Flash flood warnings blanketed seven states early Thursday as thunderstorms parked over saturated ground from the Gulf Coast to the Upper Midwest, prompting the National Weather Service to issue 20 active warnings across Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri and Wisconsin.
In southeastern Minnesota, radar-confirmed downpours dropped 2 to 3 inches of rain over Houston, Fillmore and Mower counties, with the National Weather Service office in La Crosse warning of 1 to 2 additional inches through 8 a.m. CDT. In Mower County, emergency management reported roads already closed and travel difficult as flash flooding developed.
Further west, the National Weather Service placed Scott County, Kansas, under a flash flood warning until 9 a.m. CDT after Doppler radar detected heavy rain from thunderstorms moving over west-central Kansas, with flooding of rivers, creeks and low-lying areas described as imminent or already occurring.
The warnings extended south into Louisiana, where Washington and St. Tammany parishes were under flash flood alerts, and into nearby Mississippi communities in Pearl River and Hancock counties as the same rain-heavy system tracked along the Gulf Coast.
In Illinois, six counties along the Mississippi River corridor — Calhoun, Greene, Jersey, Brown, Morgan and Pike — were also under flash flood warnings, part of the state’s share of the 20 alerts active nationwide.
Across the warnings, the National Weather Service describes a consistent pattern: thunderstorms moving slowly or repeatedly over the same ground, producing rainfall rates capable of triggering flash flooding on roads and along creeks and streams within hours. Forecasters say flooding of rivers and other flood-prone locations is imminent or already underway in several of the warned counties.
The National Weather Service is urging drivers in all affected areas to avoid flooded roadways, noting that most flood deaths occur in vehicles. “Turn around, don’t drown” remains the agency’s standard guidance, since water depth and road conditions underneath floodwater are often impossible to judge from behind the wheel.
With 20 separate warnings active at once across seven states, Thursday’s flooding illustrates a broader pattern: a humid, unstable air mass sitting over a wide swath of the central and southern U.S. is capable of producing locally extreme rainfall wherever storms stall, regardless of location. Residents from the Upper Midwest to the Gulf Coast should monitor local National Weather Service alerts through the day, as additional flash flood warnings may follow if storms redevelop over ground that is already saturated.