Missouri, 2002

Flooding in Missouri, April 8, 2002

April 8, 2002 · NWS SGF · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Due to excessive rainfall amounts of two to three inches on the evening of April 7th over extreme southern Missouri between Branson and Eminence, numerous low water crossings, county roads, bridges and secondary roads flooded and remained closed through the evening of the 8th. Although rainfall rates decreased after midnight, an additional one half to one inch of rain fell on already saturated…

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
5

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.

Due to excessive rainfall amounts of two to three inches on the evening of April 7th over extreme southern Missouri between Branson and Eminence, numerous low water crossings, county roads, bridges and secondary roads flooded and remained closed through the evening of the 8th. Although rainfall rates decreased after midnight, an additional one half to one inch of rain fell on already saturated soils that earlier had flash flooding. During the height of the storm, a few bridges near Gainesville and Branson Missouri had one to two feet of water flowing over them.

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 7, 1:05 PM CST, 11 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 7, 1:05 PM CST, 11 hours 25 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
105 PM CST SUN APR 7 2002

MAIN FOCUS THIS PERIOD WILL BE WITH UPPER LOW OVER NEW MEXICO AND
PRECIPITATION CHANCES/AMOUNTS AS IT LIFTS NORTHEAST INTO THE AREA.

LATEST WATER VAPOR IMAGERY WAS SHOWING THE UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE
SYSTEM OVER NEW MEXICO...SHIFTING EAST OUT OF ARIZONA EARLIER THIS
MORNING.  850 MB HAND ANALYSIS SHOWS LOW LEVEL JET FROM TEXAS ALL
THE WAY INTO THE GREAT LAKES...FEEDING GULF MOISTURE BACK INTO THE
PLAINS AND MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.  MCS REMNANTS FROM LAST NIGHTS
CONVECTION HAVE SLOWLY PUSHED INTO THE MISSOURI OZARKS THIS MORNING
AND EARLY AFTERNOON...MOISTENING UP THE LOWER ATMOSPHERE WHICH HAD
BEEN VERY DRY OVERNIGHT.  THE HEAVIEST RAIN HAS BEEN ALONG THE
MISSOURI/ARKANSAS BORDER AS THIS WAS THE FIRST AREA TO BECOME
SATURATED.  RAIN HAS DROPPED TEMPERATURES TO AROUND 50 AND THE UPPER
40S...WHILE RAIN FREE AREAS HAVE TOPPED 60.  REGIONAL RADAR STILL
SHOWING CONVECTION STRETCHING ALL THE WAY BACK INTO SOUTHERN
OKLAHOMA...LIFTING NORTH TOWARDS THE AREA.  DO NOT SEE ANY SIGNS OF
THIS WEAKENING AND SHOULD SEE SHRA/TSRA CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING
HOURS.

MODELS ARE IN DECENT AGREEMENT WITH RESPECT TO SYSTEM IN NEW MEXICO
AS IT LIFTS NORTHEAST INTO THE AREA ON MONDAY.  AVN LOOKS A BIT TOO
WET WITH THE QPF...POSSIBLY SUFFERING FROM SOME CONVECTIVE FEEDBACK.
HAVE GONE WITH ETA FOR GUIDANCE THROUGH THE SHORT TERM.  UPPER LEVEL
LOW PUSHES OUT OF NEW MEXICO TONIGHT AND INTO WESTERN OKLAHOMA BY
12Z.  ANOTHER WEAKER WAVE SHOULD LIFT INTO THE AREA OVERNIGHT.  NO
REAL LOW LEVEL BOUNDARIES TO FOCUS CONVECTION ON NEAR THE
AREA...HOWEVER A DRY LINE OVER WESTERN TEXAS IS BEGINNING TO
INITIATE CONVECTION THERE.  THIS CONVECTION IS EXPECTED TO FORM
ANOTHER MCS TONIGHT ACROSS NORTHEAST TEXAS/SOUTHEAST
OKLAHOMA/SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS AREA...LIFTING NORTH INTO SOUTHERN
MISSOURI.  LOW LEVEL JET SHIFTS EAST FROM LAST NIGHTS POSITION WITH
DIRECT FEED FROM THE GULF INTO THE AREA.  THE HEAVIEST
RAIN/STRONGEST CONVECTION WILL OCCUR TO THE SOUTH OF THE
AREA...HOWEVER HEAVY RAIN WILL SPREAD INTO SOUTHERN
MISSOURI...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE MO/AR BORDER.  MAY SEE SOME ONE TO
TWO INCH AMOUNTS WHICH COULD APPROACH FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE.  WILL
HOLD OFF ON ANY WATCH AT THE MOMENT.

MCS SHOULD BE ONGOING ON MONDAY ACROSS THE CWA.  CLOUDS/RAIN SHOULD
HOLD BACK TEMPERATURE RISES...HOWEVER AS SHORTWAVE MOVES INTO THE
AREA...SOME MID LEVEL COOLING WILL TAKE PLACE INCREASING THE MID
LEVEL LAPSE RATES AND THE INSTABILITY.  AFTERNOON CAPES OF AROUND
500 J/KG WILL BE POSSIBLE...WITH SOME STRONG THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT AHEAD OF SURFACE FRONT POSSIBLE.

UPPER SYSTEM SHOULD CONTINUE WEAKENING AS IT LIFTS NORTHEAST AND OUT
OF AREA TOMORROW NIGHT.  FRONT WILL BE SLOW TO PUSH THROUGH THE AREA
AS IT PARALLELS THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW...AND CLOUDS/PRECIPITATION WILL
BE SLOW TO EXIT.  NOT MUCH TEMPERATURE CHANGE BEHIND THE FRONT...AND
FLOW BECOMES ZONAL AFTER SHORTWAVE LIFTS OUT.  TUESDAY SHOULD SEE A
DECREASE IN THE CLOUDS...WITH WEAK HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE AREA.
NORTHWEST SHOULD SEE THE MOST SUN AND WARM UP...WHILE EASTERN
SECTIONS WILL REMAIN THE COOLEST.  HIGH SHOULD SHIFT EAST TUESDAY
NIGHT AND WINDS WILL BECOME MORE SOUTHEAST.  NEXT WAVE BEGINS TO
ENTER THE WEST COAST ON TUESDAY NIGHT.

MORE SUN AND A SOUTHERLY FLOW ON WEDNESDAY WILL HELP TO WARM
TEMEPRATURES BACK INTO THE 70S IN MOST LOCATIONS.  GOOD WAA AT 850
BEGINS TO TAKE PLACE BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT AHEAD OF NEXT WAVE IN THE
HIGH PLAINS.  GUSTY S WINDS SHOULD OCCUR ON THURSDAY AHEAD OF NEXT
SYSTEM POSSIBLY RAISING TEMPS IN THE WEST INTO THE UPPER 70S.  WILL
PROBABLY ADJUST MY GRIDS FROM THIS MORNING TO REMOVE POPS FROM
THURSDAY NIGHT...DEFINITELY IN THE EASTERN CWA.

HOPE TO HAVE ISC GRIDS OUT BY 3 PM.

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

LINDENBERG

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 7, 9:19 PM CST, 3 hours 11 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
919 PM CST SUN APR 07 2002

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

0825 PM    THORNFIELD                MO   FLOOD
04/07/02   OZARK                          REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.
Local storm report, Apr 7, 9:21 PM CST, 3 hours 9 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
921 PM CST SUN APR 07 2002

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

0825 PM    POTTERSVILLE              MO   FLOOD
04/07/02   HOWELL                         REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Douglas

When
April 8, 12:30 AM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where
Douglas forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.933, -92.499 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Howell

When
April 8, 12:30 AM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where
Howell forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.774, -91.886 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Ozark

When
April 8, 12:30 AM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where
Ozark forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.649, -92.445 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Taney

When
April 8, 12:30 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Taney forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.655, -93.041 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Shannon

When
April 8, 3:00 AM CST to 9:00 AM CST
Where
Shannon forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.157, -91.400 (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

More

Every storm in Missouri in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5293583, 5293584, 5293585, 5293587, 5293586.