Oklahoma, 2002Flash Flooding in Oklahoma, March 18 to 20, 2002
March 18 to 20, 2002 · NWS TSA · 2 events in 2 counties and zones
2 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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
Open the live radar over this ground
- 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 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 Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 18, 9:04 PM CST, 2 hours 32 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 18, 9:04 PM CST, 2 hours 32 minutes before
EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
904 PM CST MON MAR 18 2002
WILL BE UPDATING THE FORECAST THIS EVENING TO MAKE SOME MINOR
ADJUSTMENTS TO REFLECT CURRENT PRECIPITATION TRENDS. HAVE DECIDED
TO SCALE BACK WATCH A LITTLE AS NEW MESOETA HAS NARROWED
PRECIPITATION CORRIDOR AND COME IN LINE WITH CURRENT RADAR TRENDS.
ADDITIONAL CONVECTION CONTINUES TO DEVELOP IN NORTH TEXAS AND SHOULD
MOVE NORTHEAST ACROSS WATCH AREA. NEW ZONES AND UPDATED WATCH
STATEMENT OKCFLSTUL WILL BE OUT SHORTLY.
HOWIESON
FCSTID = 44
.TSA...
AR...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT AND TUESDAY FOR ZONES
ARZ001>002...ARZ010>011...ARZ019>020...ARZ029.
OK...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT AND TUESDAY FOR ZONES
OKZ049...OKZ053...OKZ068>076.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Mar 18, 9:55 PM CST, 1 hour 41 minutes before
ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-191200-
EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
955 PM CST MON MAR 18 2002
...WIDESPREAD RAIN AND AND A THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH
TUESDAY WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR FLASH FLOODING...
HEAVY RAINFALL CONTINUES THIS EVENING OVER MUCH OF SOUTHEAST
OKLAHOMA AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS WHERE UP TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN HAS
FALLEN. AN ADDITIONAL 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE IN
THE WARNED AREA THROUGH TUESDAY. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR
SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS THROUGH TUESDAY. PLEASE
REFER TO THE LATEST FLOOD STATEMENT /OKCFLSTUL/ FOR ADDITIONAL
DETAILS.
.SPOTTER ACTIVATION...
EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS
AND STATEMENTS FOR DETAILS ON THIS HEAVY RAINFALL EVENT.
.DISCUSSION...
A STRONG LOW-LEVEL WARM AIR ADVECTION PATTERN HAS DEVELOPED NORTH OF
A FRONTAL BOUNDARY THAT WAS STALLED ACROSS NORTHERN TEXAS INTO
NORTHERN LOUISIANA. PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES ARE FORECAST TO
REMAIN NEAR 1.75 INCHES ACROSS SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA INTO WEST CENTRAL
ARKANSAS. THE THREAT OF HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CONTINUE IN THESE AREAS
AS PERSISTENT SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT RESULTS IN CELL TRAINING. AN
ADDITIONAL 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER
AMOUNTS...WILL BE POSSIBLE.
RELATED GRAPHICAL INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT...
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA
ARKANSAS BASIN RIVER FORECAST CENTER - SIGNIFICANT RIVER FLOOD
OUTLOOK CAN BE FOUND AT...
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/ABRFC/FOP/ABRFCFOP.HTML
Special weather statement, Mar 18, 9:55 PM CST, 1 hour 41 minutes before
ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-191200-
EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
955 PM CST MON MAR 18 2002
...WIDESPREAD RAIN AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH
TUESDAY WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR FLASH FLOODING...
HEAVY RAINFALL CONTINUES THIS EVENING OVER MUCH OF SOUTHEAST
OKLAHOMA AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS WHERE UP TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN HAS
FALLEN. AN ADDITIONAL 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE IN
THE WARNED AREA THROUGH TUESDAY. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR
SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS THROUGH TUESDAY. PLEASE
REFER TO THE LATEST FLOOD STATEMENT /OKCFLSTUL/ FOR ADDITIONAL
DETAILS.
.SPOTTER ACTIVATION...
EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS
AND STATEMENTS FOR DETAILS ON THIS HEAVY RAINFALL EVENT.
.DISCUSSION...
A STRONG LOW-LEVEL WARM AIR ADVECTION PATTERN HAS DEVELOPED NORTH OF
A FRONTAL BOUNDARY THAT WAS STALLED ACROSS NORTHERN TEXAS INTO
NORTHERN LOUISIANA. PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES ARE FORECAST TO
REMAIN NEAR 1.75 INCHES ACROSS SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA INTO WEST CENTRAL
ARKANSAS. THE THREAT OF HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CONTINUE IN THESE AREAS
AS PERSISTENT SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT RESULTS IN CELL TRAINING. AN
ADDITIONAL 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER
AMOUNTS...WILL BE POSSIBLE.
RELATED GRAPHICAL INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT...
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA
ARKANSAS BASIN RIVER FORECAST CENTER - SIGNIFICANT RIVER FLOOD
OUTLOOK CAN BE FOUND AT...
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/ABRFC/FOP/ABRFCFOP.HTML
Special weather statement, Mar 18, 10:54 PM CST, 42 minutes before
ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-191200-
EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
955 PM CST MON MAR 18 2002
...WIDESPREAD RAIN AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH
TUESDAY WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR FLASH FLOODING...
HEAVY RAINFALL CONTINUES THIS EVENING OVER MUCH OF SOUTHEAST
OKLAHOMA AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS WHERE UP TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN HAS
FALLEN. AN ADDITIONAL 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE IN
THE WARNED AREA THROUGH TUESDAY. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR
SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS THROUGH TUESDAY. PLEASE
REFER TO THE LATEST FLOOD STATEMENT /OKCFLSTUL/ FOR ADDITIONAL
DETAILS.
.SPOTTER ACTIVATION...
EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS
AND STATEMENTS FOR DETAILS ON THIS HEAVY RAINFALL EVENT.
.DISCUSSION...
A STRONG LOW-LEVEL WARM AIR ADVECTION PATTERN HAS DEVELOPED NORTH OF
A FRONTAL BOUNDARY THAT WAS STALLED ACROSS NORTHERN TEXAS INTO
NORTHERN LOUISIANA. PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES ARE FORECAST TO
REMAIN NEAR 1.75 INCHES ACROSS SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA INTO WEST CENTRAL
ARKANSAS. THE THREAT OF HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CONTINUE IN THESE AREAS
AS PERSISTENT SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT RESULTS IN CELL TRAINING. AN
ADDITIONAL 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER
AMOUNTS...WILL BE POSSIBLE.
RELATED GRAPHICAL INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT...
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA
ARKANSAS BASIN RIVER FORECAST CENTER - SIGNIFICANT RIVER FLOOD
OUTLOOK CAN BE FOUND AT...
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/ABRFC/FOP/ABRFCFOP.HTML
Flash Flood, Le Flore
- When
- March 18, 11:36 PM CST to March 20, 3:00 AM CST
- Where
- Le Flore County, Countywide
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 34.900, -94.703 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy rain on and off from the evening hours on the 18th to the early morning hours of the 20th. Wister reported 6.46 inches of rain during this time frame. Flooding was reported across numerous parts of the county due to this heavy rain. The first report of flooding came at 1136 pm on the 18th when law enforcement in Poteau reported four streets blocked off due to street flooding. At 340 am on the 19th Ridge Road was closed due to flooding. County roads near Panama were reported to be flooded around 1017 am. By 250 pm old Highway 112 was closed near Poteau. This road was closed into the early morning hours of the 20th. On the evening of the 19th flooding was also reported in the vicinity of Hodgens and Heavener.
Flash Flood, Pushmataha
- When
- March 19, 3:45 AM CST to March 20, 3:00 AM CST
- Where
- Pushmataha County, Countywide
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 34.416, -95.376 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy rain fell on and off from the evening of March 18 until the the evening of March 19. 7.49 inches of rain fell in Antlers and 5.20 inches of rain fell in Clayton. This excessive amount of rain resulted in flash flooding and longer term flooding as time passed. The first report of flooding came at 342 am when Dozier Road near Antlers was closed. As time progressed numerous reports of county roads across the remainder of the county were received. Water remainded over numerous county roads into the early morning hours of the 19th.
- 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.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Virginia, March 18, 2002$1.6 million · 7 events
- Flash Flooding in Tennessee, March 18, 2002$201,000 · 13 events
- Flooding in Kentucky, March 18 to 21, 2002$300,000 · 3 events
- Flash Flood in Kentucky, March 18, 2002$50,000 · 1 event
- Flash Flood in North Carolina, March 18, 2002$15,000 · 1 event
- Blizzard and Heavy Snow in Montana, March 18 to 21, 20029 events
- Winter Weather in Vermont, March 18, 2002$7,000 · 7 events
- Flash Flooding in Oklahoma, March 18 to 19, 20025 events
- Heavy Snow in South Dakota, March 18, 20023 events
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, March 18, 20023 events
- Heavy Snow in New Hampshire, March 18 to 19, 20023 events
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, March 18 to 19, 20022 events
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: 5286671, 5286670.