Flash Flood in Missouri, April 13 to 14, 2002

Name: Flash Flood in Missouri, April 13 to 14, 2002
Start: 2002-04-13T20:15
End: 2002-04-14T00:00
Location: Missouri

April 13 to 14, 2002 · NWS SGF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $100,000
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 SGF wrote it up.

A cluster of slow moving thunderstorms moved across northern Howell county producing three to four inches of rain in less than two hours. In addition to the intense localized band of three to four inches, a broad area of one to two inches fell over all of northern Howell county between 8 and 10 pm. Highway 17 south of Mountain View and east of Pomona was flooded and impassable during the height of the storm. Highway N east of Pomona was also closed due to high water. County roads 4740, 4870 and 5130 were completely washed out by the flood waters. The heavy rains also caused considerable damage around the West Plains area, especially at the Southern Hills Shopping Center where carpets and inventory were damaged.

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 Springfield, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 13, 1:52 PM CST, 6 hours 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 13, 1:52 PM CST, 6 hours 23 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
252 PM CDT SAT APR 13 2002

MAIN CONCERNS THIS FORECAST CYCLE INCLUDE CHANCES FOR STORMS TONIGHT
AND FROM TUESDAY TO FRIDAY...AND COOLER TEMPS NEXT WEEKEND.

LATEST SURFACE OBSERVATIONS SHOW WEAK WINDS VARIABLE IN
DIRECTION...WHICH MAKE FINDING BOUNDARIES A BIT CHALLENGING. TEMPS
AND DEWPOINTS ARE MORE HELPFUL AT FINDING THERMAL BOUNDARY EXTENDING
ACROSS NORTHEAST OK/SOUTHEAST KANSAS AND WARM FRONT JUST NORTH OF
THE ARKANSAS BORDER. REMNANTS OF MCS OVER OK THIS MORNING HAVE
PUSHED A FEW SHOWERS INTO THE EXTREME SOUTHWEST PORTION OF THE
FORECAST AREA...AND WITH DECENT DESTABILIZATION AS TEMPS GET IN THE
70S WITH UPPER 50/LOWER 60 DEWPOINTS...EXPECT SCATTERED CONVECTION
TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON.

MAIN QUESTION FOR TONIGHT IS WHERE/WHEN/IF ANOTHER MCS WILL DEVELOP.
WITH SHORTWAVE MOVING INTO THE REGION AND ADDITIONAL MESOSCALE
CONVECTIVE VORT MAX...WILL LIKELY SEE REDEVELOPMENT FROM CENTRAL AR
TO SOUTHERN MO. DECENT MOISTURE FETCH FROM THE GULF AND 925
DEWPOINTS 12 TO 14 DEGREES C WILL FEED INTO MCS OVERNIGHT. DECENT
CONNECTION WITH UPPER LEVEL MOISTURE ALSO SEEN ON WATER VAPOR
LOOP...SO HAVE MENTIONED ISOLATED FLOODING POSSIBLE IN THE HWO...AND
WILL MENTION LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IN THE SOUTHERN MO ZONES.
HIGHEST THREAT OF FLOODING WILL BE OVER SOUTH CENTRAL MO WHERE SOIL
MOISTURE IS HIGHEST FROM RAINS LAST NIGHT. WILL LINGER POPS INTO
SUNDAY MORNING FOR ALL BUT THE NORTHWEST ZONES...ENDING BY AFTERNOON
AS SHORTWAVE EXITS TO THE NORTHEAST.

AFTER TEMPORARY BREAK FROM PRECIP LATE SUNDAY AND MONDAY...WILL
TRANSITION TO SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT...AND SEE INTERMITTENT PRECIP
FROM TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY AS PERIODIC SHORTWAVES RIDE OVER THE
AREA. TEMPERATURES REMAIN ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH THURSDAY...WITH 80S
POSSIBLE MONDAY. COULD SEE SOME 80S ON TUESDAY ALSO...BUT WILL BACK
OF TEMPS A LITTLE WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY WITH INCREASING MOISTURE
AND BETTER CHANCES OF PRECIP.

DISCREPENCIES SHOW UP IN EXTENDED MODELS CONCERNING TEMPERATURES BY
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. WHILE THE ECMWF CUTS OF AN UPPER LOW OVER THE
SOUTHWEST U.S. AND KEEPS THE CENTRAL U.S. RELATIVELY WARM...THE MRF
IS PUSHING THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH QUICKLY ACROSS OUR AREA AND
ALLOWING MUCH COLDER AIR TO SPILL INTO THE REGION ON FRIDAY AND
SATURDAY. LATEST AVN IS CONSISTENT WITH 00Z MRF IN BRINGING COLDER
AIR INTO THE NORTHWEST U.S. BY THURSDAY 12Z. WILL NOT GET TOO CRAZY
WITH THE TEMPS...BUT WILL TREND THEM COLDER FOR NOW...WITH 50S FOR
HIGHS BY SATURDAY.

.SGF...
MO...NONE.
KS...NONE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 13, 5:58 PM CST, 2 hours 17 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
658 PM CDT SAT APR 13 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0410 PM    DORA                      MO   1 INCH HAIL
04/13/02   OZARK                          REPORTED BY COOPERATIVE
                                          OBSERVER.

Local storm report, Apr 13, 6:55 PM CST, 1 hour 20 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
755 PM CDT SAT APR 13 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0405 PM    TWIN BRIDGES              MO   .75 INCH HAIL
04/13/02   DOUGLAS                        REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
                                          MANAGEMENT.

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 144 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:15 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Howell

When: April 13, 8:15 PM CST to April 14, 12:00 AM CST
Where: Howell County, North Portion
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.774, -91.886 (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.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Missouri in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Missouri, April 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: 5293678.