Flood in Missouri, August 20, 2002

Name: Flood in Missouri, August 20, 2002
Start: 2002-08-20T03:00
End: 2002-08-20T08:00
Location: Missouri

August 20, 2002 · NWS SGF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Runoff continued as four to eight inches of rain that fell earlier causing numerous low water crossings to remain closed through mid morning of August 20th.

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: None recorded
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.

Runoff continued as four to eight inches of rain that fell earlier causing numerous low water crossings to remain closed through mid morning of August 20th.

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 Aug 20, 2:06 AM CST, 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 20, 2:06 AM CST, 54 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
306 AM CDT TUE AUG 20 2002

1ST PERIOD FCST CONCERNS...POPS/TEMPS AND MARGINAL HEAT INDICES FOR
SE KS/SW MO TODAY/WEDNESDAY.

REST OF FCST...TEMPS.

WARM FRONT OVER CENTRAL MISSOURI THIS MORNING SHOULD MOVE BACK NORTH
TODAY. OTHERWISE TSRA STILL CLIPPING PORTIONS OF NERN/ERN ZONES
WHILE REST OF CWA PARTLY CLOUDY. WILL HOLD ON TO ZONES TO SEE TREND
OF CURRENT PCPN BUT THINKING MIGHT HAVE TO MENTION PERIOD/OCCASIONAL
SHRA/TSRA THIS MORNING IN ERN/NERN ZONES THEN PUT CHANCE POP IN FOR
AFTERNOON (30). REST OF CWA WILL PUT 20/30 POPS TO MATCH WITH
SURROUNDING OFFICES.

ETA DOES SHOWS LIGHT QPF VALUES ACROSS MOST OF CWA TODAY...SE KS/SW
MO WILL HAVE THE LEAST CHANCE AS BUILDING RIDGE TAKES OVER LATER
TODAY.  WITH DEWPOINTS IN LOW 70S AND FCST TEMPS IN MID 90S OVER SE
KS/SW MO AND MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES...WILL HEADLINE HEAT INDICES FROM
100 TO 105...THUS WILL NOT ISSUE ADVISORY ATTM.  WILL GO AHEAD AND
HEADLINE SAME FOR WEDNESDAY AS TEMPS SHOULD BE A TAD WARMER. ALSO
FOR WEDNESDAY WITH SURFACE LOW OVER NE AND HIGH OVER ERN GREAT LAKES
WILL KICK UP THE WINDS AS PRESSURE GRADIENT TIGHTS SOMEWHAT.

WILL LEAN TOWARDS WARNER ETA MOS VALUES FOR TEMPS.

EXTENDED FCST...ONLY MADE MINOR TWEAKS IN TEMPS/POPS BUT NO MAJOR
CHANGES AS COLD FRONT DUE INTO CWA BY SATURDAY...THUS LOW POPS FOR
SATURDAY.

PRELIM ISC GRIDS ARE OUT.

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

SS

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 19, 9:02 PM CST, 5 hours 58 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
1002 PM CDT MON AUG 19 2002

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

0930 PM    FAIR GROVE                MO   WIND DAMAGE
08/19/02   GREENE                         TREES DOWN. REPORTED BY
                                          STORM SPOTTER.

Local storm report, Aug 19, 9:07 PM CST, 5 hours 53 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
1007 PM CDT MON AUG 19 2002

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

0948 PM    BONA                      MO   .88 INCH HAIL
08/19/02   DADE                           REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
                                          OPERATOR.

Local storm report, Aug 19, 9:40 PM CST, 5 hours 20 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
1040 PM CDT MON AUG 19 2002

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

0723 PM    1 E GROVESPRING           MO   1.75 INCH HAIL
08/19/02   WRIGHT                         REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

0728 PM    3 N GROVESPRING           MO   .88 INCH HAIL
08/19/02   WRIGHT                         REPORTED BY COOPERATIVE
                                          OBSERVER.

0745 PM    3 N HARTVILLE             MO   WIND DAMAGE
08/19/02   WRIGHT                         TREES BLOWN DOWN.
                                          REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
                                          MANAGEMENT.

0750 PM    WAYNESVILLE               MO   .75 INCH HAIL
08/19/02   PULASKI                        REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
                                          OPERATOR.

0750 PM    3 NNE HARTVILLE           MO   1 INCH HAIL
08/19/02   WRIGHT                         REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

0758 PM    WAYNESVILLE               MO   1.75 INCH HAIL
08/19/02   PULASKI                        REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
                                          OPERATOR.

0804 PM    GREENFIELD                MO   .88 INCH HAIL
08/19/02   DADE                           REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
                                          OPERATOR.

0810 PM    3 W ODIN                  MO   WIND DAMAGE
08/19/02   WRIGHT                         EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
                                          REPORTED A TREE DOWN
                                          OVER CASS ROAD NORTH OF
                                          HIGHWAY 38 AND EAST OF
                                          DUNCAN OVER THE WRIGHT
                                          COUNTY LINE.

0820 PM    2 N DIGGINS               MO   WIND DAMAGE
08/19/02   WEBSTER                        TREES DOWN. REPORTED BY
                                          LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

0915 PM    ROLLA                     MO   1 INCH HAIL
08/19/02   PHELPS                         REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

0920 PM    BOLIVAR                   MO   1 INCH HAIL
08/19/02   POLK                           EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
                                          ALSO REPORTED 60 MPH
                                          WINDS.

0930 PM    FAIR GROVE                MO   WIND DAMAGE
08/19/02   GREENE                         TREES DOWN. REPORTED BY
                                          STORM SPOTTER.

0943 PM    ALDRICH                   MO   .88 INCH HAIL
08/19/02   POLK                           REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
                                          OPERATOR.

0943 PM    ROLLA                     MO   .88 INCH HAIL
08/19/02   PHELPS                         REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
                                          OPERATOR.

0944 PM    SALEM                     MO   WIND DAMAGE
08/19/02   DENT                           LIMBS BLOWN DOWN.
                                          REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

0948 PM    BONA                      MO   .88 INCH HAIL
08/19/02   DADE                           REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
                                          OPERATOR.

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, Dent

When: August 20, 3:00 AM CST to 8:00 AM CST
Where: Dent forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.607, -91.508 (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 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: 5313374.