4,632 first-hand accounts of flood events in Iowa, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
Storms developed in a moist to near tropical atmosphere along a warm front from Dubuque, Iowa to Falls City, Nebraska, and ahead of a cold front in western Iowa.
Read the full account →A warm front extended from a low pressure area over northeast Nebraska, southeast through central into southeast Iowa. A cold front extended south from the low into Kansas. South of the warm front, dew point temperatures were in the low 70s.
Read the full account →A warm front extended from a low pressure area over northeast Nebraska, southeast through central into southeast Iowa. A cold front extended south from the low into Kansas. South of the warm front, dew point temperatures were in the low 70s.
Read the full account →A wet period allowed for flooding to return to portions of the Little Sioux River. This was capped by a multi-day significant heavy rainfall event between June 20th through June 22nd which brought widespread rain totals between 5 and 10 inches with pockets in excess of 15…
Read the full account →A wet period allowed for flooding to return to portions of the Little Sioux River. This was capped by a multi-day significant heavy rainfall event between June 20th through June 22nd which brought widespread rain totals between 5 and 10 inches with pockets in excess of 15…
Read the full account →A wet period allowed for flooding to return to portions of the Little Sioux River. This was capped by a multi-day significant heavy rainfall event between June 20th through June 22nd which brought widespread rain totals between 5 and 10 inches with pockets in excess of 15…
Read the full account →A wet period allowed for flooding to return to portions of the Little Sioux River. This was capped by a multi-day significant heavy rainfall event between June 20th through June 22nd which brought widespread rain totals between 5 and 10 inches with pockets in excess of 15…
Read the full account →A wet period allowed for flooding to return to portions of the Little Sioux River. This was capped by a multi-day significant heavy rainfall event between June 20th through June 22nd which brought widespread rain totals between 5 and 10 inches with pockets in excess of 15…
Read the full account →Thunderstorms repeatedly tracked from northeast Nebraska southeast along the Missouri River Valley of eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa during the early morning hours of August 22.
Read the full account →Heavy rains during the second week of August resulted in the Skunk River at Sigourney going above the moderate flood stage level of 18 feet on August 10 around 6 am CDT. It crested above the major flood stage level around 23.6 feet around 1 am CDT August 12.
Read the full account →A cold front stalled out across eastern Iowa September 13 while remnants from Pacific Hurricane Lowell and moisture from the remnants of Hurricane Ike moved across the region. Copious amounts of rain was the result over much of the Midwest.
Read the full account →Heavy rains during the second week of August resulted in the Skunk River at Augusta going above the moderate flood stage level of 17 feet on August 13 around 2 pm CDT. It crested above the major flood stage level around 23.3 feet around 1 pm CDT August 16.
Read the full account →Additional thunderstorm activity moved through Iowa. Round after round of heavy rainfall resulted in saturated soils and quick runoff of the rainfall.
Read the full account →Heavy rains during the third week of July resulted in the Des Moines River at St. Francisville going above the moderate flood stage level of 22 feet around 1045 am CDT July 19. It crested around 25.3 feet around 7 am CDT July 20.
Read the full account →A strong weather system moved through the central U.S. during the late afternoon of the 3rd through the early morning of the 4th. The system resembled a winter type system as strong low pressure at the surface developed over Kansas and moved northeast into Missouri.
Read the full account →Heavy rain-producing showers and thunderstorms moved across much of eastern Iowa and northwest and west central Illinois from the evening of May 25th to the early morning of May 26th. Some of the stronger storms also produced tornadoes, damaging winds, and large hail.
Read the full account →Heavy rains during the third week of June resulted in the Iowa River at Wapello going above the moderate flood stage level of 22 feet on June 17 around 7 am. After briefly falling below the moderate flood stage, it crested around 23.9 feet around 7 am June 25.
Read the full account →A slow moving thunderstorms moving across Page County produced 2 to 4 inches of rainfall during the evening of July 15th. Additional thunderstorms occurred during the overnight hours with storm total precipitation measured at over 5 inches in parts of the county.
Read the full account →Heavy rains during the first week of August resulted in the English River at Kalona going above the moderate flood stage level of 16 feet on August 3 around 11 am CDT. It crested over the major flood stage level around 18.1 feet around 7 pm CDT August 3.
Read the full account →A strong cold front moved through eastern Iowa, northeast Missouri, and northern Illinois from June 12 through midday June 13 bringing widespread heavy rains of 1 to 5 inches (with some areas receiving up to around 10 inches), flash flooding, large hail, damaging wind gusts,…
Read the full account →A very warm and humid airmass was in place over Iowa on the 11th. During the previous two days, strong capping was in place across the state. A cold front began to move into the state on the 11th as upper level heights and temperatures began to fall.
Read the full account →A dynamic pattern was once again in place over the central U.S. A strong surge of moisture took place during the day on the 26th, with precipitable water values rising to over 2 inches by evening.
Read the full account →River levels remained high along the Des Moines River system from the rains that fell during June. Additional rainfall during the month of July helped to maintain high river levels.
Read the full account →A nearly stationary frontal boundary remained draped east to west across Iowa once again. The atmosphere became very unstable during the afternoon with highs reaching the upper 80s to low 90s and dew points in the mid 70s to the south of the front.
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