The Ohio, Wabash, and Little Wabash Rivers rose back above flood stage after a series of heavy rainfall events in late March and early April. Showers and thunderstorms were frequent during the first few days of the month ahead of a surface cold front.
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 Ohio, Wabash, and Little Wabash Rivers rose back above flood stage after a series of heavy rainfall events in late March and early April. Showers and thunderstorms were frequent during the first few days of the month ahead of a surface cold front. A warm front brought more rain on the 7th. Rainfall totals averaged one to three inches during the first few days of the month, and another inch or so fell with the warm front.
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 5, 6:58 AM CST, 4 hours 2 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 758 AM CDT SUN APR 5 2015 .UPDATE... ISSUED AT 758 AM CDT SUN APR 5 2015 UPDATED THE WWA SECTION. FROST ADVISORY EXPIRES AT 8 AM. && .SHORT TERM...(TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT) ISSUED AT 317 AM CDT SUN APR 5 2015 FROST ADVISORY WILL CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY MORNING AS TEMPS ARE IN THE MID TO UPPER 30S AS OF 3 AM. OTHERWISE HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE ON EAST OF THE REGION TODAY WITH RETURN SOUTHERLY FLOW DEVELOPING. SHOULD BE A FEW DEGREES WARMER THAN YESTERDAY. HI RES MODELS BRING A CHANCE OF LIGHT SHOWERS INTO THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON...MAINLY SEMO INTO WRN KY LATE. THIS IS A LITTLE FARTHER EAST THAN PRIOR FORECASTS. JUST A SLIGHT CHANCE MENTION FOR NOW. WE WILL BE WARM SECTOR TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. WITH MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY IN PLACE...THE TRIGGERS FOR CONVECTION WILL BE SUBTLE DISTURBANCES MOVING ACROSS THE AREA WITHIN THE MEAN WSW FLOW PATTERN ALOFT...ALL WELL OUT AHEAD OF A WEST U.S. TROF/LOW. THE MODELS SUGGEST ONE PEAK IN THE LATE SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY TIME FRAME...WITH BEST CHANCE POPS SE 1/2 OF THE AREA. SECOND CHANCE MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING...FOLLOWED BY A LULL (THOUGH WIDELY SCATTERED CONVECTION POSSIBLE TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING)...AND A THIRD CHANCE LATE TUESDAY NIGHT. CONFIDENCE IS LOW TO MODERATE AT BEST ON TIMING...SO THE DETAILS IN THE NDFD POP GRIDDED FORECAST ARE NOT TOO FINE SCALE AT THIS POINT. A EC/NAM/GFS BLEND WAS USED. .LONG TERM...(WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY) ISSUED AT 317 AM CDT SUN APR 5 2015 STILL THE SAME STORY IN THE EXTENDED AS NOT TOO MUCH HAS CHANGED. MID LEVEL FLOW WILL START OUT AS SOUTHWESTERLY ON WEDNESDAY WITH RIPPLES OF ENERGY RIDING ALONG FROM TIME TO TIME. AS MENTIONED BEFORE...TIMING THESE FEATURES ARE CHALLENGING...THEREFORE CHANCE TYPE POPS WILL BE THE RULE ON WEDNESDAY. IN ADDITION...THERE WILL A SFC BOUNDARY JUST TO OUR NORTH TO START THE PERIOD. MODELS HAVE BEEN ALL OVER THE PLACE WITH THE LAST SEVERAL RUNS...ON WHERE THEY MEANDER THIS BOUNDARY. BUT THE LATEST RUNS INDICATE THAT THE BOUNDARY WILL LIKELY STAY TO OUR NORTH OR MAYBE CREEP INTO OUR NORTHERN COUNTIES. AT THIS TIME...MODELS ARE INDICATING THAT CONVECTION WILL LIKELY DEVELOP TUESDAY NIGHT AND REACH OUR AREA BY WEDNESDAY MORNING. WHAT HAPPENS DURING THE DAY WILL DEPEND ON HOW MUCH CLEARING OCCURS AND WHERE THE BOUNDARY ENDS UP. WEDNESDAY NIGHT...MODELS HAVE BEEN WANTING TO DEVELOP AN MCS LIKE CLUSTER TO OUR WEST...AS 850 MB WINDS STRENGTHEN AND INTERACT WITH THE BOUNDARY TO OUR NORTH. WHEN AND HOW MUCH OF THAT CONVECTION REACHES OUR AREA IS HARD TO TELL AT THIS POINT. WILL MAINTAIN HIGH POPS FOR NOW. THERE IS DECENT MODEL AGREEMENT THAT THE MAIN SYSTEM WILL EVENTUALLY LIFT NE TOWARD THE WRN GREAT LAKES THU NIGHT/FRI...AND BRING A COLD FRONT THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA. THIS WILL LIKELY BRING THE HIGHEST CHANCE FOR ORGANIZED THUNDERSTORMS...AND POSSIBLY EVEN SOME SEVERE STORMS AND VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. RIGHT NOW...IT APPEARS THAT NEXT WEEKEND WILL START OFF COOLER AND LESS HUMID AS A FRESHER AIR MASS WORKS IN FROM THE WEST. && .AVIATION... ISSUED AT 548 AM CDT SUN APR 5 2015 VFR CONDITIONS TODAY THROUGH MOST OF TONIGHT. SOUTH WINDS WILL PICK UP TODAY WITH SOME GUSTS 14-18KTS. HIGH CLOUDS TODAY...THEN A DECK OF LOWER CLOUDS AROUND 4-6K/FT TONIGHT WILL DEVELOP. MAY HAVE TO CONSIDER MVFR CLOUDS FOR LATE TONIGHT WITH NEXT ISSUANCE. CHANCE OF CONVECTION AT ANY OF THE TERMINALS TOO LOW TO MENTION AT THIS TIME. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...NONE. MO...NONE. IN...NONE. KY...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 419 AM CDT SUN APR 5 2015 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-061000- 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- 419 AM CDT SUN APR 5 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS CANNOT BE RULED OUT TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE IN THE FORECAST MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. THE BEST CHANCE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS APPEARS TO BE THURSDAY INTO THURSDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Minor flooding occurred along the Ohio River. A few county roads were closed. Bottomland and surrounding low-lying areas were under water.
Minor flooding occurred along the Little Wabash River. Some county roads were inundated, along with low-lying bottomland fields.
Minor flooding occurred along the Ohio River. Water reached the power house at Lock and Dam 53. Low-lying areas near the river were under water.
Minor flooding occurred along the Ohio River. Mainly agricultural bottomland and low-lying areas were under water, including sections of Fort Massac State Park.
Minor flooding occurred along the Wabash River. Low-lying woods and fields were inundated.
Minor flooding occurred along the Ohio River. Mainly agricultural bottomland and low-lying areas were under water. A few river access roads and portions of Fort Defiance State Park were inundated.
Minor flooding occurred along the Ohio River. Low-lying areas near the river were under water, primarily woods and fields. A few county roads and river access points were inundated.
Minor flooding occurred along the Wabash River. A few local river roads were closed by high water. All oil field production ceased with the exception of pumping units on substructures. Farmers moved livestock to higher ground. Many river cabins became inaccessible.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, April 2015
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: 566038, 566051, 566035, 566036, 566053, 566034, 566037, 566057.