4,632 first-hand accounts of flood events in Iowa, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
A strong push of moisture moved into the central U.S. during the morning of the 25th. A MCC formed over Nebraska and advanced east-northeast into Iowa. Precipitable water increased to around 1.7 inches by sunrise, which was about 2 sigma above climatology.
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 →A warm front moved slowly north into Iowa during the overnight hours of the 28th into the 29th. The airmass became unstable as surface temperatures warmed into the low 80s, with dewpoints around 70 along and south of the front.
Read the full account →A warm front moved slowly north into Iowa during the overnight hours of the 28th into the 29th. The airmass became unstable as surface temperatures warmed into the low 80s, with dewpoints around 70 along and south of the front.
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 →A line of severe thunderstorms lifted north northeastward along the Mississippi River through the Quad Cites with an area of trailing stratiform rainfall behind it. There were scattered reports of thunderstorm wind damage in the counties along the Mississippi River.
Read the full account →A line of severe thunderstorms lifted north northeastward along the Mississippi River through the Quad Cites with an area of trailing stratiform rainfall behind it. There were scattered reports of thunderstorm wind damage in the counties along the Mississippi River.
Read the full account →A line of severe thunderstorms lifted north northeastward along the Mississippi River through the Quad Cites with an area of trailing stratiform rainfall behind it. There were scattered reports of thunderstorm wind damage in the counties along the Mississippi River.
Read the full account →A line of severe thunderstorms lifted north northeastward along the Mississippi River through the Quad Cites with an area of trailing stratiform rainfall behind it. There were scattered reports of thunderstorm wind damage in the counties along the Mississippi River.
Read the full account →During the evening of July 10th, a line of thunderstorms developed and moved across eastern Iowa. These storms produced isolated large hail and damaging wind gusts in Johnson and Clinton Counties. Based on a video, an EF-U tornado occurred in Jackson county.
Read the full account →During the evening of July 10th, a line of thunderstorms developed and moved across eastern Iowa. These storms produced isolated large hail and damaging wind gusts in Johnson and Clinton Counties. Based on a video, an EF-U tornado occurred in Jackson county.
Read the full account →During the evening of July 10th, a line of thunderstorms developed and moved across eastern Iowa. These storms produced isolated large hail and damaging wind gusts in Johnson and Clinton Counties. Based on a video, an EF-U tornado occurred in Jackson county.
Read the full account →During the evening of July 10th, a line of thunderstorms developed and moved across eastern Iowa. These storms produced isolated large hail and damaging wind gusts in Johnson and Clinton Counties. Based on a video, an EF-U tornado occurred in Jackson county.
Read the full account →During the evening of July 10th, a line of thunderstorms developed and moved across eastern Iowa. These storms produced isolated large hail and damaging wind gusts in Johnson and Clinton Counties. Based on a video, an EF-U tornado occurred in Jackson county.
Read the full account →Iowa was on the edge of a deep thermal ridge. Several weak embedded waves moved across, aiding in thunderstorms development as the interacted with the low level jet through the early morning.
Read the full account →Thunderstorms rapidly developed across northeast South Dakota into west central Minnesota during the early evening of July 27 within a volatile environment (MUCAPE 5000-6000 J/Kg) ahead of a southward moving surface boundary.
Read the full account →An omega block pattern set up in mid September and on the 16th Iowa was just west of the ridge axis. This resulted in a hot and humid period and MLCAPE was around 2000-3000 J/kg. The 0-6 km shear was weak under the ridge at under 20 kts.
Read the full account →The atmosphere on July 11, 2025, was primed for heavy rainfall, featuring a slow-moving frontal boundary that tapped into a corridor of abundant moisture to its south.
Read the full account →Much of Iowa was within the warm, moist sector with a boundary across far southern Iowa. With afternoon clearing, temperatures warmed into the 90s with dewpoints in the 70s. This resulted in increasingly unstable conditions with MLCAPE of 2000-3000+ J/kg.
Read the full account →On the morning of June 29th robust thunderstorms set up across Decatur county, part of a larger system that dropped across South Dakota and Nebraska into Iowa and merging with convection out of Missouri with increasing moisture convergence.
Read the full account →Thunderstorms fired up during the evening hours as the warm front that had become stationary over Iowa began to turn into a cold front. At the same time, a stronger cold front was sinking toward the area from the northwest.
Read the full account →Heavy rainfall from the previous few days, and especially of the previous night created the most significant flooding in Iowa in the past two years. Two day rainfall totals of 3 to 5 inches were common, with some unofficial reports in excess of 8 inches.
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 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.
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