Flooding in Illinois, March 20 to 31, 2002

Name: Flooding in Illinois, March 20 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-03-20T13:00
End: 2002-03-31T23:59
Location: Illinois

March 20 to 31, 2002 · NWS PAH · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

The Ohio River rose above flood stage at most locations along the Illinois shore on March 20th or 21st. 70 feet on the morning of the 29th.

Where it happened

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.

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: $3,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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 at most locations along the Illinois shore on March 20th or 21st. At Shawneetown, where flood stage is 33 feet, the river crested at 43.70 feet on the morning of the 29th. At Golconda, where flood stage is 40 feet, the river crested at 44.12 feet on the 28th. Crests at Brookport, Grand Chain, and Cairo were all 7 to 8 feet above flood stage on the 26th and 27th. The impact of this flooding was minor to moderate. Several county roads were closed near Shawneetown. Water reached the power house at Lock and Dam 53 near Grand Chain. Low-lying agricultural bottomlands were flooded, but planting season had not yet begun.

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 Mar 20, 2:15 AM CST, 10 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 20, 2:15 AM CST, 10 hours 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
215 AM CST WED MAR 20 2002

INTERESTING CHALLENGE DURING THE NEXT 12-24 HOURS WILL BE THE CHANGE
IN CLOUD COVER...LIKELIHOOD OF FOG DEVELOPMENT...AND THREAT OF TRACE
PCPN /SPRINKLES/ OVER SWRN IN AND WRN KY.

SOME CLEARING ALREADY TAKING PLACE IN RIPLEY AND CARTER COUNTIES IN
SERN MO. AVN/ETA HAVE DIFFERING SOLNS ON SPATIAL/TEMPORAL ASPECTS OF
DECREASING CLOUD COVER OVERNIGHT. UPPER LOW AND ATTENDANT
DEFORMATION ZONE PCPN BAND NOTICEABLE ON WSR-88D IMAGERY OVER SWRN
AR. AVN MODEL IS THE CLOSEST IN TRANSLATING THIS FEATURE EWD INTO
MS. THE LIFT PRODUCED IN THIS DEFORMATION ZONE MAY LIMIT DEGREE OF
CLEARING...MAINLY ACROSS THE WESTERN KY COUNTIES...EAST OF THE LAND
BETWEEN THE LAKES OVERNIGHT. CANNOT RULE OUT A FEW SPRINKLES
SOUTHEAST OF A CADIZ-MADISONZVILLE KY LINE THIS EVENING...BUT I AM
NOT INCLINED TO MENTION THIS ISOLATED TRACE EVENT IN THE ZONE
PACKAGE.

I WILL LIKELY NEED TO CONSIDER THE DEVELOPMENT OF FOG FROM LATE
EVENING ON OVER NW 1/2 OF THE CWA...THEN OVER THE REST OF THE WFO
PAH FORECAST AREA AROUND OR AFTER MIDNIGHT. AT THIS TIME...WILL
LIKELY LEAVE MENTION OF PATCHY OR AREA FOG COVERAGE OVERNIGHT...BUT
WILL HOLD BACK ON MENTION OF DENSE FOG. EVENING SHIFT WILL NEED TO
ASSESS THE POTENTIAL FOR A DENSE FOG ADVISORY SHOULD SKIES CLEAR
FASTER THAN EXPECTED.

MSTR BELOW 900 MB REMAINS ABOVE 70 PERCENT OVER SERN 1/2 OF THE CWA
THROUGH MIDNIGHT...WITH STABLE LOW LEVEL LAPSE RATE PROFILES BETWEEN
950-900 MB. WINDS AT THE SURFACE UP TO 900 MB BECOME CALM BY 06Z TO
THE NWRN AREAS...WHERE RH VALUES UP TO 900 MB DROP BELOW 60 PERCENT.
GIVEN THE RICH SURFACE MSTR LEFT FROM THIS WEEKS RAINS...SFC BASED
MOISTURE SUPPLY FOR FOG SHOULD NOT BE A PROBLEM.

MESOETA PROGS COLD FRONT TO MOVE THROUGH NWRN COUNTIES SHORTLY AFTER
DAYBREAK ON THU...WITH ATTENDANT CAA HOLDING TEMPS BACK. DO NOT
EXPECT MUCH OF A RISE WITH CAA IN PLACE...AS WELL AS NARROW BAND OF
STCU DEVELOPING ALONG AND BEHIND THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY. I WILL ALSO
NEED TO INCREASE WINDS FOLLOWING FRONTAL PASSAGE. THESE WINDS SHOULD
DIMINISH BETWEEN 03-06Z FRI. THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR SOME
SPRINKLES IN SWRN IN AND WRN KY DURING THE MID TO LATE AFTERNOON.

NEXT CHANCE FOR RAIN WILL WORK BACK IN ON SUNDAY WITH DEVELOPING WAA
/FRONTEGENESIS ALONG THE NRN PTN OF THE CWA. WILL KEEP GOOD/LIKELY
CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FROM LATE SUN THROUGH
WEDNESDAY...AS S/WV EJECT OUT OF TROUGH BEING CARVED OUT IN THE WRN
U.S. THE S/WV ON TUE CONTINUES TO HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR A MIX OF
SVR WX/FLASH FLOOD POTENTIAL AT THIS POINT. WILL WAIT AND SEE ON
TIMING.

I WILL USE A MIX OF AVN/ETA SURFACE TEMPS AS REFERENCE FRAME FOR
TEMPS TONIGHT AND AHEAD OF COLD FRONT THURSDAY.

.PAH...NONE.

SMITH

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Alexander

When: March 20, 1:00 PM CST to March 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, Gallatin

When: March 20, 1:00 PM CST to March 31, 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, Hardin

When: March 20, 1:00 PM CST to March 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Hardin forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.518, -88.267 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Massac

When: March 20, 1:00 PM CST to March 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, Pope

When: March 20, 1:00 PM CST to March 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Pope forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.413, -88.562 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Pulaski

When: March 20, 1:00 PM CST to March 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Pulaski forecast zone
Property damage: $3,000
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, March 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: 5280643, 5280644, 5280645, 5280646, 5280647, 5280648.