Flash Flood and Flood in Kansas, January 5 to 6, 2005

Name: Flash Flood and Flood in Kansas, January 5 to 6, 2005
Start: 2005-01-05T04:32
End: 2005-01-06T12:30
Location: Kansas

January 5 to 6, 2005 · NWS SGF · 2 events in 1 county or zone

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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 SGF wrote it up.

Several periods of heavy rain in conjunction with little vegetation over the winter months set the stage for widespread flooding across much of extreme southeast Kansas and southern and central Missouri. In Bourbon County, numerous roads and low lying areas were inundated and impassable by motorists countywide. Locations that were affected include, several city streets in the community of Fort Scott, a section of Highway 31 two miles west of Fulton, and several low water crossing in rural areas throughout the 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 Springfield, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 5, 2:18 AM CST, 2 hours 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 5, 2:18 AM CST, 2 hours 14 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
218 AM CST WED JAN 5 2005

FLOODING AND FREEZING RAIN POTENTIAL CONTINUE TO HIGHLIGHT THE FOCUS
FOR THIS FORECAST PACKAGE.  SURFACE FRONT REMAINS NEARLY STATIONARY
ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL MISSOURI EARLY THIS MORNING.  TEMPERATURES WERE
RANGING FROM JUST ABOVE FREEZING ALONG THE NORTHWEST BORDER OF THE
CWA TO AROUND 50 ALONG THE SOUTHEAST BORDER.  OF MAIN CONCERN AT THE
MOMENT IS THE ONGOING HEAVY RAIN ACROSS THE CWA.  GENERAL RAINFALL
AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES HAVE OCCURRED THROUGHOUT THE CWA DURING THE
PAST 24 HOURS AND HAVE SATURATED THE GROUND OVER THE AREA.  NEXT
SHORTWAVE WAS LIFTING OUT OF THE SOUTHERN PLAINS WITH MORE HEAVY
RAINFALL TRAINING INTO THE AREA.  HEAVY PRECIPITATION CONTINUES IN A
BAND STRETCHING ALL THE WAY INTO WEST TEXAS SO THIS EVENT IS LONG
FROM OVER.

TODAY...WITH RIVERS/LOW LYING AREAS ALREADY IN FLOOD ACROSS THE
AREA...ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN WILL JUST ADD TO THE FLOODING.  AS A
RESULT WILL CONTINUE FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TODAY.  WOULD NOT BE
SURPRISED TO SEE ADDITIONAL 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL TODAY.  COLDER
AIR IS EXPECTED TO GRADUALLY SLIP INTO THE NORTHWEST SECTIONS OF THE
CWA TOWARDS SUNRISE AND DROP TEMPERATURES BELOW FREEZING.  WILL
LIKELY SEE A CHANGEOVER TO FREEZING RAIN IN THOSE AREAS TOWARDS
SUNRISE...BEGINNING WITH ELEVATED SURFACES.  WILL NEED TO MONITOR
TEMPERATURES CLOSELY IN THIS AREA AS ICE ACCUMULATION COULD BUILD UP
QUICKLY WITH EXPECTED HEAVY RAIN.  FOR NOW PLAN ON STICKING WITH
ADVISORY BUT MAY NEED TO UPGRADE TO WARNING IF CHANGEOVER TO
FREEZING RAIN OCCURS SOONER.  BY THIS AFTERNOON COLDER AIR MASS WILL
BE PUSHING INTO THE WESTERN CWA AND WILL SEE CHANGEOVER TO LIGHT
SNOW WITH HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION STAYING AHEAD OF THE COLDER AIR.
AM NOT EXPECTING MUCH SNOW ACCUMULATION.

TONIGHT...
MUCH COLDER AIR MASS THAN WE HAVE HAD IN THE PAST WEEK PUSHES
THROUGH THE CWA TONIGHT AND WILL DROP TEMPERATURES BACK INTO THE
TEENS AND 20S.  MAY STILL SEE PRECIPITATION DURING THE EVENING HOURS
AS IT PUSHES OUT OF THE AREA FROM WEST TO EAST...BUT PRECIPITATION
SHOULD END IN ALL LOCATIONS BY MIDNIGHT.

THURSDAY/FRIDAY...DRY CONDITIONS EXPECTED IN THE WAKE OF STRONG
STORM SYSTEM WITH COLD TEMPERATURES AND HIGHS REMAINING BELOW
FREEZING ON THURSDAY AND MODERATING TEMPERATURE BY FRIDAY AHEAD OF
THE NEXT SHORTWAVE.

HAVE DIMINISHED POPS IN THE WESTERN CWA FOR FRIDAY NIGHT AS BEST
MOISTURE RETURN LOOKS TO BE IN THE EAST.  STILL ONLY HAVE LOW POPS
GOING ACROSS THE EAST.  PRECIPITATION TYPE LOOKS TO BE RAIN AT THIS
TIME WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE 30S/40S.

LITTLE CHANGES MADE TO THE EXTENDED GRIDS BUT IT APPEARS A WARMING
TREND IS EXPECTED WITH HIGHS BACK INTO THE 50S AND 60S.

LINDENBERG
&&

.AVIATION...

FOR THE 06Z KSGF/KJLN TAFS...THERE IS A BIT OF A BREAK IN THE
HEAVIER PRECIPITATION ATTM. SURFACE WAVE ALONG THE NEARLY STATIONARY
COLD FRONT IS OVER SOUTHERN MISSOURI...WITH THE FRONT LIFTING NORTH
OF KUNO AS 0500 GMT. ANOTHER WAVE HAS DEVELOPED ALONG THE RED RIVER
WITH THUNDERSTORMS BREAKING OUT NORTH OF THE FRONT FROM SOUTH
CENTRAL KS INTO NORTHERN TX. THIS WILL RIDE NORTHEAST AFFECTING THE
REGION LATER TONIGHT. FINAL AND STRONGEST WAVE OF LOW PRESSURE WILL
MOVE THROUGH SOUTHERN MO LATE WED MORNING WITH PRECIPITATION
GRADUALLY TAPERING OFF LATE IN THE DAY. MAY SEE SOME LIGHT FREEZING
PRECIP MOVE INTO THE KJLN AREA WED AFTERNOON AS COLD AIR SURGES
SOUTH BEHIND THE SFC LOW...BUT THE HEAVIER PRECIPITATION WILL BE
MOVING EAST OF THE AREA DURING THAT TIME. HAVE MAINLY MVFR/TEMPO IFR
CONDITIONS THROUGH MIDDAY WED THEN IFR WED AFTERNOON EVENING AS LOW
STRATUS BECOMES ESTABLISHED BEHIND EXITING LOW PRESSURE.

&&

.SGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
.MO...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NORTH OF A NEVADA TO
      VERSAILLES LINE.
      FLOOD WATCH THROUGH WEDNESDAY ALL COUNTIES.
.KS...FLOOD WATCH ALL COUNTIES THROUGH WEDNESDAY.
      WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THROUGH WEDNESDAY FOR BOURBON AND
      CRAWFORD COUNTY.

WFO SGF

Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 4, 7:56 PM CST, 8 hours 36 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
756 PM CST TUE JAN 4 2005

KSZ073-097-101-MOZ055>058-066>071-077>083-088>098-101>106-051200-
BARRY-BARTON-BENTON-BOURBON-CAMDEN-CEDAR-CHEROKEE-CHRISTIAN-CRAWFORD-
DADE-DALLAS-DENT-DOUGLAS-GREENE-HICKORY-HOWELL-JASPER-LACLEDE-
LAWRENCE-MARIES-MCDONALD-MILLER-MORGAN-NEWTON-OREGON-OZARK-PHELPS-
POLK-PULASKI-SHANNON-ST. CLAIR-STONE-TANEY-TEXAS-VERNON-WEBSTER-
WRIGHT-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...AVA...BOLIVAR...BRANSON...CAMDENTON...
FORT LEONARD WOOD...FORT SCOTT...HOUSTON...JOPLIN...LEBANON...
MONETT...MOUNT VERNON...NEOSHO...NEVADA...OSAGE BEACH...OZARK...
PITTSBURG...ROLLA...SPRINGFIELD...STOCKTON AND WEST PLAINS.
756 PM CST TUE JAN 4 2005

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE MISSOURI OZARKS AND EXTREME
SOUTHEAST KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

FLOODING: AREAS OF MODERATE TO LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WILL OCCUR INTO
THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. THE HEAVIEST RAIN IS EXPECTED OVER
SOUTHEAST KANSAS AND IN COUNTIES ALONG THE WESTERN MISSOURI STATE
LINE NORTHEAST TO ELDON AND VERSAILLES. THIS WILL AGGRAVATE ALREADY
EXISTING FLOODING ACROSS THE REGION. NUMEROUS LOW WATER CROSSINGS
ARE FLOODED IN THE OUTLOOK AREA.

DENSE FOG: AREAS OF DENSE FOG WILL OCCUR...MAINLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF
STATE HIGHWAY 60 WHICH IS NORTH OF WARM FRONT LIFTING NORTH FROM
ARKANSAS. THE VISIBILITY WILL BE NEAR ZERO IN SOME
AREAS...ESPECIALLY FROM THE SPRINGFIELD AREA SOUTH TO THE ARKANSAS
STATE LINE...AND EAST OF SPRINGFIELD TO THE HOUSTON AND WEST PLAINS
AREAS.

THUNDERSTORMS: ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE EMBEDDED WITH THE
AREAS OF RAINFALL THAT MOVE NORTHEAST INTO THE AREA THROUGH TONIGHT.
SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED.

FREEZING RAIN: TEMPERATURES MAY FALL TO AROUND FREEZING TONIGHT
ALONG AND NORTHWEST OF A VERSAILLES TO PITTSBURG KANSAS LINE. IF
TEMPERATURES DO GET THIS COLD THEN SOME ICE COULD
ACCUMULATE...MAINLY ON ELEVATED SURFACES.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY.

ADDITIONAL MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE EARLY
WEDNESDAY...WHICH COULD LEAD TO ADDITIONAL FLOODING.

ALSO...TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN NEAR FREEZING OVER FAR NORTHWEST
PORTIONS OF THE OUTLOOK AREA...SO SOME ADDITIONAL ICE
ACCUMULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE THERE.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT.

IZZI/DSA

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 5, 3:50 AM CST, 42 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
0350 AM CST WED JAN 05 2005

..TIME..    ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE..    ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0347 AM     FLASH FLOOD      10 N COLUMBUS           37.31N 94.83W
01/05/2005                   CHEROKEE           KS   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            A BRIDGE ONE MILE SOUTH OF THE CRAWFORD AND CHEROKEE
            COUNTY LINE WAS IMPASSABLE FROM FLASH FLOODING. REPORTED
            BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.

CRAMER

Local storm report, Jan 5, 3:56 AM CST, 36 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
0356 AM CST WED JAN 05 2005

..TIME..    ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE..    ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0352 AM     FLASH FLOOD      3 N STOTTS CITY         37.14N 93.97W
01/05/2005                   LAWRENCE           MO   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            LAWRENCE COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS ARE IN THE
            PROCESS OF CLOSING HIGHWAY 97 THREE MILES NORTH OF
            STOTTS CITY.  THE SPRING RIVER HAS FLOODED OVER THE
            HIGHWAY MAKING IT IMPASSABLE. REPORTED BY LAW
            ENFORCEMENT.

CRAMER

Local storm report, Jan 5, 4:17 AM CST, 15 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
0417 AM CST WED JAN 05 2005

..TIME..    ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE..    ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0415 AM     FLASH FLOOD      SOUTH WEST CITY         36.52N 94.60W
01/05/2005                   MCDONALD           MO   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            WATER WAIST DEEP OVER WEST HIGHWAY 76. WATER FROM
            BUFFALO CREEK OVER HIGHWAY 43. WATER OVER SCHOOL ST. AND
            CHEROKEE ST. IN SOUTHWEST CITY. BRIDGE IMPASSABLE AT
            HIGHWAY C AND CC JUNCTION. REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.

AL

Local storm report, Jan 5, 4:21 AM CST, 11 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
0421 AM CST WED JAN 05 2005

..TIME..    ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE..    ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0419 AM     FLASH FLOOD      CARTHAGE                37.17N 94.32W
01/05/2005                   JASPER             MO   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS HAVE OBSERVED NUMEROUS ROADS
            FLOODED OVER COUNTY WIDE. REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.

CRAMER

Local storm report, Jan 5, 4:23 AM CST, 9 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
0423 AM CST WED JAN 05 2005

..TIME..    ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE..    ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0419 AM     FLASH FLOOD      NEOSHO                  36.87N 94.37W
01/05/2005                   NEWTON             MO   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            NUMEROUS ROADS ARE IMPASSABLE IN THE CITIES OF NEOSHO
            AND DIAMOND. REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.

CRAMER

Local storm report, Jan 5, 4:32 AM CST, 0 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
0432 AM CST WED JAN 05 2005

..TIME..    ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE..    ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0421 AM     FLASH FLOOD      1 E BRIGHTON            37.45N 93.33W
01/05/2005                   POLK               MO   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            WATER INUNDATING A COUNTY ROAD EAST OF BRIGHTON.
            REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.

CRAMER

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 115 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 10:34 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Bourbon

When: January 5, 4:32 AM CST to 12:15 PM CST
Where: Bourbon County, Ft Scott
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.833, -94.700

Flood, Bourbon

When: January 5, 12:30 PM CST to January 6, 12:30 PM CST
Where: Bourbon forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.900, -96.233

What these are

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.
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 Kansas in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Kansas, January 2005

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: 5435302, 5435303.