A combination of snowmelt in upper portions of the Mississippi Valley and a series of storm systems mid to late month led to moderate river flooding. The first storm system lifted out of the southern Plains on the 9th and moved northeast toward the Mid Atlantic on the 10th.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
A combination of snowmelt in upper portions of the Mississippi Valley and a series of storm systems mid to late month led to moderate river flooding. The first storm system lifted out of the southern Plains on the 9th and moved northeast toward the Mid Atlantic on the 10th. A series of storm systems later in March produced saturated ground conditions that led to a continuation of river flooding. A storm system lifted northeast between the 21st and 22nd, and widespread showers produced between one and two inches of rain. Another storm system moved east across the area on the 25th, touching off showers that produced generally one-half to one and a half inches. A final storm system passing south of the region brought up to another inch of rain on the 27th and 28th.
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 Mar 15, 1:50 AM CST, 4 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 250 AM CDT MON MAR 15 2010 .DISCUSSION... BIGGEST CHALLENGES...AT LEAST IN THE SHORT TERM...WILL BE CLOUD COVER AND SMALL PRECIP CHANCES...OR THE LACK THEREOF. BROAD CYCLONIC NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE UPPER LOW OVER THE MID ATLANTIC SEABOARD WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. THIS COMBINED WITH DECREASING MID LEVEL MOISTURE SHOULD ONLY PRODUCE CLOUDINESS ACROSS THE AREA WITH PRECIP CHANCES TOO LOW TO MENTION...SO KEPT IT DRY THROUGH THAT PERIOD. MODEL SOUNDINGS SHOWING DECENT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WITH VERY DRY AIR ABOVE...BUT THE INVERSION APPEARS TOO STRONG FOR ANY MIXING OF THE DRY DOWN TO THE SURFACE...SO REMAINED ON THE PESSIMISTIC SIDE REGARDING CLOUD COVER. TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY MODELS ARE STILL DROPPING A CLOSED LOW TO THE SOUTH SOUTHEAST ACROSS MISSOURI...BUT LATEST SOUNDINGS ETC ARE SHOWING MOISTURE TOO SHALLOW TO PRODUCE ANYTHING OTHER THAN SMALL POPS GENERALLY WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER ON WEDNESDAY. IN THE WAKE OF THIS SYSTEM...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE PUMPS UP ACROSS THE QUAD STATE REGION AS A WEATHER SYSTEM TAKES SHAPE OVER THE NORTHWEST US. THIS COMBINED WITH WEAK SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE WILL KEEP THE REGION DRY AND A BIT COOLER. PRECIP CHANCES AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE BACK IN THE FORECAST STARTING FRIDAY NIGHT AS THE AFOREMENTIONED SYSTEM BEGINS TO PUSH INTO THE HEARTLAND. THE WAY THIS SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO COME TOGETHER DYNAMICALLY...SEVERE WEATHER COULD BECOME A REALITY IF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IS ABLE TO RECOVER AND MAKE IT FAR ENOUGH NORTH. RIGHT NOW MODELS ARE SHOWING SURFACE DEWPOINTS ONLY INCREASING TO AROUND 50 DEGREES PRIOR TO FROPA...WHICH WOULDNT BE QUITE ENOUGH TO DO THE TRICK. WE WILL HAVE TO MONITOR THIS SITUATION CLOSELY...BUT FOR NOW WILL NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES BEYOND WEDNESDAY NIGHT. && .AVIATION... CEILINGS WILL REMAIN QUITE VARIABLE THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING HOURS...WITH A FEW BREAKS EVEN APPARENT ON SATELLITE. AS THE DAY PROGRESSES...CEILINGS SHOULD SETTLE INTO A MORE CONSISTENT RANGE... PREDOMINANTLY LOW END VFR...OCCASIONALLY REDUCED TO HIGH END MVFR EARLY ON. VISIBILITY SHOULD NOT BE A FACTOR AS PRECIPITATION HAS FINALLY COME TO AN END FOR A FEW DAYS. NORTH/NORTHWEST WINDS 5 TO 10 KNOTS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THE VALID FORECAST PERIOD. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...NONE. MO...NONE. IL...NONE. IN...NONE. && RJP/JAP
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 305 AM CDT MON MAR 15 2010 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-160815- 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- 305 AM CDT MON MAR 15 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT WATER LEVELS ON SOME AREA RIVERS WILL CONTINUE TO RISE...FORCING SOME POINTS NEAR OR ABOVE FLOOD STAGE STARTING TODAY. REFER TO THE FLOOD WARNINGS AND STATEMENTS FOR MORE DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY. STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BECOME SEVERE AT THIS TIME. WATER LEVELS ON SOME AREA RIVERS WILL CONTINUE TO RISE THROUGH THE WEEK...FORCING SOME POINTS NEAR OR ABOVE FLOOD STAGE. REFER TO THE FLOOD WARNINGS AND STATEMENTS FOR MORE DETAILS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. JAP
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Route E was closed between County Road 322 and County Road 354 due to backwater flooding from the Mississippi River.
Moderate flooding of the Mississippi River occurred at Cape Girardeau. At the Cape Girardeau river gage, where flood stage is 32 feet, the river crested at 38.57 feet on the 31st. A couple of flood gates were closed in the floodwall in Cape Girardeau. A considerable amount of low-lying bottomland was flooded. Riverside access roads and boat ramps outside of flood protection systems were flooded.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Missouri in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Missouri, March 2010
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: 216143, 215700.