Flooding in Indiana, January 5 to 17, 2004

Name: Flooding in Indiana, January 5 to 17, 2004
Start: 2004-01-05T09:00
End: 2004-01-17T17:00
Location: Indiana

January 5 to 17, 2004 · NWS PAH · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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: 1
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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 Ohio River rose above flood stage in response to heavy rains from Illinois to Ohio at the end of December and into the first days of January. The river flooding was moderate, consisting of extensive bottomland flooding of fields and woodlands. A number of lesser travelled county roads were closed. Some families in flood-prone areas had to find alternate routes to and from their homes. One man was swept into the floodwaters in southern Vanderburgh County as he tried to walk to dry land. Two men were driving through the flooded area when their pickup truck stalled in waist-deep water. They spent the night in a river camp that they broke into, then decided to try crossing the floodwaters to dry land. Although one of the men turned back, the second continued into the cold water and was swept away by the current. He was able to grab onto a tree, and he spent three hours wedged between its limbs before he was found. The man was airlifted to a local hospital where he was treated for hypothermia with a body temperature of 90 degrees. The river first rose above flood stage at Newburgh on the 5th and last fell below flood stage at Mount Vernon on the 17th. At Newburgh, where flood stage is 38 feet, the river crested at 45.0 feet on the 10th. Evansville crested just inches above its 42-foot flood stage. Mount Vernon crested at 42.8 feet on the 12th, nearly 8 feet over flood stage. The river was 3300 feet wide at Evansville. Basements along the riverfront began to fill, and Pigeon Creek was flooded by backwater. Near Evansville, several gravel secondary roads were closed, mostly across from Henderson, KY where there is a bend in the river.

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 Jan 5, 3:27 AM CST, 5 hours 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 5, 3:27 AM CST, 5 hours 33 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
327 AM CST MON JAN 5 2004

.DISCUSSION...

TRAILING EDGE OF PRECIPITATION EAST OF CADIZ-OWENSBORO KY LINE AS OF
300 AM. ENOUGH COLD AIR ALONG THE TRAILING EDGE IS TURNING SOME OF
THE PRECIPITATION INTO FREEZING RAIN/DRIZZLE. CURRENT GRIDDED/TEXT
FORECAST THROUGH 12Z (6AM) HANDLING THIS PHASE CHANGE WELL...SO WILL
NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES.

THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT PATCHY FREEZING DRIZZLE AND/OR SNOW
FLURRIES WILL BE POSSIBLE EAST OF AN INTERSTATE 57/24 LINE THROUGH
NOON...BUT COVERAGE AND UNCERTAINTY OF OCCURRENCE IS TOO LOW TO
MENTION IN FORECAST PACKAGE AT THIS TIME. SEEDER FEEDER MECHANISM
AND NET QG FORCING THROUGH MOISTURE BEARING LAYERS REDUCES MARKEDLY
FROM 12Z-18Z (6AM-NOON).  I WILL SUGGEST TO DAYSHIFT TO HANDLE ANY
TRACE FREEZING/FROZEN PCPN THROUGH SHORT TERM FORECASTS IF NECESSARY
THIS MORNING.

CLOUD COVER TREND TOWARD CLEARING HAS BEEN SLOWED FOR TODAY...SO ANY
MEANINGFUL REDUCTION IN CLOUD WILL NOT RETURN TO THE PAH FORECAST
AREA UNTIL THIS (MONDAY) EVENING.

NEXT SYSTEM ASSOCIATED WITH A MINOR SHORTWAVE EMBEDDED IN A BROAD NW
FLOW...WILL BRING A RAIN/SNOW MIX TO THE PAH FORECAST AREA
THURSDAY/THURSDAY NIGHT. I LIKE THE TREND OF LOW POPS THAT DAYSHIFT
HAS IN PLACE AND ONLY MADE MINOR CHANGES IN TIMING OF PRECIPITATION
DEPARTURE THURSDAY NIGHT PER GFS TRENDS.

I WILL TAKE A LAST LOOK AT TEMPERATURES FOR THIS WEEK...BUT
ANTICIPATE LITTLE IF ANY ADJUSTMENTS AT THIS TIME. MAIN FOCUS ON
TEMPERATURES WILL BE TOWARD COLDER WIND CHILL READINGS EARLY THIS
WEEK.

&&

.PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
KY...NONE.
MO...NONE.
IL...NONE.
IN...NONE.

&&

SMITH

Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 5, 5:00 AM CST, 4 hours before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
500 AM CST MON JAN 5 2004

ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-100-
107>112-114-061100-
ALEXANDER IL-BALLARD KY-BOLLINGER MO-BUTLER MO-CALDWELL KY-
CALLOWAY KY-CAPE GIRARDEAU MO-CARLISLE KY-CARTER MO-CHRISTIAN KY-
CRITTENDEN KY-DAVIESS KY-EDWARDS IL-FRANKLIN IL-FULTON KY-
GALLATIN IL-GIBSON IN-GRAVES KY-HAMILTON IL-HARDIN IL-HENDERSON KY-
HICKMAN KY-HOPKINS KY-JACKSON IL-JEFFERSON IL-JOHNSON IL-
LIVINGSTON KY-LYON KY-MARSHALL KY-MASSAC IL-MCCRACKEN KY-MCLEAN KY-
MISSISSIPPI MO-MUHLENBERG KY-NEW MADRID MO-PERRY MO-PERRY IL-PIKE IN-
POPE IL-POSEY IN-PULASKI IL-RIPLEY MO-SALINE IL-SCOTT MO-SPENCER IN-
STODDARD MO-TODD KY-TRIGG KY-UNION KY-UNION IL-VANDERBURGH IN-
WABASH IL-WARRICK IN-WAYNE MO-WAYNE IL-WEBSTER KY-WHITE IL-
WILLIAMSON IL-
500 AM CST MON JAN 5 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...SOUTHERN
ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SOME OF THE COLDEST AIR SO FAR THIS SEASON WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA
TONIGHT. NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 20 MPH...COMBINED WITH TEMPERATURES
FALLING INTO THE 10 TO 20 DEGREE RANGE...WILL PRODUCE WIND CHILLS
RANGING FROM 5 BELOW TO 10 ABOVE FROM LATE EVENING UNTIL DAYBREAK
TUESDAY MORNING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

WIND CHILLS RANGING FROM 5 BELOW TO 10 ABOVE WILL STILL BE LIKELY
EARLY TUESDAY MORNING.

A CHANCE OF WINTERY PRECIPITATION WILL BE POSSIBLE THURSDAY AND
THURSDAY NIGHT...BUT NO MEASURABLE ACCUMULATION ARE EXPECTED AT THIS
TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Posey

When: January 5, 9:00 AM CST to January 17, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Posey forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 38.022, -87.868 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Spencer

When: January 5, 9:00 AM CST to January 17, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Spencer forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 38.014, -87.008 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Vanderburgh

When: January 5, 9:00 AM CST to January 17, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Vanderburgh forecast zone
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 38.025, -87.586 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Warrick

When: January 5, 9:00 AM CST to January 17, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Warrick forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 38.092, -87.272 (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 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Indiana, January 2004

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: 5381129, 5381130, 5381131, 5381132.