5 flash 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 Norman, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 18, 8:13 PM CST, 2 hours 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK 813 PM CST MON MAR 18 2002 MAIN FOCUS TONITE IS ON HEAVY RAINFALL POTENTIAL IN THE SOUTHEAST ZONES..AND POTENTIAL FOR CONVECTION OVER SW KS TO EVENTUALLY WORK INTO NW OK LATER TONITE. EXAMINATION OF 00Z UA PLOTS/SOUNDINGS AND CURRENT SFC DATA CONTINUE TO POINT TO A RATHER POTENT HEAVY RAIN SITUATION ACROSS OUR SOUTHEASTERN MOST ZONES. MESONET INDICATES AOA 2 INCHES OF RAIN HAVE ALREADY FALLEN OVER ATOKA/BRYAN COUNTIES.. BUT WHAT IS MORE CONCERNING ATTM IS WHAT APPEARS TO BE HAPPENING JUST UPSTREAM. FTW 00Z SOUNDING SHOWS EVIDENCE OF A MAUL /MOIST ABSOLUTELY UNSTABLE LAYER/ BETWEEN 900-850 MB WITH TREMENDOUS MOISTURE TRANSPORT/WAA IN THE LAYER BELOW 850 MB ASSOCIATED WITH A 40 KT 850 LLJ AND A 925 DEWPOINT OF PLUS 15. NOT SURPRISINGLY..NEW CONVECTION CONTINUES TO DEVELOP WEST OF THE DFW METROPLEX..AND EVENTUALLY ALL OF THIS ACTIVITY WILL TRAIN ACROSS LOCATIONS SE OF A LINE FROM MARIETTA TO COALGATE FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. ALSO EXPECT SOME INCREASE IN AREAL COVERAGE ALONG THE I-44 CORRIDOR THRU THE REST OF THE EVENING. THE CURRENT FLASH FLOOD WATCH LOOKS TO BE IN EXCELLENT SHAPE..BUT WE MAY OPT TO FRESHEN THE INFO THEREIN..AND ALSO IN THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK. OVERALL THE CURRENT FORECAST IS IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE.. AND ONLY COSMETIC CHANGES WILL BE FORTHCOMING. WE HOPE TO HAVE UPDATES OUT BY AROUND 9 PM OR SHORTLY THEREAFTER. MILLER .OUN... OK...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THRU TUESDAY OKZ032-041>043-046>048-050>052. TX...NONE.
OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-190530- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK 925 PM CST MON MAR 18 2002 ...HEAVY RAINFALL REMAINS THE PRIMARY CONCERN ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA THROUGH TUESDAY... WIDESPREAD RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE OVERNIGHT AND MUCH OF THE DAY TUESDAY TO THE NORTH OF A VERY SLOW-MOVING WARM FRONT ACROSS CENTRAL TEXAS. PERIODS OF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CONTINUE SOUTH AND EAST OF A LINE ROUGHLY FROM RYAN... TO TURNER FALLS... TO ADA... TO HOLDENVILLE. WIDESPREAD 4 TO 6 INCH RAINFALL AMOUNTS... WITH SOME LOCALLY HEAVIER TOTALS WILL BE LIKELY BY THE TIME THE RAIN COMES TO AN END TUESDAY NIGHT OR WEDNESDAY MORNING IN THESE AREAS. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH TUESDAY IN OKLAHOMA EAST OF A HOLDENVILLE-MARIETTA LINE. IN ADDITION TO THE HEAVY RAIN AND FLOODING THREAT... THERE IS A SMALL RISK OF MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL WITH SOME THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS OVERNIGHT TONIGHT... GENERALLY SOUTH OF A LINE FROM ALTUS... TO PAULS VALLEY... TO SEMINOLE. INSTABILITY BASED A FEW THOUSAND FEET ABOVE THE GROUND IS FORECASTED TO INCREASE TO VALUES SUPPORTIVE OF MARGINALLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AFTER MIDNIGHT. A FEW OF THE STRONGEST STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF DIMES OR PENNIES. THERE WILL BE NO THREAT OF DAMAGING WINDS OR TORNADOES. MILLER
The Norman radar (KTLX), 153 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:32 UTC.
5 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Water problems, due to recent heavy rain, were reported between Kingston and Woodville.
Water problems, due to recent heavy rain, were reported near McGee Creek State Park.
Some roads were closed over southern and eastern parts of Bryan County, due to heavy rain.
Old Highway 70, near Blue River, was closed due to high water. West Samstone Rd. was also closed.
A county road was closed due to high water.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oklahoma in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, March 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: 5281042, 5281044, 5281043, 5281045, 5281046.