Flash Flooding and Flooding in Ohio, June 16, 2003

Name: Flash Flooding and Flooding in Ohio, June 16, 2003
Start: 2003-06-16T04:25
End: 2003-06-16T16:30
Location: Ohio

June 16, 2003 · NWS ILN · 10 events in 7 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 10 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: $150,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 10

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 ILN wrote it up.

Thunderstorms producing heavy rain moved across portions of the Miami Valley and southwest Ohio throughout the morning. Some locations saw two to four inches of rain, and combined with rainfall over the previous few days, flooding problems developed. Numerous roads were flooded and closed across the region. Up to fifty homes and one business sustained flood damage in the Dayton suburb of Riverside, and a few homes had flooded basements in western Greene County.

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 Wilmington, OH wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 16, 1:50 AM EST, 2 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 16, 1:50 AM EST, 2 hours 35 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
250 AM EDT MON JUN 16 2003

SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED THIS MORNING IN DEFORMATION
AXIS OVER SOUTHEAST INDIANA. MEANWHILE...NEARLY STATIONARY SHOWERS
CONTINUE ACROSS PARTS OF THE WHITEWATER AND MIAMI VALLEYS. WEAK 700
MB CONVERGENCE AXIS NOTED ON 00Z ETA IN AREA OF CURRENT ACTIVITY AND
THIS FORECAST TO REMAIN IN PLACE ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHERN HALF OF FA
THROUGH 21Z BEFORE SHIFTING INTO SE PORTION OF FA TOWARD 00Z. THIS
IN COMBINATION WITH WEAK S/W PROGGED TO PASS ACROSS AREA TODAY AND
DEVELOPING WEAK INVERTED TROF INTO SOUTHERN OHIO SHOULD KEEP THREAT
OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AROUND TODAY. HARD TO PINPOINT EXACTLY
WHERE THINGS MAY DEVELOP SO WILL GENERALLY BROAD BRUSH WITH HIGH
CHANCE POPS ACROSS THE SOUTH...WITH LOWER CHANCE TO THE NORTH. WILL
TRY TO KEEP WAPOK GROUP DRY BUT WILL MONITOR RADAR TRENDS TO MAKE
FINAL DECISION ON THAT BEFORE ZONE ISSUANCE.

EXTREMELY MOIST AIRMASS FORECAST TO REMAIN IN PLACE ACROSS THE AREA
THROUGH TUESDAY WITH PWATS REMAINING IN THE 1.6 TO 1.8 INCH RANGE.
THIS COMBINED WITH VERY LIGHT FLOW THROUGH THE MID LEVELS WILL ONCE
AGAIN RESULT IN VERY SLOW MOVING STORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL
POSSIBLE. WILL THEREFORE CONTINUE FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TONIGHT. THINK
BEST CHANCE FOR HEAVY RAIN WILL BE ACROSS THE SOUTH...BUT BASED
ON WHAT HAPPENED ON SUNDAY...WILL ALSO INCLUDE WHITEWATER AND MIAMI
VALLEYS IN WATCH AS IT SHOULD NOT TAKE MUCH RAIN FOR THEM TO SEE
MORE FLOODING.

THINK MODELS MAY BE UNDERDOING QPF FOR TUESDAY WITH FAIRLY STRONG
S/W FORECAST TO PIVOT DOWN ACROSS AREA AND JUICY AIRMASS STILL IN
PLACE. WILL CONTINUE WITH CHANCE POPS FOR NOW BUT THIS MAY
EVENTUALLY NEED TO BE BUMPED UP DEPENDING ON FUTURE MODEL TRENDS.

HIGH TEMPS A LITTLE TRICKY DEPENDING ON HOW MANY CLOUDS AROUND NEXT
FEW DAYS. WILL STICK PRETTY CLOSE TO GUID WITH HIGHS IN THE MID TO
UPPER 70S THOUGH THIS MAY BE TOO WARM IF WE END UP WITH SIGNIFICANT
CLOUD COVER. WILL ALSO TREND LOW TEMPS UP A LITTLE GIVEN MOIST
AIRMASS.

.ILN...
IN...FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR ZONES
INZ050...INZ058>059...INZ066...INZ073>075...INZ080.

KY...FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR ZONES KYZ089>100.

OH...FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR ZONES
OHZ060>061...OHZ070>074...OHZ077>082...OHZ088.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 16, 1:50 AM EST, 2 hours 35 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON, OH
250 AM EDT MON JUN 16 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0242 AM    3 E REXVILLE              IN   FLASH FLOOD
06/16/03   RIPLEY                         COUNTY ROAD 800 S FLOODED
                                          ...REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT

The radar

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 55 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:25 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 flood, 4 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Montgomery

When: June 16, 4:25 AM EST to 4:55 AM EST
Where: Montgomery forecast zone
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.755, -84.291 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Preble

When: June 16, 4:56 AM EST to 6:00 AM EST
Where: Preble forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.742, -84.648 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Montgomery

When: June 16, 6:15 AM EST to 6:45 AM EST
Where: Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.755, -84.291 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Preble

When: June 16, 6:20 AM EST to 6:55 AM EST
Where: Preble County, 3 mi N of Camden
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.742, -84.648 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High water over numerous roads in the southwestern part of the county.

Flood, Greene

When: June 16, 7:00 AM EST to 8:00 AM EST
Where: Greene forecast zone
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.692, -83.890 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Preble

When: June 16, 7:15 AM EST to 8:45 AM EST
Where: Preble County, Fairhaven
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.742, -84.648 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Several roads were flooded and closed.

Flash Flood, Warren

When: June 16, 10:20 AM EST to 11:30 AM EST
Where: Warren County, 2 mi N of Lebanon
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.428, -84.167 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Markey and Miller Roads closed due to high water. A bridge sustained minor damage at the intersection of Corwin and Elbon Roads.

Flood, Butler

When: June 16, 10:57 AM EST to 12:15 PM EST
Where: Butler forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.439, -84.576 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Fayette

When: June 16, 1:00 PM EST to 1:30 PM EST
Where: Fayette forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.560, -83.456 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Hocking

When: June 16, 3:55 PM EST to 4:30 PM EST
Where: Hocking County, Starr
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.497, -82.479 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Numerous roads were flooded and closed across the eastern part of the county. These included portions of State Routes 216, 278, 328 and 595.

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.
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.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Ohio in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Ohio, June 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: 5362598, 5362599, 5362600, 5361750, 5362603, 5361751, 5362596, 5362601, 5362602, 5362597.