Missouri, 2002

Flash Flooding in Missouri, May 7, 2002

May 7, 2002 · NWS LSX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

The first of several heavy rain events in May caused flash flooding across the area. At least 17 Lincoln County roads and streets were closed because of high water, and getting to and from some towns was becoming difficult.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
2

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.

The first of several heavy rain events in May caused flash flooding across the area. At least 17 Lincoln County roads and streets were closed because of high water, and getting to and from some towns was becoming difficult. Those getting in and and out of Silex were limited to one small roadway, Highway E, and even that two-lane road was being threatened by rising water.

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 6, 2:00 PM CST, 11 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 6, 2:00 PM CST, 11 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
300 PM CDT MON MAY 6 2002

LINE OF SHWRS AND TSTM CRS OUR CWA THIS LAST NIGHT AND THIS
MORNING...FEW STORMS STIL PRESENT IN SW IL.  HEAVY RAIN WAS REPORTED
OVERNIGHT AND THIS MORNG...ALONG WITH HAIL AND WIND.  FFG FOR CNTRL
AND NE MO SHWD ONE ARND ONE INCH FOR 3 HOURS PCP...IN THE SRN
COUNTIES AROUND 2 INCHES.  CONDITIONS FOR TONIGHT ARE SIMALR THAN
LAST NIGHT...MDLS PLACE A WIDE BAND OF RAIN ACROSS CENTRAL MO.
I WILL ISSUED FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL OUR CWA TNGT AND TUES MORNG.

ETA CRS SECTION FOR STL AND COU PLACE EVEN BETTER CHC TUES NIGHT...
WITH BETTER LIFT.  BUT MDLS DIFFER A BIT IN AMTS AND PLACE FOR RAIN.

MRF SHWD FNT CRSNG MO THURS...WITH DRY WX PTN FRI AND EARLY SAT.
RAIN WL MOVE INTO WRN MO LATE FRI AND SAT...KP RAIN FOR SAT IN WRN
AND NE...AND FOR SUN AND FOR THE REST OF CWA.

.STL...FLOOD WATCH FOR TNGT AND TUE MRNG FOR ENTIRE CWA.

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 47 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Lincoln

When
May 7, 1:30 AM CST to 5:30 AM CST
Where
Lincoln County, Countywide
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
39.058, -90.960 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Montgomery

When
May 7, 1:30 AM CST to 5:30 AM CST
Where
Montgomery County, Countywide
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.942, -91.470 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

More

Every storm in Missouri in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5291495, 5291496.