Flash Flooding in Missouri, May 12 to 13, 2002

Name: Flash Flooding in Missouri, May 12 to 13, 2002
Start: 2002-05-12T20:00
End: 2002-05-13T06:00
Location: Missouri

May 12 to 13, 2002 · NWS LSX · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

Some of the worse flash flooding in recent years hit on Sunday, Mother's Day, and continued into early Monday. Around 6 inches of rain fell on ground already saturated by previous rain.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $5.5 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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 LSX wrote it up.

Some of the worse flash flooding in recent years hit on Sunday, Mother's Day, and continued into early Monday. Around 6 inches of rain fell on ground already saturated by previous rain. For several counties, it was the worst flooding in memory. Iron County was especially hard hit. Virtually every creek and small stream flooded closing roads throughout the county. There were numerous water rescues as people were trapped in their cars. Emergency shelters in the County were opened to help stranded motorists and people who were flooded out of homes. The story was similar in Reynolds County as Highways 49 and 21 had to be closed. In Fredericktown, in Madison County, many city streets flooded. Several people were stranded in flooded vehicles and could not be reached for an hour or so. Numerous roads were flooded across Crawford, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve and Washington Counties as well. The only death that occurred happened in Iron County near Ironton. A 43 year old man was trying to cross Stouts Creek on foot to get to his home to rescue his dogs. He was knocked down, but managed to grab hold of a tree. He was swept away and drowned by the rising water before rescue workers could reach him.

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 St. Louis, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 12, 3:30 PM CST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 12, 3:30 PM CST, 4 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
430 PM CDT SUN MAY 12 2002

PROBS THIS PKG TO BE HVY PCPN TNGT. CDFNT SAGGING SLOLY S ACRS FA
AND STG TSRA DVLPG ALG AND MOVG NE. THIS ACTVTY TO CONT THRU EVE
UNTIL FNT MVS FRTHR S AND T0H S/WV MVS E. WL CONT FLOOD WATCH TNGT
FOR SERN ZNS BUT THINK PCPN ONLY LGT TO W AND N AND WL DROP WATCH
THERE. FFG VERY LOW OVR ALL OF FA AND TSTMS WL AGGRAVATE SITN OVR
SRN ZNS TNGT. PCPN SHUD END LT TNGT OVR SRN ZNS WITH CLRG ON MON.

MDL TEMPS IN GD AGMT AND ACCPTD WITH ONLY MINOR TWEAKS. 50H RDG BLDG
OVR CTRL US THRU MID WK AND DRY CONDS INTO XTNDD WITH NXT CHC PCPN
BACKED OFF TIL THU AS NXT SYS APCHS FM W.

.STL...FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR TNGT FOR SERN ZNS.

WDB

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 12, 3:43 PM CST, 4 hours 17 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
443 PM CDT SUN MAY 12 2002

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

0254 PM    NEW LONDON                MO   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/12/02   RALLS                          QUARTER TO GOLF BALL
                                          SIZED HAIL COVERING THE
                                          GROUND.

0427 PM    GODFREY                   IL   WIND DAMAGE
05/12/02   MADISON                        POWER LINES DOWN REPORTED
                                          BY MADISON COUNTY
                                          EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
                                          AGENCY.

0150 PM    MILLERSBURG               MO   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/12/02   CALLAWAY                       REPORTED IN MILLERSBURG
                                          AND ALONG I-70

Special weather statement, May 12, 5:30 PM CST, 2 hours 30 minutes before

ILZ058>060-064-065-098>100-MOZ036-051-052-059>061-063-064-130000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
630 PM CDT SUN MAY 12 2002

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR A PORTION OF
EASTERN MISSOURI AND SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS...

THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER HAS DIMINISHED ACROSS A PORTION OF THE
REGION.  SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE WIDESPREAD WITH
LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...AND A FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR
TONIGHT ACROSS A PORTION OF THE REGION.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE
FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN MISSOURI...PIKE...MONTGOMERY...LINCOLN...
WARREN...ST CHARLES...GASCONADE...ST LOUIS AND ST LOUIS CITY.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES IN ILLINOIS...CALHOUN...GREENE...MACOUPIN...JERSEY...
MADISON...MONTGOMERY...BOND AND FAYETTE.

Local storm report, May 12, 5:53 PM CST, 2 hours 7 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
653 PM CDT SUN MAY 12 2002

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

0620 PM    3SE BONNE TERRE           MO   WIND DAMAGE
05/12/02   ST FRANCOIS                    NUMEROUS TREES AND TREES
                                          LIMBS DOWN NEAR HIGHWAY
                                          67 AND ROUTE K

Local storm report, May 12, 7:11 PM CST, 49 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
811 PM CDT SUN MAY 12 2002

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

0610 PM    4S POTOSI                 MO   WIND DAMAGE
05/12/02   WASHINGTON                     LARGE TREE LIMBS DOWN.

0642 PM    WEINGARTEN                MO   WIND DAMAGE
05/12/02   STE GENEVIEVE                  TREES DOWN ACROSS SEVERAL
                                          ROADS.

Local storm report, May 12, 7:14 PM CST, 46 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
814 PM CDT SUN MAY 12 2002

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

0530 PM    JEFFERSON CITY            MO   0.75 INCH HAIL
05/12/02   COLE                           REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
                                          OPERATOR.

Special weather statement, May 12, 7:30 PM CST, 30 minutes before

ILZ069-070-074-101-102-MOZ062-065-130230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
830 PM CDT SUN MAY 12 2002

...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR A PORTION OF
EASTERN MISSOURI AND SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS...

THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER HAS DIMINISHED ACROSS A PORTION OF THE
REGION.  SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE WIDESPREAD WITH
LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN TONIGHT...AND A FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR
TONIGHT ACROSS THE REGION.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE
FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN MISSOURI...FRANKLIN AND JEFFERSON.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES IN ILLINOIS...MONROE...ST CLAIR...CLINTON...WASHINGTON...
AND MARION.

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 97 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:06 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Crawford

When: May 12, 8:00 PM CST to May 13, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Crawford County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.976, -91.304 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Iron

When: May 12, 8:00 PM CST to May 13, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Iron County, Countywide
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $5.5 million
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.504, -90.690 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Madison

When: May 12, 8:00 PM CST to May 13, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Madison County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.478, -90.345 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Reynolds

When: May 12, 8:00 PM CST to May 13, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Reynolds County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.362, -90.969 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, St. Francois

When: May 12, 8:00 PM CST to May 13, 6:00 AM CST
Where: St. Francois County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.810, -90.472 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Ste. Genevieve

When: May 12, 8:00 PM CST to May 13, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Ste. Genevieve County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.894, -90.194 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Washington

When: May 12, 8:00 PM CST to May 13, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Washington County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.962, -90.877 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Flash Flood, Iron	2002-05-12	43	Male	In Water	Direct

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, May 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: 5291504, 5291505, 5291506, 5291507, 5291508, 5291509, 5291510.