Flood — Jasper, Illinois

2017-05-01 to 2017-05-04 · near Island Grove, Jasper, Illinois

Event narrative

Rain amounts of 3.00 to 5.00 inches in about a two hour period during the evening hours, on already saturated ground, resulted in flash flooding across much of Jasper County. Several streets in the city of Newton were impassable. Numerous rural roads, highways and creeks in the county were flooded, particularly from Newton to Hunt City to Yale. Illinois Route 49 was closed between Willow Hill and Hunt City due to flowing water. An additional 0.50 to 1.00 inch of rain occurred on April 30th into May 2nd, keeping many roads flooded. As a result, areal flooding continued until the early morning hours of May 4th, before another round of heavy rain produced additional flash flooding.

Wider weather episode

Heavy rainfall impacted central and southeast Illinois from April 29th into April 30th...creating widespread flash flooding. The rain developed as numerous weak impulses interacted with a stationary frontal boundary draped along I-70. Thunderstorms with very high rainfall rates dropped 2 to 3 inches of rain across much of the area, with a few locations across portions of Marshall and Woodford counties picking up in excess of 3.5 inches. This rainfall occurring on top of already saturated soils, created flash flooding in a number of locations. Numerous roads were closed due to high water...including portions of Highway 29 in Peoria where a mudslide occurred, Illinois Route 17 from Lacon to Sparland in Marshall County, Illinois Route 97 from Lincoln's New Salem to Petersburg in Menard County, Route 45 near Tuscola in Douglas County, Route 9 west of Canton in Fulton County, and portions of Route 26 in Woodford County. Low pressure lifted into the Great Lakes on May 1st, pulling the persistent frontal boundary out of the area and bringing a temporary end to the rain. Even though the rain had stopped, high water continued to impact many rural roads across central Illinois, particularly those near creeks and streams. Persistent flooding issues occurred across Christian, Shelby, Douglas, and Effingham counties...as well as along the Embarras River in Cumberland and Jasper counties.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.1710, -88.3604)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 697049. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.