1 flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 1, 1:34 AM CST, 8 hours 26 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 134 AM CST WED JAN 1 2003 SHORT TERM FORECAST CONCERN IS TIMING THE ENDING OF THE RAIN TODAY. THE RAIN SHIELD PINWHEELED BACK WESTWARD ACROSS MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA IN RESPONSE TO THE STRONG MID LEVEL CIRCULATION CENTER OVER ALABAMA. RAINFALL IN THIS SECOND SURGE HAS BEEN RELATIVELY LIGHT...WITH ASOS/AWOS SIX HOURLY AMOUNTS BELOW ONE HALF INCH. ALTHOUGH NO FLOODING PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN REPORTED...THE SMALLER RIVERS OVER SOUTHEAST MISSOURI AND SOUTHERN ILLINOIS ARE WITHIN A FOOT OR TWO OF FLOOD STAGE AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE MONITORED. RADAR INDICATES A SLOW DIMINISHING TREND OVER SE MISSOURI SINCE 03Z. THIS TREND WILL PROGRESS EAST ACROSS THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY THIS MORNING AS THE 500 MB LOW LIFTS NORTHEAST INTO NORTH GEORGIA BY 15Z. EVEN SO...SOME DRIZZLE OR PATCHY VERY LIGHT RAIN COULD LINGER THROUGHOUT THE DAY AS PLENTY OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL BE TRAPPED UNDER A FRONTAL INVERSION. MORE ORGANIZED PRECIPITATION WILL RETURN TONIGHT AS A STRONG 500 MB LOW TRACKS EAST FROM THE CENTRAL PLAINS. THE GFS/AVN REMAINS CONSISTENT WITH ITS PREVIOUS RUNS...TAKING THE 500 MB CENTER NORTHEAST FROM ARKANSAS INTO WEST CENTRAL/SOUTHWEST INDIANA BY THURSDAY EVENING. ETA HAS TRENDED SLOWER...STRONGER...AND FURTHER SOUTH WITH THE 500 MB LOW. WILL FOLLOW THE GFS MORE CLOSELY...SINCE IT IS SUPPORTED BY THE NGM AND UKMET AND IS MORE CONSISTENT. THIS MEANS THE STRONGEST DYNAMICS AND HEAVIEST QPF SHOULD TRACK JUST NORTH AND WEST OF THE FORECAST AREA...ALONG THE LEFT SIDE OF THE VORT TRACK. EVEN SO...GIVEN THE STRENGTH OF THE SYSTEM AND THE PATH OF THE SURFACE AND 925 MB LOWS...WOULD EXPECT MOST PLACES IN THE FORECAST AREA TO MEASURE PRECIP. WILL BUMP POPS UP A CATEGORY IN LINE WITH MOS GUIDANCE. PRECIP TYPE WILL BE INITIALLY RAIN OR SLEET EVERYWHERE TONIGHT AS THE DEPTH OF THE COLD AIR WILL STILL BE QUITE SHALLOW. MESO ETA MODEL SOUNDINGS SUPPORT A CHANGE TO SNOW BY 12Z THURSDAY FROM POF/MDH/MVN. THE TRANSITION WILL BE SLOW TO OCCUR ELSEWHERE...WITH EVV/PAH CORRIDOR CHANGING TO SNOW IN THE AFTERNOON...AND HOP EARLY IN THE EVENING. NGM SOUNDINGS ARE SIMILAR TO THIS MESO ETA TIMING. USING AVN/NGM QPF...ACCUMULATIONS WOULD BE MINOR AND MAINLY NORTH AND WEST OF THE OHIO RIVER. AT ANY RATE...ALL MODELS AGREE ON A SHORT LIVED COLD BLAST AFTER THE PASSAGE OF THE SYSTEM THURSDAY NIGHT. 850 THERMAL TROUGH WITH TEMPS AROUND MINUS 10 PASSES OVER THE FORECAST AREA ON FRIDAY. THE SYSTEM WILL LIFT OUT QUICKLY BY SATURDAY...FOLLOWED BY THE POTENTIAL OF A NORTHWEST FLOW DISTURBANCE SATURDAY NIGHT. THE GFS/AVN SHOWS IMPRESSIVE DIGGING OF THE MID LEVEL SHORTWAVE...WHICH SUPPORTS ITS LIGHT QPF FOR SATURDAY NIGHT. HOWEVER...THE SURFACE LOW TRACK STAYS WELL NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA. WILL KEEP SOME FORECAST CONSISTENCY GOING AND LEAVE FORECAST DRY FOR THE WEEKEND. NGM/AVN MOS TEMPS ARE SURPRISINGLY SIMILAR AND WILL BE FOLLOWED. .PAH...NONE. MY
ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-100- 107>112-114-021100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...RETRANSMISSION ONLY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 428 AM CST WED JAN 1 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM TAKING SHAPE OVER THE MIDDLE OF THE NATION WILL MOVE EAST OVER THE NEXT 48 HOURS...AND AFFECT OUR WEATHER. SURFACE LOW PRESSURE IS FORECAST TO MOVE FROM ARKANSAS INTO TENNESSEE THURSDAY. TO THE NORTH OF THE LOW TRACK...SOME SNOW IS POSSIBLE NORTH OF THE OHIO RIVER...WITH RAIN OR SNOW CHANGING TO SNOW ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY. MINOR ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE...MAINLY NORTH OF THE OHIO RIVER BEFORE THE PRECIPITATION ENDS LATE THURSDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Minor flooding of the Big Muddy River occurred. The river crested at 16.9 feet, less than a foot above flood stage, on January 3. Some low-lying fields near the river were flooded.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, January 2003
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: 5338861.