A series of heavy rainfall events in mid and late May caused the Mississippi River to rise above flood stage.
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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.
A series of heavy rainfall events in mid and late May caused the Mississippi River to rise above flood stage.
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 31, 8:33 AM CST, 27 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Paducah KY 933 AM CDT Sun May 31 2020 .UPDATE... Issued at 930 AM CDT Sun May 31 2020 Going forecast on track. Temps running a degree or two above forecast, closest to RAPTL projections. Will adjust accordingly. Aviation section updated. && .SHORT TERM...(Today through Tuesday night) Issued at 233 AM CDT Sun May 31 2020 Surface high pressure centered over the southern Great Lakes today will slide through the upper Ohio Valley, then move off the North Carolina coast by 00z Tuesday. A mid/upper level ridge over the Plains today will continue to build and gradually shift east through the early part of the work week. Dry conditions and temperatures a few degrees below seasonal normals can be expected again today and tonight as surface flow continues from the northeast. By Monday into Monday night, the surface high moving to our east will bring south winds back to the PAH forecast area. Temperatures will rebound to near normal readings near 80 degrees Monday, and near 60 degrees Monday night. Significantly warmer conditions are expected by Tuesday and Tuesday night with increasing south to southwest flow. Highs Tuesday will be in the upper 80s to possibly 90 degrees, with lows Tuesday night in the upper 60s. .LONG TERM...(Wednesday through Saturday) Issued at 233 AM CDT Sun May 31 2020 Summer like conditions remain in full force for the entirety of the long term portion of the forecast, as a blocking Southern U.S. High Pressure system begins as our dominant weather feature. There is a surface boundary that drops down out of the northern stream into the forecast picture early in the period. The NBM ensembling suggests this front introduces a chance of showers/storms as early as late Wed PM in our northern counties, spreading said chances across the rest of the FA Wed night and Thursday. The front is sliced off to our east by Friday, by which time there is active troffing in the Western and Eastern thirds of the country, sandwiching ridging High pressure across the Central U.S. A relative pause (not zero) in pops thus occurs Thursday night into the weekend, with main (small) chances existing during the most unstable times of the afternoon/evening heating hours. Temps will average 5-10F above climo norms, so upper 80s/around 90 for highs, and upper 60s/around 70 for lows, continue in the forecast. && .AVIATION... Issued at 930 AM CDT Sun May 31 2020 VFR conditions through Monday. ENE winds 5 to 10 kts today, light tonight. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...None. MO...None. IN...None. KY...None. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Paducah KY 311 AM CDT Sun May 31 2020 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-011000- Jefferson-Wayne IL-Edwards-Wabash-Perry IL-Franklin-Hamilton- White-Jackson-Williamson-Saline-Gallatin-Union-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- 311 AM CDT Sun May 31 2020 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of southern Illinois, southwest Indiana, western Kentucky, and southeast Missouri. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday There is a near daily chance of thunderstorms Wednesday afternoon through Saturday. Lightning and locally heavy rain will be the primary storm hazards. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Minor flooding of the Mississippi River began on the last day of the month. The flooding was minor, consisting of flooded fields, low-lying access roads, and some riverside parkland. Some minor crop damage likely occurred.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Missouri in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Missouri, May 2020
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: 885758.