4,632 first-hand accounts of flood events in Iowa, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
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 →Heavy rains during the last week of August resulted in the Iowa River at Wapello going above the moderate flood stage level of 22 feet on August 29 around 530 am. It crested around 23.37 feet around 1245 am August 31.
Read the full account →Heavy rains during the second and third weeks of June resulted in the English River at Kalona going above the moderate flood stage level of 16 feet on June 12 around 11 pm. It crested above the major flood stage around 19 feet around 7 pm June 15.
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 →The continued series of thunderstorms moved across Iowa during the afternoon of the 26th and through the overnight hours of the 26th into the 27th. A stationary front remained in place from central Nebraska into northern Missouri.
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.
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.
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.
Read the full account →Thunderstorms developed north of a warm front across northeast Iowa during the afternoon of June 14th. Initially, these storms produced some wind damage and large hail before they became heavy rain producers that led to flash flooding.
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 unseasonably strong mid and upper level jet combined with high amounts of low level moisture and instability to create a volatile atmosphere across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa late in the night and into Monday morning.
Read the full account →An unseasonably strong mid and upper level jet combined with high amounts of low level moisture and instability to create a volatile atmosphere across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa late in the night and into Monday morning.
Read the full account →Spurred by a period of excessive precipitation from September 10-12 that resulted in 5 to 10 inches of rainfall in the middle to upper reaches of the Big Sioux River basin and 2 to 5 inches from Sioux Falls downstream, extreme rises occurred mid-month, with many basin locations…
Read the full account →Spurred by a period of excessive precipitation from September 10-12 that resulted in 5 to 10 inches of rainfall in the middle to upper reaches of the Big Sioux River basin and 2 to 5 inches from Sioux Falls downstream, extreme rises occurred mid-month, with many basin locations…
Read the full account →Spurred by a period of excessive precipitation from September 10-12 that resulted in 5 to 10 inches of rainfall in the middle to upper reaches of the Big Sioux River basin and 2 to 5 inches from Sioux Falls downstream, extreme rises occurred mid-month, with many basin locations…
Read the full account →Spurred by a period of excessive precipitation from September 10-12 that resulted in 5 to 10 inches of rainfall in the middle to upper reaches of the Big Sioux River basin and 2 to 5 inches from Sioux Falls downstream, extreme rises occurred mid-month, with many basin locations…
Read the full account →Spurred by a period of excessive precipitation from September 10-12 that resulted in 5 to 10 inches of rainfall in the middle to upper reaches of the Big Sioux River basin and 2 to 5 inches from Sioux Falls downstream, extreme rises occurred mid-month, with many basin locations…
Read the full account →Spurred by a period of excessive precipitation from September 10-12 that resulted in 5 to 10 inches of rainfall in the middle to upper reaches of the Big Sioux River basin and 2 to 5 inches from Sioux Falls downstream, extreme rises occurred mid-month, with many basin locations…
Read the full account →Spurred by a period of excessive precipitation from September 10-12 that resulted in 5 to 10 inches of rainfall in the middle to upper reaches of the Big Sioux River basin and 2 to 5 inches from Sioux Falls downstream, extreme rises occurred mid-month, with many basin locations…
Read the full account →Repeating heavy rain caused record flooding of the lower Big Sioux River from June 15th through June 26th. Considerable flooding of farmland and other lowlands included numerous roads, with some roads damaged and a few washed out.
Read the full account →Repeating heavy rain caused record flooding of the lower Big Sioux River from June 15th through June 26th. Considerable flooding of farmland and other lowlands included numerous roads, with some roads damaged and a few washed out.
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 →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 →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.
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