4,632 first-hand accounts of flood events in Iowa, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
Iowa was covered by a very unstable and moist airmass. Precipitable water values were in excess of 2 inches with surface dew point temperatures in the mid 70s F. to the low 80s over all of the state.
Read the full account →A warm front extended from a low pressure area over northeast Nebraska, southeast through central into southeast Iowa. A cold front extended south from the low into Kansas. South of the warm front, dew point temperatures were in the low 70s.
Read the full account →A cold front to the west of Iowa moved into the state during the day. Initially, the airmass was quite capped and thunderstorms had a hard time getting going.
Read the full account →A strong upper level disturbance moved north-northeast into Iowa during the afternoon hours. A very unstable airmass was in place over the state with lifted indices near -10 degrees C.
Read the full account →As was mentioned above, the weather pattern was very active over the central U.S. A cold front had become stationary to the west of Iowa during the afternoon of the 16th. This set the stage for a serious weather situation. During the afternoon, 70 degree F.
Read the full account →Another round of convection developed over Iowa during the afternoon hours as warm and unstable air was drawn north over the top of the outflow boundary left behind from convection during the mid day hours. Very heavy rain fell along the arc of the outflow boundary.
Read the full account →After a brief break of about five hours, thunderstorms began to erupt in Iowa once again. As had been the case over the course of the previous several days to the north and west of Iowa, thunderstorms developed during the mid afternoon and became supercells within a short…
Read the full account →A cold front frontal system located to the northwest of Iowa began to sink southeast into the state during the late afternoon of the 10th. This was in fact the same cold front that set off the thunderstorm activity the previous night.
Read the full account →The supercell that moved across northern Iowa during the early morning hours left behind a strong outflow boundary. This outflow boundary became established east to west across central Iowa.
Read the full account →The supercell that moved across northern Iowa during the early morning hours left behind a strong outflow boundary. This outflow boundary became established east to west across central Iowa.
Read the full account →The supercell that moved across northern Iowa during the early morning hours left behind a strong outflow boundary. This outflow boundary became established east to west across central Iowa.
Read the full account →A very weak cold became stationary to the south of Iowa during the late afternoon of the 2nd and early morning of the 3rd. Once again, elevated convection developed in Iowa as the low level jet brought moisture northeast into Iowa.
Read the full account →A complex weather situation unfolded during the day on the 12th with a series of events coming together. The forest fires in Colorado were a contributing factor to the thunderstorm initiation.
Read the full account →In a weather pattern similar to the previous day, isolated thunderstorms developed around the state. A light southerly flow was in place with wind speeds at the 850 MB level were around 10 kts.
Read the full account →A warm front was located to the south of Iowa. Strong warm air advection was taking place over the state. Wind profilers and VAD wind profile data showed winds of 55 kts within 500 meters of the surface.
Read the full account →A very unstable airmass was over Iowa and helped kick off the seasons first severe weather outbreak. At the surface a warm frontal boundary extended nearly east to west across the state and provided the focus for thunderstorm development.
Read the full account →The synoptic situation was very similar to what it was the previous day. A complex weather situation was in place due to the convection from the previous night. An outflow boundary extended east to west across northern Missouri.
Read the full account →A cold frontal boundary, which actually is the same boundary as had been over the state for the past several days, began to move southeast across the state during the late afternoon of the 23rd.
Read the full account →The pattern remained much unchanged from what it was the previous day. The dynamics were a bit weaker than the previous night, but high precipitable water values remained with about 1.75 inches indicated.
Read the full account →A rather complex weather situation unfolded during the day on the 22nd. The situation was complicated by the convection that occurred during the previous night.
Read the full account →A line of thunderstorms dropped southward into east central Iowa and northwest Illinois during the late evening of July 3rd and early morning hours of July 4th. The storms produced torrential rains with rainfall rates over 1 inch per hour.
Read the full account →An unseasonably strong storm system aloft was located over the northern Rockies. This produced a very strong northward push of moisture into Iowa.
Read the full account →An unseasonably strong storm system aloft was located over the northern Rockies. This produced a very strong northward push of moisture into Iowa.
Read the full account →A very unstable airmass was in place over western Iowa and areas to the west. CAPE rose to over 6500 J/kg by late afternoon with the lifted indices falling to -12 to -15 C.
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