1 flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 14, 12:30 AM CST, 12 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 130 AM CDT TUE MAY 14 2002 THIS MUCH NEEDED PERIOD OF DRY WEATHER WILL BE RATHER SHORT LIVED. MAIN FORECAST CONCERNS ARE TEMPS TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...AND PRECIP POTENTIAL LATER IN THE WEEK. NEARLY CLOUD FREE SKIES ARE EXPECTED TODAY AS STRONG RIDGING /SURFACE AND ALOFT/ BUILDS EASTWARD FROM THE PLAINS IN THE WAKE OF THE DEPARTING GREAT LAKES LOW. SUBSIDENCE AND DRY AIR ALOFT SHOULD SUPPRESS MOST CU DEVELOPMENT. NEARLY FULL SUNSHINE AND DEPARTING 850 THERMAL TROUGH SUPPORTS HIGH TEMPS ABOUT 10 DEGREES HIGHER THAN MONDAY. WITH LAPSE RATES BECOMING DRY ADIABATIC TO NEARLY 800 MB...A FEW SFC GUSTS ABOVE 20 KNOTS ARE POSSIBLE TODAY GIVEN LOW LEVEL WIND FIELDS OF 20 TO 30 KT AT 850 MB. ANOTHER CLEAR AND COOL NIGHT IS ON TAP FOR TONIGHT AS SURFACE HIGH REMAINS IN CLOSE PROXIMITY. LIGHT SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL DEVELOP ABOVE THE BOUNDARY LAYER LATE AT NIGHT...BUT SHOULD HAVE LITTLE EFFECT ON SURFACE TEMPS. GIVEN VERY MOIST GROUND...SOME PATCHY FOG MAY DEVELOP. ON WEDNESDAY...PLENTY OF SUN AND STRENGTHENING LOW LEVEL WARM ADVECTION WILL PUT TEMPS BACK ABOVE NORMAL. THE INCREASING SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL EVENTUALLY BRING SOME MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY BACK ACROSS OUR REGION LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT. A CONVECTIVE SYSTEM WILL LIKELY DEVELOP ON THE NOSE OF A STRONG LOW LEVEL JET OVER WRN MISSOURI/ERN KANSAS LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT...AND THEN SHIFT EAST INTO THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY AFTER 12Z. ETA APPEARS TOO QUICK TO BRING PRECIP INTO THE FORECAST AREA BEFORE 12Z THURSDAY. PRECIP CHANCES THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING WILL BE CONTINGENT ON WHERE OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES SET UP FOLLOWING THE PASSAGE OF ANY MCS DURING THE MORNING. UNCERTAINTY REGARDING PRECIP POTENTIAL INCREASES THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY DUE TO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN HOW THE MODELS HANDLE NORTHWEST FLOW DISTURBANCES. AT 60 HOURS...ETA IS CONSIDERABLY WEAKER WITH A 500 MB SHORTWAVE JUST NORTH OF THE MONTANA BORDER. THE STRONGER AVN SOLUTION WOULD SUPPORT ANOTHER ROUND OF MCS ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH A COLD FRONT MOVING SOUTHWARD ACROSS THE MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY LATE THURSDAY NIGHT/EARLY FRIDAY. NO CHANGES PLANNED TO FORECAST BEYOND FRIDAY. .PAH...NONE. MY
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Skillet Fork rose above its flood stage at Wayne City. At Wayne City, where flood stage is 15 feet, the crest was 17 feet. There was minor flooding of low-lying areas near the river.
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, May 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: 5295782.