H50 HEIGHTS BEGIN TO FALL AGAIN EARLY NEXT WEEK AND THIS MAY ALLOW
THE FRONT TO COME BACK SOUTH INTO NORTHERN FORECAST AREA BY TUESDAY
AFTERNOON. THINK MOST OF TUE WILL BE DRY SOUTHERN AREAS. MAY BE AN
EXTENDED UNSETTLED PERIOD INTO THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK AS SURFACE
FRONT HANGS AROUND FOR AWHILE.

MOS TEMPS CLOSE AND REASONABLE.

.PAH...NONE.

MEFFERT

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Alexander

When: June 1, 12:01 AM CST to June 2, 2:00 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, Pulaski

When: June 1, 12:01 AM CST to June 2, 2:00 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, June 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: 5294510, 5294511.