4,632 first-hand accounts of flood events in Iowa, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
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 →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 →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 →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 →A small complex of thunderstorms traveled northeast through Kansas and Nebraska overnight the 22nd into the 23rd, finally arriving early in the afternoon.
Read the full account →After a brief lull from the rain on the 12th, a large mesoscale convective system developed near the center of an upper level low pressure center over southwest Iowa during the early morning hours of the 14th.
Read the full account →A Mesoscale Convective Complex developed over north central and northeast Iowa during the overnight and early morning hours of the 18th and 19th of July. The first flash flood warnings were issued during the wee hours after midnight.
Read the full account →A Mesoscale Convective Complex developed over north central and northeast Iowa during the overnight and early morning hours of the 18th and 19th of July. The first flash flood warnings were issued during the wee hours after midnight.
Read the full account →A pattern change at the end of April brought a series of heavy rain producing systems to Eastern Iowa and Northern Illinois over the first 10 days of the month. Area rivers responded with the Iowa River going above flood stage starting on the 10th.
Read the full account →A pattern change at the end of April brought a series of heavy rain producing systems to Eastern Iowa and Northern Illinois over the first 10 days of the month. Area rivers responded with the Iowa River going above flood stage starting on the 10th.
Read the full account →A pattern change at the end of April brought a series of heavy rain producing systems to Eastern Iowa and Northern Illinois over the first 10 days of the month. Area rivers responded with the Iowa River going above flood stage starting on the 10th.
Read the full account →A pattern change at the end of April brought a series of heavy rain producing systems to Eastern Iowa and Northern Illinois over the first 10 days of the month. Area rivers responded with the Iowa River going above flood stage starting on the 10th.
Read the full account →A pattern change at the end of April brought a series of heavy rain producing systems to Eastern Iowa and Northern Illinois over the first 10 days of the month. Area rivers responded with the Iowa River going above flood stage starting on the 10th.
Read the full account →A very strong upper level low pressure trough had carved out over the western U.S. Iowa was in the strong southwest flow on the front side of this system. A surface warm front lifted north into southwest Iowa during the evening of the 5th.
Read the full account →Heavy rain fell once again across a large part of Iowa, especially across the north and northeast. This rain fell on rivers that were already close to flood stage as they were just beginning to fall after the flooding from earlier in the month.
Read the full account →Heavy rain fell once again across a large part of Iowa, especially across the north and northeast. This rain fell on rivers that were already close to flood stage as they were just beginning to fall after the flooding from earlier in the month.
Read the full account →Heavy rain fell once again across a large part of Iowa, especially across the north and northeast. This rain fell on rivers that were already close to flood stage as they were just beginning to fall after the flooding from earlier in the month.
Read the full account →A warm front extended east to west across the Upper Mississippi Valley on June 7, which provided the focus for thunderstorms producing excessive rainfall. In fact, these storms exhibited very high rainfall rates, which led to 1 to 2 inch rainfall amounts in an hour.
Read the full account →The very wet weather pattern of June and July continued into the first two weeks of August. Central Iowa was hardest hit by rainfall with three consecutive nights of torrential rains on the 8th, 9th and 10th.
Read the full account →A cold front dropped slowly southeast into Iowa. The severe parameters were not strong, however a narrow line of thunderstorms developed over north central Iowa into western Wisconsin. The storms trained along a slow moving line.
Read the full account →Several rounds of thunderstorms rolled across northeast Iowa during the afternoon and evening of May 19th. These storms produced very heavy rains across Floyd and Mitchell Counties where numerous roads were washed out or covered with flood waters.
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