4,632 first-hand accounts of flood events in Iowa, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
Very heavy rain fell across the Des Moines and Waterloo metro areas on the evening of June 30th. This led to flash flooding and river flooding that continued into 01 July 2018.
Read the full account →Wet conditions continued across the state with yet another round of moderate to heavy rainfall on top of already mostly saturated conditions. A shortwave moving through the upper level flow out of the southwest, a surface front situated to the west and northwest of the state,…
Read the full account →Major to record flooding occurred during the month of June 2008 with most forecast points above flood stage for the majority of the month. The flooding during this month was more prolific and severe than the flooding in April 2008, and the flooding in April had been the most…
Read the full account →For the second night in a row, thunderstorms with very heavy rain rolled across northeast Iowa producing widespread flash flooding during the evening of June 22nd.
Read the full account →A very dynamic weather pattern was in place over the central U.S. on the 3rd. A strong short wave moved out of the Rockies onto the Plains during the day. Thunderstorms formed early in Nebraska and South Dakota.
Read the full account →Additional severe thunderstorms developed near a slowly advancing cold front during the late afternoon and evening hours across southeast South Dakota and northwest Iowa. MLCAPE reached a bit over 1000 J/kg with marginal deep-layer shear at around 30 knots.
Read the full account →Thunderstorms with locally heavy rain moved across portions of northeast Iowa throughout the day on July 23rd. The heavy rain caused the Upper Iowa River to send water over County Road W14 near Kendallville (Winneshiek County).
Read the full account →Thunderstorms developed during the afternoon of May 18th over northeast Iowa. Some of these storms remained nearly stationary over Chickasaw County from the late afternoon into the evening and produced rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches.
Read the full account →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 →A moderately unstable airmass was in place across Iowa ahead of an approaching cold front. The airmass was tropical in nature with a clear tropical connection evident on satellite pictures. Precipitable water values were in the 2 to 2.5 inch range by mid afternoon.
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 →Very high water along the Des Moines River continued to put stress on the levee system in Des Moines. The crest had passed, however water levels were still within about a foot of the record crest.
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 →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 →Thunderstorms with heavy rain moved across portions of northeast Iowa during the late evening of September 19th into the early morning hours of the 20th.
Read the full account →Harrison County received record flooding along the Boyer River along the entire reach. From the 19th of June to the 23rd, parts of northwest Iowa upstream from Harrison County was inundated with as much as 13 inches of rain. Locally, 2 to 5 inches was reported.
Read the full account →A nearly stationary band of thunderstorms developed across northeast Iowa during the evening of June 21st. These storms remained in place until another line of storms pushed in from the west during the early morning hours of the 22nd.
Read the full account →A record rain event in May in eastern Montana combined with high water from other storms in April and May, plus snow melt from a much above normal snow pack, to bring record high water to the Missouri River chain of reservoirs by late Spring.
Read the full account →A record rain event in May in eastern Montana combined with other storms in April and May plus early spring snow melt and brought record high water to the Missouri River chain of reservoirs.
Read the full account →Major to record flooding occurred during the month of June 2008 with most forecast points above flood stage for the majority of the month. The flooding during this month was more prolific and severe than the flooding in April 2008, and the flooding in April had been the most…
Read the full account →Significant record to near record heavy rainfall in North Central and Northeast Iowa from 21 to 23 September of 4 to over 10 plus inches caused major river flooding on many forecast points on the Iowa tributaries of the Wapsipinicon, Cedar, lower Iowa, and Maquoketa rivers.
Read the full account →Part I: Several rivers went into flood as heavy rainfall, heavy snow and resultant melting snow all led to higher streamflows in the latter half of April across portions of central and northern Iowa.
Read the full account →Repeated rounds of thunderstorms with heavy rains moved across portions of northeast Iowa during the evening of August 23rd into the early morning hours of the 24th.
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