Several rounds of heavy rain over much of the Mississippi River Valley caused many rivers to rise above flood stage. May continued the active pattern begun in April.
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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.
The episode as NWS PAH wrote it up.
Several rounds of heavy rain over much of the Mississippi River Valley caused many rivers to rise above flood stage. May continued the active pattern begun in April. Several of these events produced very heavy rainfall. Rainfall was one to two inches above normal in most spots for the month.
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 May 3, 2:54 PM CST, 1 hour 6 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 354 PM CDT SUN MAY 3 2009 .DISCUSSION... THE PAH FCST AREA WILL REMAIN NORTH OF A QUASI-STATIONARY BOUNDARY IN THE NEAR TERM. A SFC LOW PRESSURE AREA MOVING ENEWD ALONG IT WILL KEEP THE CONVEYOR BELT OF MOISTURE MOVING NEWD OVER THE COOL AIR MASS THROUGH THE OVNGT HRS. THIS COMBINED WITH A DEFORMATION ZONE BEHIND THE MID LEVEL SHRWV WILL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE A LARGE AREA OF MOSTLY LIGHT RAIN THROUGH PERHAPS AS LATE AS 15Z MON IN THE ERN PENNYRILE REGION. IT APPEARS WE WILL BE RAIN FREE ACROSS THE QUAD STATE REGION MOST AREAS FROM 15Z MON THROUGH TUE. WE MIGHT EVEN SEE THE SUN FOR A WHILE ON MON. THE MODELS INDICATE A MUDDY SPLIT FLOW PATTERN WILL YIELD TO A MERIDIONAL MID LEVEL TROF AND ITS ATTENDANT LOW LEVEL FEATURES ACROSS THE NATION/S MID SECTION DURING MID WEEK. THIS WILL MEAN ANOTHER INTERVAL OF SHWS/TSTMS FOR THE REGION THROUGH AT LEAST WED NIGHT. TOWARD THE WEEKEND...THE MID/UPPER FLOW PATTERN IS PROGGED TO TURN MORE NWRLY /HOW MUCH DEPENDS ON THE MODEL/ AND A STATIONARY WEST TO EAST BOUNDARY SET UP NEAR THE PAH FCST AREA WILL PUSH SWD THROUGH THE REGION AS A COLD FRONT...PUSHED THROUGH BY A NRN STREAM MID LEVEL TROF. IT SEEMS ATTM THE BEST CHC OF PCPN WILL BE ON FRI...BUT THE TIMING OF THIS MAY CHANGE IN LATER FCSTS. RIDGING ALOFT SHOULD GIVE US ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR DRIER/WARMER WX FOR MOST OF THE WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. && .AVIATION... LOW PRESSURE WILL SLIDE ALONG A QUASI-STATIONARY FRONT DRAPED SOUTH OF THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THIS WILL RESULT IN THE CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF RAIN SHOWERS OVER SOUTHEAST MISSOURI... WESTERN KENTUCKY...AND FAR SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...IMPACTING MAINLY THE KCGI AND KPAH TERMINALS. THE RAIN SHOWERS WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY OCCASIONAL MVFR CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES. FARTHER NORTH AT KEVV AND KOWB...VFR CEILINGS WILL PREVAIL. THE RAIN SHOWER ACTIVITY COULD IMPACT THIS REGION LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...BUT WITH LESSER COVERAGE. CEILINGS SHOULD IMPROVE TO VFR AT ALL TAF SITES OVERNIGHT AS THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES EAST OF THE AREA. WINDS THROUGH THE PERIOD WILL AVERAGE NORTHEAST AT 5 TO 10 KNOTS. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...NONE. MO...NONE. IL...NONE. IN...NONE. && PUBLIC...DB SHORT TERM PUBLIC/AVIATION...RJP
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 1102 AM CDT SUN MAY 3 2009 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-041000- JEFFERSON-WAYNE IL-EDWARDS-WABASH-PERRY IL-FRANKLIN-HAMILTON- WHITE-JACKSON-WILLIAMSON-SALINE-GALLATIN-UNION IL-JOHNSON-POPE- HARDIN-ALEXANDER-PULASKI-MASSAC-GIBSON-PIKE-POSEY-VANDERBURGH- WARRICK-SPENCER-FULTON-HICKMAN-CARLISLE-BALLARD-MCCRACKEN-GRAVES- LIVINGSTON-MARSHALL-CALLOWAY-CRITTENDEN-LYON-TRIGG-CALDWELL- UNION KY-WEBSTER-HOPKINS-CHRISTIAN-HENDERSON-DAVIESS-MCLEAN- MUHLENBERG-TODD-PERRY MO-BOLLINGER-CAPE GIRARDEAU-WAYNE MO-CARTER- RIPLEY-BUTLER-STODDARD-SCOTT-MISSISSIPPI-NEW MADRID- 1102 AM CDT SUN MAY 3 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWESTERN INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST RIVER FLOOD WARNINGS AND STATEMENTS FOR DETAILS ON RIVER FLOODING ACROSS THE REGION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS ALSO FORECAST FOR MUCH OF THE REGION TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY. ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE DURING THIS PERIOD...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ONCE AGAIN BE A POSSIBILITY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Minor flooding of the Big Muddy River occurred. At the Murphysboro gage, where flood stage is 22 feet, the river crested at 27.87 feet on the 14th. Low-lying areas were flooded, affecting a small number of houses.
Minor flooding of the Big Muddy River occurred. At the Plumfield gage, where flood stage is 20 feet, the river crested at 23.30 feet on the 11th. Low-lying and bottomland areas were flooded.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, May 2009
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: 166181, 166182.