Flood in Indiana, May 1 to 27, 2002

Name: Flood in Indiana, May 1 to 27, 2002
Start: 2002-05-01T00:00
End: 2002-05-27T12:00
Location: Indiana

May 1 to 27, 2002 · NWS IND · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Flooding along White river in Knox county. Several rounds of heavy rain led to flooding for most of the month of May.

Where it happened

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.

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: $250,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 IND wrote it up.

Flooding along White river in Knox county. Several rounds of heavy rain led to flooding for most of the month of May. Major flooding caused some evacuations and flooded residential areas. Oil fields became inaccessible. Many roads were closed. Flood Stage: Crest: Date of Crest:Petersburg 16.0 25.89 05/14Hazleton 16.0 28.00 05/20

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 Indianapolis, IN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 30, 3:12 PM EST, 8 hours 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 3:12 PM EST, 8 hours 48 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
312 PM EST TUE APR 30 2002

BIGGEST FORECAST PROBLEMS DEAL WITH SEVERE WEATHER THREAT LATE
WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT. MODELS THIS RUN ARE BECOMING MORE IN
CONSENSUS AND CLOSER TO THE AVN SOLUTION WHICH TRACKS A STRONGER SFC
LOW ACROSS NORTHERN ILLINOIS INTO SRN LOWER MICHIGAN BY 06Z THURSDAY.
EVEN THOUGH THE AVN IS VERIFYING BETTER THERE ARE SOME THINGS I LIKE
ABOUT THE ETA TOO SUCH AS THE CD FNT THIS EVENING AND THE ETA ALSO
DVELPS MORE PRECIP LATE WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

MODELS MOVE A WEAK CD FNT SOUTH ACROSS OUR CWA EARLY THIS EVENING. AN
AREA OF SHOWERS OVER OUR NORTHERN CWA SHOULD MOVE EWD SHORTLY AFTER
DARK. BOTH ETA AND AVN TAKE A S/W ACROSS TENNESSEE AND KENTUCKY
TONIGHT.  WILL MENTION A CHANCE OF SHOWERS OVER SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF
OUR CWA LATE TNGT.

MODELS SHOW GOOD WARM ADVECTION AND UVV BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...BUT
LOW LEVEL MOISTURE SEEMS TO LACKING UNTIL WEDNESDAY NIGHT. ETA SHOWS
CAPES APPROACHING 3000 J/KG BY 06Z THURSDAY AND LATE WEDNESDAY AFTN
AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT WILL BE TIME OF BEST SVR WX.

CD FNT WILL MOVE THROUGH OUR CWA BY 12Z THURSDAY. GIVEN AMOUNT OF CD
ADVECTION WILL GO CLOSER TO COOLER MAV TEMPS ON THURSDAY. IN SOME
WAYS THIS REMINDS ME OF LAST SUNDAY WHERE TEMPS FELL QUITE A BIT
AFTER THE CD FNT MOVES THROUGH.  IN THAT CASE THE ETA AND AVN TEMPS
WERE MUCH BETTER THAN THE FWC.

IN THE EXTENDED WILL GO DRY THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY AND
THEN A CHANCE A CHANCE OF SHOWERS SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.

.IND...NONE.
JEH

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Knox

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 27, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Knox forecast zone
Property damage: $250,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 38.689, -87.418 (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 Indiana in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Indiana, 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: 5296350.