Flood in Indiana, April 24 to 30, 2011

Name: Flood in Indiana, April 24 to 30, 2011
Start: 2011-04-24T17:00
End: 2011-04-30T23:59
Location: Indiana

April 24 to 30, 2011 · NWS PAH · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The Patoka River began its upward trend toward a record flood. The river rose above flood stage late in the month.

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: 1

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 Patoka River began its upward trend toward a record flood. The river rose above flood stage late in the month. A series of heavy rainfall events gradually forced the river upward at an unsteady rate. The river continued rising past the end of the month. Impacts of the May crest will be included in the May report. April ended up being the second wettest April on record at Evansville. Most of the rain fell during the latter half of the month. A persistent southwest flow aloft tended to steer storms northeast from the Plains across the mid-section of the country. Cold fronts tended to stall near the Lower Ohio Valley as they became more parallel to the upper-level steering flow. Bands and clusters of thunderstorms frequently developed in the vicinity of the front, producing heavy rainfall.

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 Apr 24, 3:57 PM CST, 1 hour 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 24, 3:57 PM CST, 1 hour 3 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
457 PM CDT SUN APR 24 2011

.DISCUSSION...
LOTS GOING ON THIS AFTERNOON WILL TRY TO BE BRIEF.

THE ACTIVE SURFACE BOUNDARY HAS LAID DOWN RIGHT ON THE
KENTUCKY/TENNESSEE BORDER...AND COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF MOISTURE
WILL CONTINUE TO STREAM OVER IT THROUGH THE NIGHT AND INTO
MONDAY. IN PARTICULAR...THE LARGE SYSTEM OVER EASTERN OKLAHOMA
LATE THIS AFTERNOON WILL LIKELY TRY TO RIDE ALONG THE SURFACE
BOUNDARY AND SPREAD MORE WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAINS ACROSS THE AREA
LATER TONIGHT. WIDESPREAD FLASH FLOODING IS ONGOING THIS
AFTERNOON...AND IS EXPECTED TO GET WORSE/MORE WIDESPREAD BY MONDAY
MORNING.

THE MODELS CONTINUE TO PUSH THE BOUNDARY BACK TO OUR
NORTHWEST AHEAD OF THE SYSTEM DEVELOPING OVER THE SOUTHWEST
STATES. NOT SURE HOW FAR IT WILL MAKE IT GIVEN THE CONTINUED
CONVECTION OVER THE AREA. ANYWAY IT SEEMS LIKE WE MAY SEE A
RESPITE FROM THE HEAVY RAINS MONDAY AFTERNOON. BUT AS THE FIRST
BIG IMPULSE ROTATES NEGATIVELY-TILTED ACROSS THE AREA LATE MONDAY
AND MONDAY NIGHT...A SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER EVENT IS
LIKELY...BUT MAY BE MODULATED BY THE FRONTAL LOCATION. LARGE
HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE...OF COURSE WITH
THE EVER PRESENT HEAVY RAINFALL.

DECIDED TO LEAVE THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH TO EXPIRE AT 12Z
TUESDAY...AS ANOTHER BREAK IS LIKELY DURING THE DAY TUESDAY. THE
12Z GFS DEVIATED FROM PREVIOUS GUIDANCE CONSENSUS IN PUSHING THE
BOUNDARY EAST OF THE AREA AHEAD OF THE FINAL MAJOR UPPER LEVEL
IMPULSE. THIS KEEPS THE TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY HEAVY
RAIN/SEVERE WEATHER FOCUS TO OUR EAST. THE 12Z ECMWF REMAINED
STEADY WITH ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT ROUND OF PRECIPITATION INTO
WEDNESDAY. WILL WAIT TO SEE IF THEY CAN AGREE BEFORE CONTINUING
THE WATCH.

&&

.AVIATION...
KCGI CURRENTLY IS BEHIND THE FRONT...AND ITS NORTHEAST WINDS MAY
SHIFT BACK TO THE SOUTH LATER THIS EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE
PREVALENT THROUGHOUT THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON...AND MAY LINGER WELL
INTO THE EVENING AT KEVV AND KOWB. COMPUTER GUIDANCE IS INDICATING
ANOTHER ROUND EARLY TOMORROW MORNING IN THE WEST AND SHIFT EAST
THROUGH THE MORNING. OUTSIDE OF THUNDER MAY SEE SOME IFR CEILINGS ON
THE COOL SIDE OF THE FRONT...AND PERIODIC MVFR CEILINGS ELSEWHERE.

&&

.PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
KY...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING FOR BALLARD-CALDWELL-
     CARLISLE-CRITTENDEN-DAVIESS-FULTON-GRAVES-HENDERSON-HICKMAN-
     HOPKINS-LIVINGSTON-LYON-MARSHALL-MCCRACKEN-MCLEAN-UNION KY-
     WEBSTER.

MO...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING FOR BOLLINGER-BUTLER-
     CAPE GIRARDEAU-CARTER-MISSISSIPPI-NEW MADRID-PERRY MO-
     RIPLEY-SCOTT-STODDARD-WAYNE MO.

IL...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING FOR ALEXANDER-EDWARDS-
     FRANKLIN-GALLATIN-HAMILTON-HARDIN-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-JOHNSON-
     MASSAC-PERRY IL-POPE-PULASKI-SALINE-UNION IL-WABASH-WAYNE
     IL-WHITE-WILLIAMSON.

IN...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING FOR GIBSON-PIKE-POSEY-
     SPENCER-VANDERBURGH-WARRICK.

&&

DRS

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 24, 3:35 PM CST, 1 hour 25 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
435 PM CDT SUN APR 24 2011

ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-
100-107>112-114-251000-
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-
435 PM CDT SUN APR 24 2011

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

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

SIGNIFICANT FLASH FLOODING IS OCCURRING THIS AFTERNOOON OVER
PORTIONS OF WEST KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...AND IS EXPECTED
TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT...AS MORE THUNDERSTORMS STREAM
NORTHEAST ACROSS THE REGION. PLEASE REFER TO THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH
AND ANY WARNING PRODUCTS FOR DETAILS.

A STRAY SEVERE STORM WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE INTO THE EVENING ALONG
THE IMMEDIATE ARKANSAS AND TENNESSEE BORDERS. LARGE
HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE.

MOST AREA RIVERS ARE ALREADY EXPERIENCING FLOODING...AND
CONDITIONS WILL ONLY WORSEN WITH THE ADDITIONAL RAINFALL. FOR
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...PLEASE REFER TO OUR RIVER FLOOD PRODUCTS
AT

HTTP://WATER.WEATHER.GOV/AHPS2/INDEX.PHP?WFO=PAH .

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY. MAJOR FLASH
FLOODING PROBLEMS WILL CONTINUE TO WORSEN THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. A
SIGNIFICANT SWATH OF HEAVY RAINS IS EXPECTED TO ACCOMPANY THE
SEVERE STORMS LATE MONDAY...BUT IT APPEARS THERE MAY BE A BREAK
FOR MUCH OF THE AREA ON TUESDAY. FOR THAT REASON HAVE NOT EXTENDED
THE WATCH ANY FURTHER. HOWEVER...THE HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLOODING
POTENTIAL WILL RETURN TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. AN ADDITIONAL 6
TO 10 INCHES OF RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE FROM TONIGHT THROUGH
WEDNESDAY.

THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR SEVERE STORMS LATE MONDAY AND MONDAY
NIGHT...ESPECIALLY OVER SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING
WINDS AND TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE. MORE SEVERE STORMS WILL BE
POSSIBLE TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT...AND MAYBE EVEN INTO
WEDNESDAY.

MOST AREA RIVERS ARE ALREADY EXPERIENCING FLOODING...AND IT
WILL ONLY WORSEN WITH THE ADDITIONAL RAINFALL. FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION...PLEASE REFER TO OUR RIVER FLOOD PRODUCTS AT

HTTP://WATER.WEATHER.GOV/AHPS2/INDEX.PHP?WFO=PAH .

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE REQUESTED EACH DAY FROM TODAY
THROUGH  WEDNESDAY TIME FRAME. SPOTTERS SHOULD ALSO REPORT ANY
FLOODING PROBLEMS THEY ENCOUNTER DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.

DRS

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 24, 3:29 PM CST, 1 hour 31 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
429 PM CDT SUN APR 24 2011

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

0427 PM     HAIL             5 SW ELKTON             36.76N 87.22W
04/24/2011  M1.00 INCH       TODD               KY   EMERGENCY MNGR

            QUARTER SIZE HAIL REPORTED BETWEEN ELKTON AND TRENTON.

&&

SMITTY

Local storm report, Apr 24, 3:37 PM CST, 1 hour 23 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
437 PM CDT SUN APR 24 2011

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

0434 PM     HAIL             4 N ELKTON              36.87N 87.16W
04/24/2011  M0.88 INCH       TODD               KY   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

SMITTY

Local storm report, Apr 24, 3:59 PM CST, 1 hour 1 minute before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
459 PM CDT SUN APR 24 2011

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

0430 PM     HEAVY RAIN       4 SSE GREENVILLE        37.15N 87.15W
04/24/2011  M1.78 INCH       MUHLENBERG         KY   CO-OP OBSERVER

            RAINFALL WITHIN THE PAST 3 HOURS. MINOR FLOODING REPORTED
            AROUND THE AREA.

&&

SMITTY

Local storm report, Apr 24, 4:36 PM CST, 24 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
536 PM CDT SUN APR 24 2011

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

0531 PM     FLASH FLOOD      OWENSBORO               37.76N 87.12W
04/24/2011                   DAVIESS            KY   EMERGENCY MNGR

            3 HOMES FLOODING IN THE COUNTY AT THIS TIME. SIGNIFICANT
            WATER FLOW THROUGH MANHOLE COVERS IN SEVERAL LOCATIONS.

&&

SMITTY

Local storm report, Apr 24, 4:42 PM CST, 18 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
542 PM CDT SUN APR 24 2011

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

0540 PM     FLOOD            LEDBETTER               37.05N 88.50W
04/24/2011                   LIVINGSTON         KY   TRAINED SPOTTER

            5 MOBILE HOMES EVACUATED BY FIRE/RESCUE AT CONFLUENCE OF
            THE TENNESSEE AND OHIO RIVERS.

&&

SMITTY

Local storm report, Apr 24, 4:46 PM CST, 14 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
546 PM CDT SUN APR 24 2011

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

0546 PM     HEAVY RAIN       PEMBROKE                36.77N 87.36W
04/24/2011  M2.85 INCH       CHRISTIAN          KY   CO-OP OBSERVER

            RAINFALL ACCUMULATION SINCE 630 AM THIS MORNING.

&&

SMITTY

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Gibson

When: April 24, 5:00 PM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Gibson County, 0.85 mi SSE of Patoka to 1.32 mi SW of Patoka
Cause: Heavy Rain
Reported by: River/Stream Gage
Coordinates: 38.408, -87.575

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 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history Warnings in Indiana, April 2011

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: 292417.