Flood in Oklahoma, March 19 to 21, 2002

Name: Flood in Oklahoma, March 19 to 21, 2002
Start: 2002-03-19T07:00
End: 2002-03-21T03:00
Location: Oklahoma

March 19 to 21, 2002 · NWS TSA · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The Poteau River near Poteau rose above its flood stage of 24 feet at 7 am cst on March 19th. 7 feet at 9 pm the same day.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 TSA wrote it up.

The Poteau River near Poteau rose above its flood stage of 24 feet at 7 am cst on March 19th. The river crested at 28.7 feet at 9 pm the same day. The river fell below its flood stage at 3 am cst on March 21st.

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 19, 4:00 AM CST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 19, 4:00 AM CST, 3 hours before

EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
400 AM CST TUE MAR 19 2002

FRONTAL BOUNDARY REMAINS NEARLY STATIONARY THIS MORNING FROM NEAR
THE AR/LA BORDER INTO EAST TEXAS...THEN DOWN TOWARD THE BIG BEND
AREA IN WEST TEXAS.  AREA RADARS CONTINUING TO SHOW WIDESPREAD RAIN
AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING NORTH OF THE BOUNDARY.  SOUTHWESTERLY
MID/UPPER LEVEL FLOW WILL KEEP THE PRECIP TRAINING UP ACROSS THE
AREA TODAY...SO WILL LEAVE FLASH FLOOD WATCH AS IS.  WATCH IS NICELY
ALIGNED WITH AREAS THAT HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL
OVER THE PAST 24 HOURS (GENERALLY 2-4 INCHES).  WATCH WILL LIKELY
NEED TO BE EXTENDED INTO TONIGHT MAINLY IN SOUTHERN AREAS...BUT WILL
LEAVE THAT TO THE DISCRETION OF THE DAY SHIFT WHEN THREAT AREA CAN
BE BETTER DEFINED FOR TONIGHT.  WILL LIKELY BE ABLE TO TRIM AWAY
COUNTIES IN THE NORTH.

WATER VAPOR LOOP THIS MORNING SHOWING UPPER SYSTEM JUST NOW ENTERING
FAR WEST TEXAS...AND AVN MOVES SYSTEM ACROSS TEXAS TO THE AR/LA/TX
REGION BY 00Z THURSDAY.  WILL THEREFORE KEEP HIGH POPS GOING THROUGH
WEDNESDAY...ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTH...BEFORE CUTTING PRECIP OFF
WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

CLOUDS/PRECIP WILL KEEP A SHORT RANGE ON TEMPS...AND WILL GENERALLY
FOLLOW A BLEND OF GUIDANCE NUMBERS.  WILL NOT MAKE ANY BIG CHANGES
TO THE EXTENDED PART OF THE FORECAST...OTHER THAN TO HOLD OFF ON
PRECIP OVER THE WEEKEND TILL SUNDAY.

FCSTID = 4
TUL   56  43  60  40 / 100  60  20  10
FSM   58  50  60  40 / 100  80  40  10
MLC   59  48  60  41 / 100  80  40  10
BVO   56  42  60  37 /  80  50  10  10
FYV   54  47  57  37 / 100  60  30  10
BYV   53  45  56  37 / 100  60  30  10
MIO   56  39  58  38 / 100  60  20  10
MKO   56  46  60  40 / 100  60  30  10
F10   56  46  59  39 / 100  60  30  10
HHW   61  51  57  40 / 100  80  40  10

.TSA...
AR...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY FOR ZONES
ARZ001>002...ARZ010>011...ARZ019>020...ARZ029.

OK...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY FOR ZONES
OKZ049...OKZ053...OKZ068>076.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 19, 6:00 AM CST, 1 hour before

ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-201200-

EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
600 AM CST TUE MAR 19 2002

...FLASH FLOODING AND RIVER FLOODING ARE LIKELY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...

HEAVY RAIN WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT MUCH OF THE AREA THROUGH
WEDNESDAY MORNING. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR
SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FOR TODAY. THE WATCH MAY
BE EXTENDED INTO WEDNESDAY. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST FLOOD
STATEMENT /OKCFLSTUL/ FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS.

A FRONTAL BOUNDARY EXTENDED ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS THIS
MORNING...AND THIS WILL AGAIN BE THE FOCUS FOR SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS. IN ADDITION AN UPPER LEVEL LOW WAS MOVING INTO WEST
TEXAS THIS MORNING. THE UPPER SYSTEM WILL MOVE EAST OF THE AREA BY
WEDNESDAY EVENING. THE PRECIPITATION SHOULD END AT THAT POINT.
HOWEVER...2 TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN HAS ALREADY FALLEN OVER THE LAST 24
HOURS...WHICH HAS CREATED FLOODING PROBLEMS. ANOTHER 2 TO 4 INCHES
OF RAIN IS POSSIBLE THROUGH WEDNESDAY...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS.
THE THREAT FOR FLASH FLOODING SHOULD END BY WEDNESDAY MORNING...BUT
RIVER FLOODING MAY PERSIST INTO THURSDAY.

PLEASE REFER TO /OKCFLWTUL/ FOR INFORMATION ON RIVER FLOODING.

.SPOTTER ACTIVATION...
EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS
AND STATEMENTS FOR DETAILS ON THIS HEAVY RAINFALL EVENT.

.DISCUSSION...
THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY ACROSS TEXAS IS NOT FORECAST TO MOVE MUCH UNTIL
THIS EVENING...AS IT LIFTS NORTH IN RESPONSE TO THE APPROACHING
UPPER SYSTEM. WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL FORM
ALONG AND NORTH OF THE BOUNDARY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THE HEAVIEST
RAINFALL WILL MAINLY FALL SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 40. HEAVY RAINS FELL
YESTERDAY ACROSS THE AREA...AND SO ANY ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WILL
PRODUCE FLOODING PROBLEMS TODAY AND TONIGHT.

.OTHER HAZARDS...
IN ADDITION TO HEAVY RAIN...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO
EXPECTED ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH WEDNESDAY. LIMITED INSTABILITY
SHOULD KEEP THUNDERSTORMS BELOW SEVERE LIMITS...BUT A FEW STORMS MAY
BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SMALL HAIL. THE GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR HAIL
WILL BE IN SOUTHERN AREAS NEAR THE RED RIVER.

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

SJT

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Le Flore

When: March 19, 7:00 AM CST to March 21, 3:00 AM CST
Where: Le Flore forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

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 Oklahoma in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Oklahoma, March 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: 5286876.