5 flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 Kansas City, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 24, 3:20 PM CST, 6 hours 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO 420 PM CDT FRI MAY 24 2002 420 PM... CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY HAS DIMINISHED THIS AFTERNOON...AND EXPECT A LULL IN ACTIVITY DUE TO SUBSIDENCE BEHIND LEADING VORT MAX. SOME CLEARING GOING ON THIS AFTERNOON...WHICH SHOULD HELP DESTABILIZE THINGS A LITTLE...BUT NOT TOO MUCH. SURFACE BASED CONVECTION FIRING ALONG FRONTAL BOUNDARY FROM SC KANSAS INTO SW OKLAHOMA. EXPECT THIS ACTIVITY TO MIGRATE NE ALONG LOW LEVEL THETAE GRADIENT...INTO SW PART OF FORECAST AREA THIS EVENING. COVERAGE OF CONVECTION WILL INCREASE AS NIGHT PROGRESSES...AS VORT MAX OVER CO THIS AFTN... MOVES INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS THIS EVENING. UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE AHEAD OF THE APPROACHING SHORTWAVE...ASSOCIATED WITH RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION JET DYNAMICS...WILL ENHANCE AGEO FORCING. GIVEN PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES WILL REMAIN AT OR ABOVE ONE INCH THROUGH MOST OF THE NIGHT..THERE WILL BE AMPLE MOISTURE FOR HEAVY RAINFALL. A LITTLE WORRIED THAT MCS DEVELOPMENT ACROSS OKLAHOMA INTO SOUTHERN KANSAS MAY LIMIT MOIST INFLOW...AND COVERAGE OF CONVECT MAY BE LIMITED FURTHER NORTH. HOWEVER...AS LLJ COMES MORE INTO PLAY LATER TONIGHT...ELEVATED CONVECTION SHOULD ALLOW FAIRLY PRONOUNCE RAIN SHIELD AT LEAST AS FAR NORTH AS MISSOURI RIVER. DECIDED TO MAINTAIN FLOOD WATCH ACROSS SOUTHERN ZONES...AS HEADWATER GUIDANCE REMAINS RELATIVELY LOW. MAY SEE A FEW SHOWERS EARLY SATURDAY ACROSS MAINLY SOUTHERN AND EASTERN ZONES...OTHERWISE CLEARING SKIES FOR THE AFTERNOON. AFTER SATURDAY MORNING...LEFT FORECAST DRY THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. ESSENTIALLY TWEAKED TEMPERATURES IN THE FIRST COUPLE PERIODS...BUT DECIDED TO BUMP MAXES UP A LITTLE ON SUNDAY. STRONG SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL INDUCE STRONG WAA ACROSS WESTERN ZONES ON SUNDAY. WITH ABUNDANT SUN...FEEL 80S A DISTINCT POSSIBILITY. 240 PM... THE AFTERNOON FORECAST HAS BEEN UPDATED TO DOWNPLAY RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS. EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER HAS PREVENTED THE ATMOSPHERE FROM BECOMING UNSTABLE. A RAPIDLY MOVING SHORTWAVE WILL PROVIDE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF MISSOURI WITH THE CHANCE FOR RAIN THIS AFTERNOON...BUT AMOUNTS WILL BE VERY LIGHT. I HAVE REMOVED PRECIP FROM THE FORECAST SOUTH OF KANSAS CITY...TO CARROLLTON...TO MACON. RAIN AND THUNDER WILL BE WIDESPREAD TONIGHT AS THE LARGE VORTICITY CENTER IN COLORADO MOVES THROUGH THE REGION. HEAVY RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY SOUTH OF THE MISSOURI RIVER WHERE DEEPER LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IS AVAILABLE. WE WILL CONTINUE THE FLOOD WATCH GIVEN THE RELATIVELY LOW RIVER HEADWATER GUIDANCE OVER EAST CENTRAL KANSAS AND CENTRAL MISSOURI. KOCH 1100 PM... ANOTHER ROUND OF CONVECTION RIDING NORTHEAST ALONG H850 THETAE GRADIENT...ON TARGET TO IMPACT MAINLY NORTHERN PART OF CWA THIS AFTERNOON. ADJUSTED ZONES TO ACCOUNT FOR PRECIP TRENDS. LOWERED MAX TEMPERATURES EVEN FURTHER AS CLOUDS AND CONVECTIVE DEBRIS WILL NOT ALLOW MUCH OF A WARMUP. SF 4 AM... MASSIVE AREA OF SHOWERS CONTINUING TO CRAWL INTO SOUTHWESTERN PORTION OF CWA...ALONG NORTHERN PERIPHERY OF LLJ. MEANWHILE...COLD FRONT DRAPED ACROSS CENTRAL MISSOURI. HEAVY RAINFALL REMAINS THE MAIN CONCERN INTO TOMORROW...PARTICULARLY IN SOUTHERN CWA...AS SHORTWAVE TROUGH EJECTS ACROSS REGION OVERNIGHT. ADDITIONAL DYNAMIC SUPPORT FROM RIGHT REAR QUADRANT OF UPR JET. PLENTY OF MOISTURE AVAILABLE...WITH PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES ABOVE 2 INCHES. FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHERN TWO TIERS OF CWA...WHERE FFG VALUES WILL BE IN JEAPORDY. THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS THE AREA...ALTHOUGH SHEAR/INSTABILITY PARAMETERS ARE RELATIVELY UNSUPPORTIVE. ANY ACTIVITY WOULD HAVE TO OVERCOME WORKED OVER AIRMASS...WITH LITTLE AID FROM DIURNAL DESTABILIZATION. EXPECT A BREAK IN ACTIVITY EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...WITH ANOTHER ROUND OF HEAVY SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING AS MAIN WAVE PASSES THROUGH. HAVE LOWERED HIGH TEMPS A CATEGORY TODAY...AS READINGS WILL STRUGGLE TO OVERCOME CONVECTIVE DEBRIS. SHOWERS WILL LIKELY LINGER THROUGH MID MORNING TOMORROW...ESPECIALLY IN SOUTHEASTERN CWA. FURTHER OUT DAYS 4-7...NO MAJOR CHANGES...AS WET PATTERN CONTINUES. SCHMIT .EAX... KS...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 600 AM CDT SATURDAY FOR ZONES KSZ057...KSZ060. MO...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 600 AM CDT SATURDAY FOR ZONES MOZ038>040... MOZ043>046...MOZ053>054.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
South Grand River near Urich crested 3 feet above flood stage.
Wakenda Creek in Carrollton crested 1.9 feet above flood stage.
Blackwater River near Valley City crested 3.6 feet above flood stage.
Big Creek near Blairstown crested 3 feet above flood stage.
Blackwater River near Blue Lick crested 1.2 feet above flood stage.
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, May 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: 5293853, 5293944, 5293855, 5293856, 5293854.