Drought in Missouri, August 1 to 31, 2002

Name: Drought in Missouri, August 1 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-08-01T00:01
End: 2002-08-31T23:59
Location: Missouri

August 1 to 31, 2002 · NWS PAH · 11 events in 11 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

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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 PAH wrote it up.

Moderate drought conditions developed over southeast Missouri during early August as a result of persistent dryness that began in June. At Cape Girardeau, total rainfall from July 1 until August 13 was just over three-quarters of an inch. This dry period came on the heels of a very wet first half of the year, when 24 to 30 inches fell from January through May. The main effect of the drought was on agriculture. Farmers anticipated substantial crop losses at harvest time. Heavy spring rains delayed planting of many crops until late May, which made them especially susceptible to the summer drought.

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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 31, 12:53 PM CST, 11 hours 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 12:53 PM CST, 11 hours 8 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
153 PM CDT WED JUL 31 2002

SHORT TERM CHALLENGE FOR TONIGHT WILL BE WHAT TO DO WITH MESOSCALE
VORT CENTER EMBEDDED ALONG THE SHEAR AXIS CUTTING THROUGH THE PAH
FORECAST AREA TODAY. DURING THE MORNING HOURS...THE VORT CENTER
/CONVECTIVELY INDUCED??/ HAS BEEN ANCHORED OVER MISSISSIPPI COUNTY
IN SERN MO...WITH SOME MOVEMENT INTO FULTON COUNTY IN EXTREME
SOUTHWEST KY DURING THE PAST HOUR /17Z/. THE MOST NUMEROUS
CONVECTION WITHIN THE PAH COUNTY WARNING AREA IS NEAR THE CENTER AND
IMMEDIATELY TO THE SOUTH OF THE VORT CENTER. ADDITIONAL CONVECTION
APPEARS ON THE VORTICITY AXIS EXTENDING FROM THIS FEATURE TO THE
WEST AND EAST.

AT THIS TIME...I MAY CONSIDER KEEPING A SMALL POP IN THE SOUTHERN
BORDER COUNTIES OF THE PAH FORECAST AREA INTO THE EARLY EVENING
HOURS...WITH THE STRONGEST STORMS EXPECTED IN THE VICINITY OF THE
VORT CENTER.

THE MESOETA GRAPHICAL GUIDANCE FROM AWIPS SEEMED TO INITIALIZE THE
BEST WITH THE VORT CENTER...ALBEIT A LITTLE TOO FAR S AND W. THE
3-12 HOUR PROGGED MOVEMENT SEEMS IN LINE WITH CURRENT TRENDS.

AVN/MRF MODELS ARE A LITTLE AGGRESSIVE WITH THE MOVEMENT OF THE NEXT
FRONT INTO THE FORECAST AREA LATE THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY. I BELIEVE
THIS IS A LITTLE OVERDONE AS THE RIDGE IS RE-ESTABLISHED OVER THE
AREA IN ADVANCE OF THE S/WV ROTATING ALONG THE BASE OF THE
WESTERLIES ALONG THE UPPER MIDWEST/GREAT LAKES STATES. IN FACT...ALL
MODELS SUGGEST A SMALL BUT NOTICEABLE INCREASE IN THICKNESSES OVER
THE PAH FORECAST AREA. ANY SIGNFICANT MOISTURE WILL LIKELY BE
RELATED TO MID AND HIGH LEVEL CLOUDINESS /ABOVE 6KFT/.

WITH THE RIDGE EXPECTED TO SETTLE BACK IN THE AREA...BASICALLY
CENTERED OVER THE AREA FROM FRIDAY THROUGH NEXT TUESDAY...EXPECT
LITTLE IN THE WAY OF PCPN CHANCES ACROSS THE AREA AFTER THIS
EVENING. MOS GUIDANCE FOR AVN/NGM A LITTLE OFF REGARDING PROGGED
DEWPOINT VALUES FOR AREA IN THE SHORT TERM. WITH INCREASING
SUBSIDENCE...ETC...MAY NEED TO MAKE A GRADUAL ADJUSTMENT TO SLIGHTLY
LOWER DEWPOINTS. DEPENDING ON THE DEGREE OF CLOUD COVER TONIGHT...I
WOULD BE SURPRISED TO SEE SOME PATCHY FOG DEVELOP AFTER MIDNIGHT.

OVERALL...WILL LIKELY LEAN TOWARD THE ETA SOLN FOR MAJOR WEATHER
FEATURES...WITH A COMPROMISE IN TEMPS BETWEEN AVN/NGM MOS IN THE
LONG TERM. I WILL MONITOR OVERNIGHT LOWS/MAXES FOR ANY POTENTIAL FOR
HEAT ADVISORIES INTO THE WEEKEND.

.PAH...NONE.

SMITH

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

11 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Bollinger

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Bollinger forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.322, -90.026 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Butler

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Butler forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.716, -90.407 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Cape Girardeau

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Cape Girardeau forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.384, -89.684 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Carter

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Carter forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.941, -90.962 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Mississippi

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Mississippi forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.828, -89.291 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, New Madrid

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: New Madrid forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.595, -89.652 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Perry

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Perry forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.707, -89.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Ripley

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Ripley forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.653, -90.864 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Scott

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Scott forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.053, -89.568 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Stoddard

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Stoddard forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.856, -89.944 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Wayne

When: August 1, 12:01 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Wayne forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.113, -90.461 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Drought: A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

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, August 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: 5311908, 5311909, 5311910, 5311911, 5311912, 5311913, 5311914, 5311915, 5311916, 5311917, 5311918.