1 flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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.
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 Mar 27, 1:35 AM CST, 7 hours 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 135 AM CST WED MAR 27 2002 QUIET WEATHER TODAY. HIGH PRESSURE AT THE SURFACE TO MOVE ACROSS THE REGION. SATELLITE SHOWS SOME HIGH CLOUDS FROM THE SW U.S. INTO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS. THAT SHOULD BE ABOUT IT FOR CLOUDS TODAY. THE HIGH WILL SLIDE TO THE EAST TONIGHT...ALLOWING FOR S TO SE LOW LEVEL FLOW TO DEVELOP...SO TEMPS SHOULD NOT BE AS COOL AS THIS MORNING. A FRONTAL BOUNDARY SETS UP FROM MINNESOTA...SOUTH ACROSS IOWA AND CENTRAL KANSAS INTO OKLAHOMA BY THURSDAY MORNING. IT IS FORECAST TO SHIFT SE TOWARD THE AREA...WITH UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT DIVING SE AS WELL. STILL LOOKS LIKE A CHANCE OF RAIN BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON...OVER MAINLY SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...MAYBE INTO SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. ANY RAIN ACTIVITY SHOULD MOVE ESE ACROSS THE FA THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING THURSDAY...EXITING SW INDIANA AND WEST KENTUCKY BY MIDNIGHT. POPS STILL IN CHANCE CATEGORY FOR NOW. IN THE EXTENDED...THE NEW AVN LOOKS REAL SUSPECT EJECTING SO MUCH MOISTURE AND QPF INTO THE AREA FRIDAY NIGHT AND EARLY SATURDAY. AN UPPER LOW CURRENTLY OUT OVER THE PACIFIC...WELL OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST IS FORECAST TO MOVE INTO THE SW U.S. LATE THIS WEEK...AND ACROSS THE SOUTHERN U.S. THIS WEEKEND BEFORE GETTING CAUGHT UP IN THE MAIN BRANCH OF THE JET ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE U.S. BY MONDAY. TYPICALLY THESE SYSTEMS MOVE OUT MORE SLOWLY THAN THE MODELS SUGGEST. THE AVN IS THE FASTEST. FIRST...IF THE CUTOFF REMAINS IN TACT...DECENT S/WV RIDGING SHOULD BE OUT AHEAD OF THE FEATURE...RESULTING IN A MORE CONFLUENT FLOW ACROSS OUR AREA FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...AS WE WILL STILL BE INFLUENCED BY THE NORTHERN BRANCH...TROF. THUS ANY MOISTURE THAT SPREADS EAST FROM THE UPPER LOW SHOULD HIT A WALL SO TO SPEAK...AND DIMINISH. SO WE LIKE THE CURRENT FORECAST...HOLDING RAIN OFF TIL LATE SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY...AS THE UPPER LOW SHOULD FINALLY ARRIVE BY THEN. ONCE IT GETS CAUGHT UP IN THE MAIN FLOW...IT SHOULD EJECT EAST FAIRLY RAPIDLY...TAKING MOISTURE AND ANY RAIN EAST OF THE AREA BY LATE SUNDAY NIGHT. WILL CONTINUE WITH THE QUIET WEATHER TREND EARLY NEXT WEEK. MAY HAVE TO TAKE A LOOK AT TUESDAY. FOR NOW...WILL ADD MORE CLOUDS. GUIDANCE NUMBERS IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT OVER THE NEXT 48 HOURS...AND LINE UP WITH GOING FORECAST...SO WILL FOLLOW. .PAH...NONE.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Mississippi River rose above flood stage at New Madrid on March 27 and crested about one half foot above flood stage the next day. Minor flooding of mainly agricultural low-lying bottomlands occurred.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Missouri in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Missouri, March 2002
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: 5280649.