4,632 first-hand accounts of flood events in Iowa, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
Following a brief break from the rain on the 16th, rainfall resumed on the 17th and 18th. Heavy rain fell over just about the entire state on both days, with the heaviest amounts of 1 to 3 inches on the first night in the Nishnabotna River basin, the Upper Des Moines and Iowa…
Read the full account →Iowa came off of a very wet May, only to be followed by a near record wet June. Some of the flooding along Iowa's rivers continued from May into June. Heavy rains fell on a nearly daily basis somewhere in Iowa through the first half of the month.
Read the full account →Thunderstorms with high winds and extremely heavy rain moved across northeast Iowa during the evening of September 21st into the early morning of the 22nd. Winds of 60 to 70 mph occurred near Rockford (Floyd County) and Nora Springs (Floyd County).
Read the full account →An unstable airmass was in place across Iowa with afternoon highs reaching well into the 80s, and dewpoint readings in the low to mid 70s. CAPE rose to 2000 to 3000 J/kg.
Read the full account →A very moist airmass was in place with warm cloud depths near 4.5 km. Precipitable water values were in the 2.2 to 2.4 inch range over a large part of Iowa. A thunderstorm complex formed over eastern Nebraska during the evening of the 22nd.
Read the full account →A very moist airmass was in place with warm cloud depths near 4.5 km. Precipitable water values were in the 2.2 to 2.4 inch range over a large part of Iowa. A thunderstorm complex formed over eastern Nebraska during the evening of the 22nd.
Read the full account →Deep moisture moved into Iowa as a strong shortwave moved into the central U.S. Moisture from former hurricane Norbert moved into the central U.S. as a low pressure system developed over Kansas.
Read the full account →Heavy rainfall continued into early October with several streams and rivers already running high. This led to additional river flooding across portions of the Des Moines, Cedar and Iowa River basins, and also along Black Hawk Creek in Hudson.
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 →An unstable airmass was in place over Iowa with CAPE over 2000 J/kg already by early in the morning. Downdraft CAPE was quite high, in the 1000 to 1300 J/kg range, with 400 to 600 J/kg in the -10 to -30 C layer of the atmosphere.
Read the full account →An unstable airmass was in place over Iowa with CAPE over 2000 J/kg already by early in the morning. Downdraft CAPE was quite high, in the 1000 to 1300 J/kg range, with 400 to 600 J/kg in the -10 to -30 C layer of the atmosphere.
Read the full account →A very unstable airmass was in place over Iowa. The stationary front that had been south of the state over the past several days began to lift north and extended from southwest into east central Iowa on the afternoon of the 28th.
Read the full account →A sagging cold front in central and southern Minnesota initiated a number of storms on the afternoon of the 10th. While the boundary did not continue its march southward into Iowa, the storms continued to progress southeastward, eventually entering Iowa.
Read the full account →Through much of the day of the 16th, a warm front slowly progressed into the state from the west, orienting itself north-south about a third to half of the way into the state.
Read the full account →A generally stationary boundary remained oriented roughly west to east across the state through the evening and overnight hours. As a result, storms initiated along and north of the boundary and provided multiple rounds of heavy rainfall from roughly Ames northward.
Read the full account →A generally stationary boundary remained oriented roughly west to east across the state through the evening and overnight hours. As a result, storms initiated along and north of the boundary and provided multiple rounds of heavy rainfall from roughly Ames northward.
Read the full account →A generally stationary boundary remained oriented roughly west to east across the state through the evening and overnight hours. As a result, storms initiated along and north of the boundary and provided multiple rounds of heavy rainfall from roughly Ames northward.
Read the full account →An ideal setup was seen across northern and central Iowa for repeated rounds of heavy rainfall and severe weather. A weak warm frontal boundary stalled out across the area as it transitioned to a stationary boundary and allowed multiple rounds of storms to initiate on the 21st…
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.
Read the full account →A relatively routine setup for strong to severe storms took place on the 24th of September. A cold front entered the state from the northwest during the late afternoon and early evening hours, entering an environment with strong low level moisture inflow, SBCAPE values in excess…
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 →The storm track shifted a bit further north in June, keeping the excessive rains confined to about the northeast one-third of the state. The month���s largest event|came from the 21st to the 23rd with Dorchester recording 8.99 inches of rain.
Read the full account →A low pressure area tracked east out of South Dakota during the afternoon and evening. A warm front extending from the low across west central into southeast Iowa lifted north with thunderstorm development during the afternoon.
Read the full account →May 2013 was a wet month across the state. The heavy rainfall brought relief across the state from the drought of the preceding year. The month began with a May record snow event. Snow began in northwest Iowa early on the morning of the 1st with six inches reported at Sibley.
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