Flash Flooding and Flooding in Illinois, May 6, 2002

Name: Flash Flooding and Flooding in Illinois, May 6, 2002
Start: 2002-05-06T05:00
End: 2002-05-06T19:00
Location: Illinois

May 6, 2002 · NWS ILX · 11 events in 9 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 11 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: 11

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 ILX wrote it up.

Very heavy rains fell over a large portion of Central Illinois south of a Winchester to Charleston to Robinson line. Numerous roads were flooded due to the heavy rains, including Illinois Routes 128, 32 and 16 in Shelby County. In Christian County, a man had to be rescued after driving into a flooded section of Illinois Route 48 four miles southwest of Morrisonville. He was not injured. In Pana (Christian County), several basements were flooded. Several basements around Shelby County were flooded as well. The intersection of County road 700N and Illinois Route 45 in Clay County was flooded. Several vehicles drove into this area and stalled. However, no one had to be rescued as they were able to get out of the water on their own, though the cars had to be towed. In Christian and Crawford counties, the flooding persisted for over 4 hours after the rains had stopped.

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 Lincoln, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 6, 1:10 AM CST, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 6, 1:10 AM CST, 3 hours 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
210 AM CDT MON MAY 6 2002

PLENTY OF CONCERNS...BUT WILL FOCUS ON PRECIPITATION...HEAVY
RAINFALL AND SEVERE POTENTIAL NEXT SEVERAL DAYS AND TEMPS.

LATEST 05Z SURFACE ANALYSIS PLACES SURFACE LOW ACROSS FAR NORTHWEST
IOWA WITH ANOTHER SURFACE LOW ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS STATES. A
SURFACE STATIONARY FRONT WAS ACROSS UPPER MIDWEST FROM MINNESOTA
EAST THROUGH WISCONSIN.  A COLD FRONT EXTENDED ACROSS NORTH
CENTRAL PLAINS STATES. ANOTHER WARM FRONT IS ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL
PLAINS STATES SOUTHEAST INTO ARKANSAS.  LATEST 0545Z IR SATELLITE
DEMONSTRATES PLENTY OF MID AND HIGH CLOUDS ACROSS MIDWEST. LATEST
0545Z IR W/V IMAGE PLACES SEVERAL S/WS ACROSS EASTERN PLAINS STATES
INTO MIDWEST. OTHER STRONG S/WS WERE ACROSS PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND
SOUTHWEST U.S. LATEST 0536Z KDVN RADAR SHOWS SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
ACROSS EASTERN IOWA MOVING NORTHEAST. LATEST 0538Z KLSX RADAR
INDICATES SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI
WITH MORE WIDESPREAD  ACTIVITY ACROSS WEST CENTRAL MISSOURI MOVING
EAST.

MODELS FAIRLY SIMILAR BUT HAVING A FEW DIFFERENCES AND CONTINUE  TO
PREFER MAINLY AN ETA SOLUTION.

ETA MAINTAINS MAINLY A ZONAL FLOW...WITH H50 HIGH ACROSS GULF OF
MEXICO AND TROUGH ACROSS PACIFIC NORTHWEST THROUGH BY 12Z WED.   A
H50 TROUGH WILL BE ACROSS IL BETWEEN 12Z MON-18Z MON. SEVERAL SFC
LOWS ACROSS MIDWEST SOUTHWEST INTO PLAINS STATES. ETA PLACES TWO
SURFACE LOWS...ONE ACROSS SOUTHERN CANADA AND ANOTHER ACROSS CENTRAL
PLAINS STATES BY 12Z MON. THEN MODELS DEVELOP STRONGER SFC LOW
ACROSS CENTRAL PLAINS STATES WITH WARM FRONT ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL
ILLINOIS. SERIES OF CONVECTION WILL CAUSE WARM FRONT LOCATION TO BE
IN DOUBT THROUGH THE PERIOD.  ETA PLACING CWA IN REGION OF GOOD
250MB DIVERGENCE BETWEEN 12Z MON-18Z MON AGAIN BETWEEN 06Z-12Z TUE.
ETA MOVES CURRENT COMPLEX OF STORMS IN MISSOURI EAST AND REDEVELOPS
ADDITIONAL STORMS MONDAY NIGHT. MODEL SOUNDINGS PROVIDE DECENT
MOISTURE AND LAPSE RATES ON MONDAY WITH A RETURN OF DECENT
INSTABILITY -8 TO -11 BY 06Z TUE ACROSS CWA. SOUNDINGS INCREASE
MOISTURE AND PW/S SURGE TO NEAR 1.5 BY 12Z MON THROUGH THE PERIOD.
T/H CROSS SECTIONS INDICATE HIGH RH AT ALL LEVELS BY 12Z MON THEN A
RETURN BY 12Z TUE...AND THEN BY 00Z WED. ETA 305K ISENTROPIC SURFACE
PLACES STRONG LIFT AND COND PRES DEF  ACROSS CWA BETWEEN 12Z MON-18Z
MON. THEN PLACES SOME DECENT ISENTROPIC LIFT AND COND PRES DEF
THROUGH 12Z WED. THEREFORE...HEAVY PRECIPITATION AND POSSIBLE SVR
WEATHER LOOKS POSSIBLE THROUGH WEDNESDAY. CURRENT FORECAST MAINLY ON
TRACK. HOWEVER...WITH FAIRLY LOW FFG WILL ISSUE FLOOD WATCH FOR
ENTIRE CWA TODAY AND TONIGHT.  EXTENDED: NO CHANGES AT THIS TIME.

TEMPERATURES TRICKY WITH CONVECTION AND BOUNDARIES ACROSS REGION.

...THANKS FOR DISCUSSIONS ON FLOOD WATCH...KLOT...KLSX...KDVN
...KPAH...AND KIND.

...PRELIMINARY CCF FOR COORDINATION PURPOSES...

SPI TT 079/063 082/063 082 13+65
PIA TT 078/062 081/062 081 13+66
DEC TT 077/062 081/062 082 13+65
CMI TT 076/061 080/062 081 13+65
MTO TT 077/062 081/063 082 13+65
LWV TT 077/064 083/064 083 13+64

.ILX...FLOOD WATCH ENTIRE CWA

EH

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 6, 5:00 AM CST, 0 minutes before

ILZ027>031-036>038-040>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-061200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL ILLINOIS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
600 AM CDT MON MAY 6 2002

...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS
THROUGH TONIGHT...

A SURFACE BOUNDARY ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS THIS MORNING WILL
MOVE NORTH AS A WARM FRONT TODAY...AND THEN BEGIN A TRACK BACK TO
THE SOUTH TONIGHT. THIS BOUNDARY COMBINED WITH SEVERAL UPPER LEVEL
DISTURBANCES WILL CAUSE PERIODS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS
CENTRAL ILLINOIS TODAY INTO TONIGHT. IN ADDITION TO THE HEAVY
RAINFALL AND FLOODING THREAT ACROSS CENTRAL ILLINOIS THROUGH
TONIGHT...A FEW OF THESE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL...ESPECIALLY LATER THIS AFTERNOON
AND TONIGHT.

SMITH

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

9 flash flood, 2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Shelby

When: May 6, 5:00 AM CST to 12:30 PM CST
Where: Shelby County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.391, -88.805 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Christian

When: May 6, 5:00 AM CST to 2:40 PM CST
Where: Christian County, 4 mi SW of Morrisonville
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.546, -89.277 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Coles

When: May 6, 6:30 AM CST to 7:15 AM CST
Where: Coles County, Mattoon
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.520, -88.222 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Crawford

When: May 6, 7:45 AM CST to 3:50 PM CST
Where: Crawford County, Robinson
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.003, -87.760 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Scott

When: May 6, 9:00 AM CST to 10:00 AM CST
Where: Scott County, 4 mi NE of Winchester
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 39.644, -90.475 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Morgan

When: May 6, 9:15 AM CST to 10:15 AM CST
Where: Morgan County, 6 mi SW of Jacksonville
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 39.716, -90.201 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Sangamon

When: May 6, 11:00 AM CST to 11:30 AM CST
Where: Sangamon County, Auburn
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.758, -89.659 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Effingham

When: May 6, 11:30 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where: Effingham County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.060, -88.590 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Clay

When: May 6, 2:00 PM CST to 4:00 PM CST
Where: Clay County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.754, -88.490 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Christian

When: May 6, 2:40 PM CST to 6:30 PM CST
Where: Christian forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.546, -89.277 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Crawford

When: May 6, 3:50 PM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Crawford forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.003, -87.760 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
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, May 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: 5302619, 5302621, 5302620, 5302623, 5302625, 5302626, 5302627, 5302628, 5302629, 5302622, 5302624.