Flood — Jefferson, Missouri

2015-12-28 to 2015-12-31 · near Wickes, Jefferson, Missouri

Event narrative

Between 5 and 8 inches of rain fell across Jefferson County during a 2 day period. All of this rain caused the creeks and rivers to rise. The Meramec River and Big River went into major flood with several points cresting at record levels. Forty four homes were destroyed, 975 buildings had major damage and 308 buildings had minor damage from the river flooding, with Arnold being the worst hit in Jefferson County. Also, the High Ridge District 2 water treatment plant was inundated by the flood waters on December 30th, cutting off water supply to at least 20,000 residents. Damage estimates so far were around $2.2 million.

Wider weather episode

A prolonged period of rainfall occurred from the early morning hours of December 26th to the evening of December 28th. The heaviest rainfall occurred in a 50 to 75 mile wide swath from southwest Missouri through the Greater St. Louis Metropolitan Area and into central Illinois. Three day rainfall totals within this swath ranged from 6 to 12 inches, with lighter amounts extending both northwest and southeast to the state border. Some of the precipitation fell as a wintry mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow across northwest portions of the state. All of this rain caused historic river flooding for the many rivers throughout the region. This resulted in floods of record on the Bourbeuse River at Union, the Meramec River at Pacific, Eureka, Valley Park, and Arnold, and major flooding on the Missouri River (at Gasconade and Hermann), the Mississippi River at Winfield Lock and Dam and points downstream, the Cuivre River at Old Monroe, Dardenne Creek, the Gasconade River, the Moreau River, the Illinois River, and the Kaskaskia River at Vandalia. The only location not reporting flooding after this event was the Salt River near New London, where the Clarence Cannon Dam regulates the flow. All other forecast points reported at least minor flooding. Seven flooding deaths were reported in our area due to the heavy rains. Approximately 1500 structures were either damaged or destroyed by the flood waters in the forecast area. At this time dollar amount damages are expected to top $1 billion dollars.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.3842, -90.3513)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 631177. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.