Missouri, 2002

Flooding in Missouri, May 8 to 29, 2002

May 8 to 29, 2002 · NWS LSX · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Several heavy rain events during May caused the Meramec River to flood several times. At Steelville, Sullivan, Pacific, Eureka, and Valley Park, the flooding started on the 9th and continued off and on until the 22nd.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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
4

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.

Several heavy rain events during May caused the Meramec River to flood several times. At Steelville, Sullivan, Pacific, Eureka, and Valley Park, the flooding started on the 9th and continued off and on until the 22nd. At Arnold, backwater from the Mississippi helped create flooding from the 8th through the 29th. The river ranged from about 7 to almost 13 feet over flood stage at various points. Numerous roads along the river were closed during the flooding.

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 8, 2:27 AM CST, 11 hours 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 8, 2:27 AM CST, 11 hours 33 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
250 AM CDT TUE MAY 7 2002

SFC LOW HAS BEEN HOLDING OVR WRN/CNTRL KS THRU EVE AND HAS DEEPENED
ABOUT 5 MB IN LAST 12 HRS. 850MB PROFILERS SHOW 50-55KT LLJ FEEDING
MSTR FM TX/OK/AR INTO SRN KS AND EXTRM SRN MO ALG/S OF MULTIPLE
COMPLEXES THAT HAV BEEN ROLLING THRU SRN MO ALL NGT. MODELS HAVE LOW
BEGINNING TO LIFT NEWD INTO WISCONSIN THIS AFTN WITH STG SWLY FLOW
AHD OF IT. GUID INCREASES TEMPS INTO LOWER 80S TDA FOR CWA. HWVR
THIS LAST MCS MOVING INTO SW MO SHOULD BLOCK WAA PATTERN FOR AN
ADDITIONAL 4-5 HRS. LOOK FOR PCPN TO LESSEN AS IT MOVES THRU CWA BUT
THE CLDNS/LOW LVL FLOW INTERRUPTION SHUD BE ENUF TO KEEP TEMPS MOSTLY
IN 70S TDA. LOOKS LIKE WRM PUNCH WILL RETURN LATE THIS MRNG AND EARLY
THIS AFTN BRINGING ACTUAL WRM FNT TO STJ-STL LN ABOUT THE TIME THINGS
BEGIN TO FIRE UP. LOOK FOR MOST ACTIVITY THIS AFTN TO BE OVR NRN PTN
CWA ALG/N OF WHEREVER WRM FNT ENDS UP. THEN THINGS GET INTERESTING
FOR TNGT. LOOK FOR STG CONVECTION ALG/AHD OF CDFNT THAT SWEEPS SEWD
ACRS CWA LATE TONIGHT AND ERLY THUR. FF GUIDANCE VALUES NOW EXTREMELY
LOW...1/2 TO 1 INCH OVR MANY COUNTIES.

PER COORD WITH SGF/ILX (THANKS GUYS) THEY ARE INCLUDING ALL THEIR
CWA IN FLOOD WATCHES FOR TDA/TNGT AND WE WILL DO THE SAME.
AMS RECOVERY SHOULD BE PRETTY GOOD TODAY AS LLJ KICKS MSTR NWD
QUICKLY INTO AREA. WILL CARRY HIGH POPS IN ALL AREAS TNGT WITH FNT
PASSING THRU. COOLER AND DRYER AIR TMW.

.STL...FLOOD WATCH FOR TDA/TNGT FOR ENTIRE CWA.

PEDIGO

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Crawford

When
May 8, 2:00 PM CST to May 29, 7:00 PM CST
Where
Crawford forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
37.976, -91.304 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Franklin

When
May 8, 2:00 PM CST to May 29, 7:00 PM CST
Where
Franklin forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
38.411, -91.075 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Jefferson

When
May 8, 2:00 PM CST to May 29, 7:00 PM CST
Where
Jefferson forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
38.261, -90.538 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, St. Louis

When
May 8, 2:00 PM CST to May 29, 7:00 PM CST
Where
St. Louis forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
38.641, -90.443 (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

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: 5291253, 5291254, 5291255, 5291256.