2,067 first-hand accounts of flood events in Illinois, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
The remnants of hurricane Ike moved across northern Illinois during the morning hours of September 14th. This system produced a second round of very heavy rain after a period of heavy rain just 24 hours earlier across many of the same areas.
Read the full account →The remnants of hurricane Ike moved across northern Illinois during the morning hours of September 14th. This system produced a second round of very heavy rain after a period of heavy rain just 24 hours earlier across many of the same areas.
Read the full account →Thunderstorms with extremely heavy rain developed along a stationary front and moved from northeast Iowa into northwest Illinois. Some locations measured 5 to 7 inches of rainfall, causing localized flash flooding and pushing numerous creeks out of their banks.
Read the full account →Thunderstorms with extremely heavy rain developed along a stationary front and moved from northeast Iowa into northwest Illinois. Some locations measured 5 to 7 inches of rainfall, causing localized flash flooding and pushing numerous creeks out of their banks.
Read the full account →Thunderstorms with extremely heavy rain developed along a stationary front and moved from northeast Iowa into northwest Illinois. Some locations measured 5 to 7 inches of rainfall, causing localized flash flooding and pushing numerous creeks out of their banks.
Read the full account →During the afternoon, multi-cell thunderstorm clusters developed along a warm front that was oriented from west to east along the Interstate 64 corridor. Surface dew points near and south of the front were in the lower 70's, which contributed to strong instability.
Read the full account →Thunderstorms developed during the late morning and early afternoon across a zone just south of I-80 in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana and persisted for several hours. An extremely moist environment set the stage for very heavy rainfall rates.
Read the full account →The Wabash River was above flood stage for most of the month at New Harmony, Indiana. The river crested at 20.9 feet on May 7, well above the 15 foot flood stage. A 9-mile long earthen levee protecting bottomland farm fields was breached about when the river crested.
Read the full account →A pattern change at the end of April brought a series of heavy rain producing systems to Eastern Iowa and Northern Illinois over the first 10 days of the month. Area rivers responded with the Iowa River going above flood stage starting on the 10th.
Read the full account →A pattern change at the end of April brought a series of heavy rain producing systems to Eastern Iowa and Northern Illinois over the first 10 days of the month. Area rivers responded with the Iowa River going above flood stage starting on the 10th.
Read the full account →A pattern change at the end of April brought a series of heavy rain producing systems to Eastern Iowa and Northern Illinois over the first 10 days of the month. Area rivers responded with the Iowa River going above flood stage starting on the 10th.
Read the full account →A pattern change at the end of April brought a series of heavy rain producing systems to Eastern Iowa and Northern Illinois over the first 10 days of the month. Area rivers responded with the Iowa River going above flood stage starting on the 10th.
Read the full account →A pattern change at the end of April brought a series of heavy rain producing systems to Eastern Iowa and Northern Illinois over the first 10 days of the month. Area rivers responded with the Iowa River going above flood stage starting on the 10th.
Read the full account →A pattern change at the end of April brought a series of heavy rain producing systems to Eastern Iowa and Northern Illinois over the first 10 days of the month. Area rivers responded with the Iowa River going above flood stage starting on the 10th.
Read the full account →Powerful and damaging thunderstorms moved across northern Illinois producing widespread wind damage. The most intense wind damage occurred along a path which began in far western Dupage County near the intersection of Roosevelt Road and Washington Street in West Chicago and…
Read the full account →Powerful and damaging thunderstorms moved across northern Illinois producing widespread wind damage. The most intense wind damage occurred along a path which began in far western Dupage County near the intersection of Roosevelt Road and Washington Street in West Chicago and…
Read the full account →Excessive rainfall during the middle of April led to widespread flooding across a large part of northern and central Illinois. Locations from the Chicago metro area, southwest along the Illinois River Valley, received 5 to 10 inches over a two day period from the 17-18th.
Read the full account →Flooding along parts of the Mississippi River surpassed the Great Flood of 1993. Along most other rivers, the flooding was relatively minor. The Governor of Illinois declared some counties disaster areas, including the Mississippi River counties of Alexander and Jackson.
Read the full account →Flooding along parts of the Mississippi River surpassed the Great Flood of 1993. Along most other rivers, the flooding was relatively minor. The Governor of Illinois declared some counties disaster areas, including the Mississippi River counties of Alexander and Jackson.
Read the full account →A cold front interacting with a warm and very humid airmass triggered several lines of strong to severe thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening of June 7th.
Read the full account →Moderate flooding occurred along most of the Ohio River, with pockets of only minor flooding. A heavy rainfall event on March 3 was followed by a major winter storm on March 4 into early March 5. Two more heavy rainfall events occurred in quick succession.
Read the full account →The Ohio River remained above flood stage through the entire month of March at Cairo. The flooding began on February 7 and fluctuated from minor to moderate. The prolonged river flooding was due to an abnormally wet winter.
Read the full account →Heavy rainfall in March set the stage for major flooding when record-setting rains fell in April and May. At Paducah, 15.91 inches of rain fell in April, which was 10.96 inches above normal.
Read the full account →Torrential rainfall amounts from 6 to 12 inches occurred over a two-day period, causing an historic flood event. A very slow-moving cold front over southwest Illinois and southeast Missouri provided the focus for prolonged heavy rainfall.
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