4,632 first-hand accounts of flood events in Iowa, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
Repeated heavy rains caused record flooding of the Rock River in northwest Iowa from June 15th through June 21st. Numerous roads were flooded, many damaged, and some secondary roads washed out.
Read the full account →Summary of events of May 16-17, 1999:Two lines of thunderstorms developed over Iowa: one north to south across western Iowa and moved east, and the other repeatedly developed east to west from Butler to Clayton counties in northeast Iowa and moved east.
Read the full account →A few rivers went into flood across portions of central and southern Iowa as the snow melted across the area. Some of the flooding on the lower portion of the Des Moines River south of Saylorville occurred due to output from local reservoirs such as Saylorville Lake and Lake Red…
Read the full account →Hot and humid conditions prevailed across the region July 27, as a warm front lifted northward into northeast Iowa. Showers and thunderstorms developed along the Highway 20 corridor in Dubuque, Jo Daviess and Stephenson Counties during the early evening hours of July 27.
Read the full account →A record rain event in May in eastern Montana combined with high water from storms in April and May, plus snow melt from a much above normal snow pack, all contributed to bring record high water to the Missouri River chain of reservoirs by late Spring.
Read the full account →A warm front that was along the Kansas and Nebraska border early Saturday morning May 5th, lifted north during the day bringing widespread heavy rain and severe weather, including tornadoes, to eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa.
Read the full account →Strong to severe storms and heavy rainfall moved up into Iowa from northern Missouri during the late afternoon and evening hours of the 22nd of June.
Read the full account →Heavy rains during the fourth week of July caused both major rivers running through Jones County to crest well above flood stage.||Although not guaged in Jones County, the Maquoketa River reached record levels both upstream in Manchester and downstream in Maquoketa.
Read the full account →Rainfall of one to three inches on frozen ground and into a snow pack with between 1 and 3 inches of liquid water equivalent resulted in considerable areal flooding and flooding of small streams.
Read the full account →An outflow boundary from earlier day convection focused a gradient of instability and storm development with additional destabilization from heating by early afternoon.
Read the full account →A slowly northward moving boundary/warm front was draped across the area throughout the day. By the evening vigorous storms fired up just north of the boundary and continued as the low level jet began to pick up. Numerous reports of large hail and damaging winds were reported.
Read the full account →Storms with locally heavy rains moved across portions of northeast Iowa on June 29th. These storms dumped around 3 inches of rain over eastern Allamakee County that resulted in some flash flooding.
Read the full account →For the second night in a row, thunderstorms with heavy rain moved across northeast Iowa on September 23rd. While the rain was not as heavy or as widespread as the previous night, due to the wet ground, flash flooding quickly occurred as the rainfall turned into runoff.
Read the full account →A boundary was pushing through the state with ongoing convection through central Iowa through the day. As the boundary neared the area, the convection intensified and impacted central and southern Iowa in the evening to early morning hours.
Read the full account →A boundary was pushing through the state with ongoing convection through central Iowa through the day. As the boundary neared the area, the convection intensified and impacted central and southern Iowa in the evening to early morning hours.
Read the full account →Without even looking at supporting variables, the setup for impactful weather could be gleaned from the general setup. A weak surface pressure system was slowly working its way across Iowa, situating its relevant boundaries primarily across southwest and southern Iowa.
Read the full account →Without even looking at supporting variables, the setup for impactful weather could be gleaned from the general setup. A weak surface pressure system was slowly working its way across Iowa, situating its relevant boundaries primarily across southwest and southern Iowa.
Read the full account →Without even looking at supporting variables, the setup for impactful weather could be gleaned from the general setup. A weak surface pressure system was slowly working its way across Iowa, situating its relevant boundaries primarily across southwest and southern Iowa.
Read the full account →Without even looking at supporting variables, the setup for impactful weather could be gleaned from the general setup. A weak surface pressure system was slowly working its way across Iowa, situating its relevant boundaries primarily across southwest and southern Iowa.
Read the full account →A frontal boundary was draped across areas just west of Iowa during the morning hours of June 30th, and slowly moved eastward into the state throughout the day.
Read the full account →A frontal boundary was draped across areas just west of Iowa during the morning hours of June 30th, and slowly moved eastward into the state throughout the day.
Read the full account →A slowly northward moving boundary/warm front was draped across the area throughout the day. By the evening vigorous storms fired up just north of the boundary and continued as the low level jet began to pick up. Numerous reports of large hail and damaging winds were reported.
Read the full account →In the hours after midnight on the 28th a low pressure system was over portions of central/eastern Nebraska moving toward Iowa. A warm front extended east out of the surface low into southern Iowa.
Read the full account →In the hours after midnight on the 28th a low pressure system was over portions of central/eastern Nebraska moving toward Iowa. A warm front extended east out of the surface low into southern Iowa.
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