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Severe Thunderstorms and Heavy Rain in the Central Plains and Midwest; Heat Pushes into the South and East

Scattered severe thunderstorms capable of large hail in excess of two inches, strong tornadoes, and damaging wind gusts are likely across parts of the Upper Mississippi Valley and Midwest this evening. Heavy to excessive rainfall may bring a flooding threat to portions of the Central Plains to the Midwest through Thursday. The heatwave in the Central U.S. will begin to push South and East Thursday Read More >

Overview

A strong storm system impacted the region over the last few days of April. Two rounds of significant rainfall affected our area. The 1st was from the evening hours of April 28th through the mid morning hours on April 29th. A lull in precipitation occurred during much of the daytime hours on the 29th, before the 2nd round of heavy rain moved in from the west during the evening hours, lasting through the morning hours on the 30th. The heaviest rainfall amounts were confined to portions of southeast Missouri into southern Illinois and southwest Indiana. A swath of 6 to 10 inches, with a few isolated higher amounts, was observed from Van Buren, MO to Carbondale and Carmi, IL and to Stendal, IN.

Moderate to record river flooding occurred on over a dozen river locations due to the excessive rainfall in our area and points upstream in Missouri. The hardest hit river basins included the Current, Saint Francis, Black, Mississippi, Big Muddy, Patoka, and Little Wabash Rivers. Both Doniphan and Van Buren, MO saw record flooding on the Current River. These locations easily exceeded the high water levels experienced back in 2008, 1993, and 1904. The Saint Francis River at Patterson, MO also set a record crest, breaking the previous highest crest set back in 1982.

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