The Mississippi River began its upward trend toward historic flooding. The river rose above flood stage late in the month.
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.
The Mississippi River began its upward trend toward historic flooding. 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 wettest month on record at Paducah, Kentucky. Rainfall at Cape Girardeau, Missouri was over 20 inches for the month of April. 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.
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 19, 2:22 AM CST, 6 hours 38 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 322 AM CDT TUE APR 19 2011 ...MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH TONIGHT FOR MOST OF REGION... .DISCUSSION... EARLY THIS MORNING...SURFACE LOW PRESSURE WAS NEAR THE TX/OK PANHANDLE REGION...WITH A FRONTAL BOUDNARY EXTENDING EAST ACROSS THE SRN 1/3 OF MO INTO SRN IL AND SRN IN. BRAND NEW SWOMCD INDICATES A SVR WATCH MAY BE LIKELY SOON...BUT THIS WATCH SHOULD BE MOSTLY NORTH AND WEST OF OUR CWFA. MEANWHILE...WVAPOR IMAGERY SHOWED A S/WV MOVING ACROSS THE FOUR CORNERS REGION WITH THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW BACKING SLIGHTLY TO WSW OVER THE AREA. MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE IS OBVIOUSLY POPS TODAY AND TONIGHT ALONG WITH THE RISK OF SEVERE STORMS. BEST POPS TODAY THROUGH 18Z SHOULD BE ACROSS THE NRN 1/3 OF THE AREA. THIS AFTERNOON...IT IS MORE UNCLEAR HOW POPS SHOULD BE DEPICTED. BOTH MODELS THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON PAINT SCANT QPF ACROSS THE FA. HOWEVER MODEL SOUNDINGS SHOW EVIDENCE OF A LOW TROP CAP. THE QUESTION IS...WHAT WILL ERODE AWAY AT THIS CAP. WHAT IS IMPRESSIVE ARE LAPSE RATES DEPICTED TO RANGE FROM 8-9 TODAY H7/H5. SHOULD ENOUGH DESTABLIIZATION OCCUR...AND A WEAK PERTURBATION OR TWO MOVE ENE ACROSS THE AREA...CANNOT RULE OUT SOME CONVECTION THROUGH THE DAY. BUT WILL KEEP POPS LOW AND FOCUSED NORTH AND WEST. MEANWHILE...SURFACE LOW PRESSURE SHOULD BE OVER WRN MISSOURI BY 18Z... AND TRACK NE TO JUST NORTH OF KSTL BY 00Z. IT IS HARD TO ADD MUCH TO WHAT THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS OUTLINED IN THEIR DAY 1 DISCUSSION. THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT SHOULD INCREASE THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS OVER THE REGION...COINCIDENT WITH A STRENGTHENING OF THE UPPER LEVEL WIND FIELDS. BEST CHANCE OF TORNADIC ACTIVITY SHOULD BE CLOSER TO THE SURFACE LOW TRACK INVOF BEST BACKED SFC/BLYR FLOW. HOWEVER IT SEEMS THAT WITH TIME...THIS MAY EVOLVE INTO A WIND AND HAIL EVENT...EITHER FAIRLY UNIFORM...OR WITH SEVERAL BOWING SEGMENTS THAT COULD RESULT IN ENHANCED WIND DAMAGE. THE LOW LEVEL WIND FIELDS ARE NEVER IN QUESTION. WE WILL MERELY BE WAITING ON THE EVOLUTION OF A STRENGTHENING UPPER JET THAT SHOULD ENHANCE OVERALL CONVECTION FROM 00Z FORWARD. DISCRETE CELLS ARE STILL POSSIBLE INTO THE EVENING...ESPECIALLY IN A CORRIDOR FROM SEMO INTO SRN IL...BUT IT DOES SEEM LIKE AN EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS THROUGH THE EVENING. CATEGORICAL POPS...AND SEVERE WORDING WILL BE USED IN THE GRIDS. THE MODELS TRENDED A BIT FASTER AND HAVE STAYED THE COURSE. BY 06Z... THE LOW SHOULD BE OVER NCNTRL INDIANA WITH THE TRAILING COLD FRONT JUST EAST OF THE OHIO RIVER. THEREFORE WE LOWERED POPS CONSIDERABLY AFTER MIDNIGHT FROM THE WEST. WE HAVE WEDNESDAY DRY GIVEN THE INFLUENCE OF SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE TO OUR NORTH PUSHING SOUTH THROUGH THE REGION. WEDNESDAY NIGHT...THE MODELS HINT AT CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY MOVING ACROSS THE SRN 1/3 OF THE CWFA...SO ADDED JUST SLIGHT CHANCE POPS THERE. THURSDAY INTO THURSDAY NIGHT POPS ARE ON THE INCREASE AS RETURN FLOW/INSTABILITY ARE ACTED ON BY AN UNSETTLED MID LEVEL FLOW PATTERN. NO CHANGES TO THE LONG TERM PORTION OF THE FORECAST. ..NOLES.. && .AVIATION... ISOLATED SHRA/TSTM POSSIBLE THROUGH 15Z WITH A FRONT SITTING JUST N OF KEVV AND KOWB...BUT NOT ENOUGH TO INCLUDE IN TAF. LOW VFR TO MVFR CIGS EXPECTED THROUGH THE TAF PERIOD. WINDS WILL BE S TO SW AT 10 TO 20 KTS WITH GUSTS TO 30 KTS. WIDESPREAD SHRA/TSTM EXPECTED LATE TODAY/TONIGHT WITH APPROACH/PASSAGE OF STRONG COLD FRONT. IFR CIGS POSSIBLE AND IFR VSBYS LIKELY WITH STORMS..AND SEVERE STORMS WITH GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL ARE POSSIBLE. ..RST.. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...NONE. MO...NONE. IL...NONE. IN...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 335 AM CDT TUE APR 19 2011 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-201000- 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- 335 AM CDT TUE APR 19 2011 ...SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK EXPECTED LATE TODAY AND TONIGHT... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS MOST OF THE FOUR STATE AREA THROUGH TONIGHT. THE TIME FRAME OF GREATEST CONCERN WILL BE TOWARD THE END OF THE DAY AND THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF TONIGHT. LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND A FEW TORNADOES WILL ALL BE POSSIBLE WITH ANY SEVERE STORMS. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN IS ALSO A CONCERN. INDIVIDUAL STORM MOTION SHOULD BE NORTHEAST FROM 40 TO 50 MPH. SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS 15 TO 30 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS ARE FORECAST ACROSS THE REGION TODAY AND INTO THIS EVENING. REFER TO RIVER FLOOD WARNINGS AND STATEMENTS FOR DETAILS ON AREA RIVER FLOODING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM WEDNESDAY NIGHT...OFF AND ON THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. ISOLATED STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS CANNOT BE RULED OUT. RIVER FLOODING IS FORECAST TO CONTINUE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Historic flooding of the Mississippi River severely tested the strength of levees and floodwalls protecting Hickman.
Historic flooding of the Mississippi River inundated low-lying sections of Wickliffe. A few evacuations were required, and homes were sandbagged. A section of U.S. Highway 51 was closed south of Wickliffe near a large paper mill. The bridge over the Ohio River on U.S. Highway 51/60/62 was closed when sections of the road leading to the bridge flooded out.
Historic flooding of the Mississippi River inundated many low-lying areas. Portions of U.S. Highway 51 were closed due to flooding.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, April 2011
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: 295694, 295695, 295697.