4,632 first-hand accounts of flood events in Iowa, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
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 →Once again it was a very active severe weather day over Iowa. The frontal system that had moved through the state on the night of the 22nd was returning north as a warm front. This time Iowa did not get completely into the warm sector.
Read the full account →Once again it was a very active severe weather day over Iowa. The frontal system that had moved through the state on the night of the 22nd was returning north as a warm front. This time Iowa did not get completely into the warm sector.
Read the full account →Once again it was a very active severe weather day over Iowa. The frontal system that had moved through the state on the night of the 22nd was returning north as a warm front. This time Iowa did not get completely into the warm sector.
Read the full account →Once again it was a very active severe weather day over Iowa. The frontal system that had moved through the state on the night of the 22nd was returning north as a warm front. This time Iowa did not get completely into the warm sector.
Read the full account →Once again it was a very active severe weather day over Iowa. The frontal system that had moved through the state on the night of the 22nd was returning north as a warm front. This time Iowa did not get completely into the warm sector.
Read the full account →Once again it was a very active severe weather day over Iowa. The frontal system that had moved through the state on the night of the 22nd was returning north as a warm front. This time Iowa did not get completely into the warm sector.
Read the full account →A very unstable situation took shape over Iowa during the day on the 11th. A nearly stationary frontal boundary extended nearly east to west across the state along U.S. Highway 20, or roughly from Fort Dodge to Waterloo.
Read the full account →Once again it was a very active severe weather day over Iowa. The frontal system that had moved through the state on the night of the 22nd was returning north as a warm front. This time Iowa did not get completely into the warm sector.
Read the full account →Once again it was a very active severe weather day over Iowa. The frontal system that had moved through the state on the night of the 22nd was returning north as a warm front. This time Iowa did not get completely into the warm sector.
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 →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 →Once again it was a very active severe weather day over Iowa. The frontal system that had moved through the state on the night of the 22nd was returning north as a warm front. This time Iowa did not get completely into the warm sector.
Read the full account →A very unstable airmass was located over Iowa on the 26th. Surface dew points rose into the mid to upper 70s along with surface temperatures near 90. Soundings indicated CAPE values around 5000 J/kg with lifted indices in the -9 C. range.
Read the full account →Strong to severe storms developed north of a stationary front across Iowa and Northern Illinois during the afternoon and evening hours. A strong low level jet continuously pumped copious amounts of moisture over the front that resulted in heavy rain and flash flooding.
Read the full account →A strong southerly flow developed over Iowa as a cold frontal boundary slid southeast into the state. Low level winds of 30 to 45 kts impinged on the front during the late afternoon and into the night.
Read the full account →An unstable airmass was in place over Iowa as a cold front approached from the northwest. Surface temperatures rose into the upper 80s to low 90s in most areas with dew point readings in the low 70s.
Read the full account →A cold front advanced toward Iowa from the northwest during the evening hours of the 1st. The cold front by late evening extended from southern Nebraska, across far northwest Iowa, into northwest Wisconsin. Ahead of the front the airmass was quite unstable, albeit quite warm.
Read the full account →A warm and very moist airmass was in place over Iowa. The airmass was actually very tropical in nature with warm cloudy depths of nearly 4.5 km and precipitable water values around 50 mm (2 inches).
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 →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 →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 →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 →A nearly stationary frontal boundary remained draped east to west across Iowa once again. The atmosphere became very unstable during the afternoon with highs reaching the upper 80s to low 90s and dew points in the mid 70s to the south of the front.
Read the full account →