Floods in Kansas City, Missouri and vicinity, August 12-13, 1982

On August 12-13, 1982, a nearly stationary weather front in the vicinity of Kansas City, MO, produced intense thunderstorms. Excessive rainfall (12.6 inches in Raytown, MO) caused flash flooding during the nighttime and early daylight hours. Four deaths and damages unofficially estimated in excess of $30 million, occurred in the three-county area of Jackson, Cass, and Clay counties. Peak discharges were determined at 12 current or discontinued streamflow-gaging stations and 17 miscellaneous sites. Flood peaks and volumes at many locations exceeded estimated 100-year recurrence-interval floods and equaled or exceeded the 1977 floods in some drainage basins. Significant flooding occurred in the Blue, East Fork Little Blue, and Little Blue River basins and in the Rock, Wilkerson, Sni-A-Bar, Shoal, and Big Creek drainage basins. (USGS)