Flooding in Missouri, May 8 to 28, 2002

Name: Flooding in Missouri, May 8 to 28, 2002
Start: 2002-05-08T03:30
End: 2002-05-28T22:30
Location: Missouri

May 8 to 28, 2002 · NWS LSX · 9 events in 9 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 9 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: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 9

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 caused the Missouri River to flood from Central Missouri east to its confluence with the Mississippi River. Most of the flooding started around the 8th and ended by the 20th. The exception being at Gasconade, MO where the river remained in flood until May 28. The river peaked from about 6 to 11 feet over flood stage. Several roads along the river were closed at various times and many acres of farm land went under water. The Katy Trail Sate Park, a bike and hiking trail that runs along the river from Central Missouri to St. Charles, was damaged at several locations along the river. Damage to homes and businesses was virtually nonexistent due to relocations and buy outs after the Great Flood of 1993.

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, 1 hour 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 8, 2:27 AM CST, 1 hour 3 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

9 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Boone

When: May 8, 3:30 AM CST to May 28, 10:30 PM CST
Where: Boone forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.991, -92.310 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Callaway

When: May 8, 3:30 AM CST to May 28, 10:30 PM CST
Where: Callaway forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.836, -91.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Cole

When: May 8, 3:30 AM CST to May 28, 10:30 PM CST
Where: Cole forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.505, -92.282 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Franklin

When: May 8, 3:30 AM CST to May 28, 10:30 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, Gasconade

When: May 8, 3:30 AM CST to May 28, 10:30 PM CST
Where: Gasconade forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.441, -91.508 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Montgomery

When: May 8, 3:30 AM CST to May 28, 10:30 PM CST
Where: Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.942, -91.470 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Osage

When: May 8, 3:30 AM CST to May 28, 10:30 PM CST
Where: Osage forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.460, -91.862 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, St. Charles

When: May 8, 3:30 AM CST to May 28, 10:30 PM CST
Where: St. Charles forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.782, -90.675 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, St. Louis

When: May 8, 3:30 AM CST to May 28, 10:30 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

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: 5291276, 5291277, 5291278, 5291279, 5291280, 5291383, 5291384, 5291385, 5291386.