Flooding in Indiana, February 23 to 28, 2003

Name: Flooding in Indiana, February 23 to 28, 2003
Start: 2003-02-23T04:00
End: 2003-02-28T23:59
Location: Indiana

February 23 to 28, 2003 · NWS PAH · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Generally minor flooding of the White River occurred. 5 feet at both Hazleton and Petersburg on February 25 and 26.

Where it happened

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

The toll

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 happened

The episode as NWS PAH wrote it up.

Generally minor flooding of the White River occurred. The river crested near 18.5 feet at both Hazleton and Petersburg on February 25 and 26. Flood stage at both locations is 16 feet. Floodwaters covered low-lying woods and fields. Low lying oil fields and county roads flooded.

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 23, 2:47 AM CST, 1 hour 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 23, 2:47 AM CST, 1 hour 13 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
248 AM SUN FEB 23 2003

WILL INTRODUCE WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THIS AFTERNOON BEGINNING 21Z
SUN /3PM SUNDAY/ EXTENDING UNTIL 09Z MON /3AM MONDAY/ FOR PART OF
SOUTHEAST MO...SOUTHERN IL AND SOUTHWEST INDIANA. /SEE DEMARCATION
LINE FOR WARNING AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS DISCUSSION/. ANTICIPATE A
ROUGH 3-5 INCH SNOWFALL RANGE IN THE WARNED AREA.  ADJOINING THE
WINTER STORM WARNING FOR PART OF THE PAH FORECAST AREA...A WINTER
WEATHER ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED TO HANDLE SNOWFALL AMOUNTS IN THE
1-3 INCH RANGE.

MOISTURE...SPEED AND INTENSITY OF THIS SYSTEM WILL MAKE THE
EFFECTIVE PERIOD OF SNOWFALL ACROSS THE AREA TO A 3-5 HOUR EVENT IN
ANY ONE LOCATION. ANTICIPATE SERN MO WILL SEE THE MAJORITY OF THEIR
SNOW FROM 23-03Z...SOUTHERN IL FROM 02-07Z...AND SWRN IN FROM
06Z-09Z.

AFTER THIS EVENT...THERE IS A MINUTE CHANCE FOR A LIGHT PCPN EVENT
MONDAY NIGHT...BUT GIVEN UNCERTAINTY AND MODEL VARIABILITY...I WILL
LEAVE OUT OF FORECAST PACKAGE.

LATEST GFS RUN SUGGEST THAT PCPN TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MOST OF
WEDNESDAY SHOULD STAY IN THE FORM OF SNOW. THE SYSTEM GENERATING
THIS PCPN APPEARS TO BE A LOT WEAKER /LOWER QPF AMOUNTS AND LIFT/
THAN TODAYS EVENT...SO WILL LEAVE A JUST A CHANCE MENTION OF
SNOW...ENDING AS A RAIN/SNOW MIX LATE WEDNESDAY.

I WILL STAY CLOSE TO MAV AND CURRENT FCST TEMPS IN PACKAGE AT THIS
TIME. DO NOT PLAN TO MAKE ANY CHANGES IN FCST PACKAGE BEYOND
WEDNESDAY AT THIS TIME.

.PAH...WINTER STORM WARNING SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT ALONG AND
NORTH OF A LINE FROM LAKE WAPPAPELLO MO...MARION IL...EVANSVILLE AND
BOONVILLE IN. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT
ALONG AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM POPLAR BLUFF MO...PADUCAH KY AND
OWENSBORO KY.

SMITH

Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 22, 7:05 PM CST, 8 hours 55 minutes before

ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-100-
107>112-114-231100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
705 PM CST SAT FEB 22 2003

...WINTER STORM WATCH SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND SUNDAY NIGHT FOR THE
NORTHERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA...

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...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

ACCUMULATING SNOWS WILL RETURN TO MUCH OF THE AREA ON SUNDAY...AS
ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM MOVES THROUGH THE REGION.  THIS SYSTEM IS
EXPECTED TO BE COLD ENOUGH TO PRODUCE SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW ACROSS
THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE QUAD STATE. REFERENCE THE NWS PRODUCT
/WSWPAH/ FOR FURTHER DETAILS ON THIS DEVELOPING WINTER WEATHER
SITUATION.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTERS...EMERGENCY MANAGERS...AND OTHER OBSERVERS ARE ENCOURAGED
TO RELAY REPORTS OF SNOW AMOUNTS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND SUNDAY NIGHT.

RJP

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Gibson

When: February 23, 4:00 AM CST to February 28, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Gibson forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 38.312, -87.585 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Pike

When: February 23, 4:00 AM CST to February 28, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Pike forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 38.399, -87.232 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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 Indiana in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Indiana, February 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: 5341909, 5341910.