Flood, White
- When
- March 1, 12:01 AM CST to March 4, 1:00 PM CST
- Where
- White forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 38.088, -88.180 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood in Illinois, March 1 to 4, 2003
The Little Wabash River remained above flood stage from late February. The river crested at Carmi in late February, and fell back below flood stage on March 4.
Where it happened
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.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
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 PAH wrote it up.
The Little Wabash River remained above flood stage from late February. The river crested at Carmi in late February, and fell back below flood stage on March 4.
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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 28, 1:31 PM CST, 10 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 28, 1:31 PM CST, 10 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 131 PM CST FRI FEB 28 2003 MAIN CHALLENGES WITH THIS PACKAGE WILL TIMING AND COVERAGE OF UPCOMING FAST MOVING PRECIP EVENTS. HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE REGION WILL RETREAT EASTWARD TONIGHT AND SATURDAY. TONIGHT A SHORT WAVE WITH LIMITED MOISTURE WILL CLIP THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF OUR CWA. 1000-850MB CRITICAL THICKNESSES INDICATE SNOW (FLURRIES) THERE BUT MODEL SOUNDINGS WOULD LEAN MORE TOWARD A FREEZING DRIZZLE EVENT. THE TRICKY PART IS THAT BOTH MOS AND FORECAST SOUNDINGS SHOW OVERNIGHT LOWS OCCURRING AROUND MIDNIGHT WITH SLIGHT WARMING INTO THE LOWER 30S AS SFC WINDS BECOME MORE SOUTHWEST. AS USUAL...AVN MODEL THE WETTEST WITH ETA/NGM INDICATING LITTLE TO NO QPF. THEREFORE WILL GO WITH A 20 POP FOR SAID AREA WITH THE MENTION OF BOTH FREEZING DRIZZLE OR SNOW FLURRIES. WITH DEEP MOISTURE REMAINING OVER THE AREA ON SATURDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES WILL PREVAIL...BUT SATURDAY NIGHT THE NEXT IN A SERIES OF SHORT WAVES WILL CROSS THE REGION. MOISTURE WILL BE IN SOMEWHAT GREATER SUPPLY AND MODELS SHOW AN INVERTED TROF JUST TO THE SOUTHEAST OF OUR CWA...SO THE PROBABILITY OF PRECIP WILL BE GREATER BUT WILL NOT GO ABOVE CHC POPS. MODELS VARY WITH PLACEMENT OF THE INVERTED TROF AND CONSEQUENTLY SATURDAY NIGHT TEMPS VARY BY AS MUCH AS 7 TO 10 DEGREES. BOTH SOLUTIONS LOOK FEASIBLE SO WILL GO WITH A COMPROMISE. EVEN THOUGH LAYER MOISTURE WILL BE DECREASING ON SUNDAY...WITH CYCLONIC FLOW ALOFT AND COLD AIR ADVECTION FROM APPROACHING HIGH PRESSURE...WILL KEEP SKIES MOSTLY CLOUDY. AS THE HIGH PRESSURE OVERSPREADS THE REGION SUNDAY NIGHT SKIES WILL FINALLY CLEAR. AS AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE AND ATTENDANT SHORT WAVE APPROACH THE REGION ON MONDAY...CLOUDS WILL BE ON THE INCREASE. TUESDAY EVENING AS A COLD FRONT AND ASSOCIATED SHORT WAVE CROSSES THE CWA...IT SHOULD PRODUCE A CHANCE OF RAIN LATE TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING. PRECIP MAY CHANGE OVER TO SNOW BEFORE ENDING WEDNESDAY MORNING. ECMWF AND AVN IN DECENT AGREEMENT WITH FRONTAL POSITION JUST TO OUR SOUTHEAST AT 12Z WEDNESDAY...SO WILL LEAN TOWARD THESE SOLUTIONS BY GOING WITH LESS CLOUDINESS AND BELOW MEX GUIDANCE FOR TEMPS ON THURSDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE MOVES IN. BY FRIDAY LOW LEVEL WARM AIR ADVECTION SHOULD PUSH CLOUDINESS BACK INTO THE AREA AS WELL AS WARMER TEMPS. .PAH...NONE. JAP
Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 28, 5:00 AM CST, 19 hours 1 minute before
ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-100- 107>112-114-011100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 500 AM CST FRI FEB 28 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THE NEXT CHANCE OF FREEZING RAIN WILL BE MAINLY NORTH OF THE OHIO RIVER TUESDAY MORNING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS SHOULD MAINTAIN A WEATHER WATCH TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND UPDATES.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Drought in New Mexico, March 1, 2003
- Drought in Colorado, March 1 to 31, 2003
- Winter Storm in Utah, March 1 to 2, 2003
- Drought in Texas, March 1 to 30, 2003
- Drought in Utah, March 1 to 31, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, March 1 to 2, 2003
- Flooding in Illinois, March 1 to 11, 2003
- Flooding in Kentucky, March 1 to 8, 2003
- Flooding in Kentucky, March 1 to 6, 2003
- Winter Weather in Colorado, March 1, 2003
- Flooding in Indiana, March 1 to 7, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Alaska, March 1 to 3, 2003
More
Every storm in Illinois in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, March 2003
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: 5345751.