Alert archive / Iowa / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Quad Cities, IA

May 14, 2003Buchanan County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this flash flood warning at May 14, 2003, 5:47 PM CDT for Buchanan County, Iowa. It was in force for 4 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 14, 2003, 5:47 PM CDT (22:47 UTC)
Expired
May 14, 2003, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Buchanan County, IA

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 141 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:51 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 146 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2003-05-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 5 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2003-05-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 84 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
5 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-139 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
987 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
84 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
154 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WGUS53 KDVN 142253
FFWDVN
IAC019-150300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
547 PM CDT WED MAY 14 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE QUAD CITIES HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  BUCHANAN COUNTY IN NORTHEAST IOWA

* UNTIL 10 PM CDT

* AT 547 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED 
THUNDERSTORMS  PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE LOCATED OVER THE 
WARNED AREA...WITH MORE STORMS TO THE WEST THAT WILL MOVE EAST AND 
AFFECT THE WARNED AREA. STREET FLOODING WAS ALREADY REPORTED IN 
INDEPENDENCE. 

* THE GROUND HAS ALREADY BEEN SATURATED BY RECENT RAINFALL...
  ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN HAS RESULTED IN EXCESSIVE RUNOFF...LEADING
  THE LIKELIHOOD OF FLASH FLOODING IN THE WARNED AREA.

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THESE STORMS WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS...HIGHWAYS AND UNDERPASSES. ADDITIONALLY...COUNTRY
ROADS AND FARMLANDS ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS AND STREAMS AND OTHER
LOW LYING AREAS ARE SUBJECT TO FLASH FLOODING.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO WATER COVERED ROADWAYS. THE WATER MAY
BE TOO DEEP TO CROSS SAFELY OR THE ROAD COULD BE WASHED OUT. VEHICLES
CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY.

LAT...LON 4263 9164 4232 9163 4232 9204 4262 9205

$$

JDH
2 follow-up statements
000 
WGUS73 KDVN 150108
FFSDVN
IAC019-150300-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
806 PM CDT WED MAY 14 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 10 PM CDT FOR BUCHANAN
COUNTY IN NORTHEAST IOWA...

AT 804 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED 
MODERATE TO LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL CONTINUING TO FALL OVER THE 
WARNED AREA...WITH DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES THAT 1 TO 2 INCHES OF 
RAIN HAS FALLEN IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST PORTION OF THE COUNTY 
THIS EVENING. THIS IS ADDITIONAL RAINFALL ON TOP OF THE HEAVY RAIN 
THAT OCCURRED IN THE SAME AREA LAST NIGHT.

AGAIN...THE GROUND HAS ALREADY BEEN SATURATED BY RECENT RAINFALL. 
ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN HAS RESULTED IN EXCESSIVE RUNOFF WITH FLASH 
FLOODING IN THE WARNED AREA.

AT 601 PM CDT LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED FLASH FLOODING IN 
INDEPENDENCE. A FEW CARS WERE FLOODED AND HAD TO BE ABANDONED.

RADAR INDICATED THAT THE HEAVIER RAIN WILL MOVE OUT OF THE WARNED 
AREA BY 9 PM.

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS EVENINGS STORMS MAY CAUSE FLASH FLOODING 
OF SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS...HIGHWAYS AND UNDERPASSES. ADDITIONALLY 
...COUNTRY ROADS AND FARMLANDS ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS AND STREAMS 
AND OTHER LOW LYING AREAS ARE SUBJECT TO FLASH FLOODING.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO WATER COVERED ROADWAYS. THE WATER MAY
BE TOO DEEP TO CROSS SAFELY OR THE ROAD COULD BE WASHED OUT. VEHICLES
CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY.

$$

JDH
000 
WGUS73 KDVN 150305
FFSDVN
IAC019-150330-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
1003 PM CDT WED MAY 14 2003

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING WHICH WAS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT FOR 
BUCHANAN COUNTY IN NORTHEAST IOWA...HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPIRE...

AT 955 PM CDT...BUCHANAN COUNTY OFFICIALS REPORTED THAT MOST OF THE 
FLOODING PROBLEMS CAUSED BY THE HEAVY RAIN FROM EARLIER THIS 
EVENING...HAVE SUBSIDED.

AT 959 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THE 
HEAVY RAINFALL HAS SUBSIDED OVER THE WARNED AREA. STREAMS AND CREEKS 
HAVE RECEDED OR WERE BEGINNING TO RECEDE...ENDING THE FLOOD THREAT. 
EVEN THOUGH STREAMS AND CREEKS WERE RECEDING...SOME ROADWAYS MAY 
STILL BE COVERED WITH WATER. MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO AVOID DRIVING 
THROUGH FLOODED ROADWAYS.

NUISANCE FLOODING ACROSS BUCHANAN COUNTY MAY LAST INTO THURSDAY 
MORNING...BUT LIFE THREATENING AND RAPIDLY RISING WATER PROBLEMS 
HAVE ENDED FOR THE NIGHT.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO WATER COVERED ROADWAYS. THE WATER MAY
BE TOO DEEP TO CROSS SAFELY OR THE ROAD COULD BE WASHED OUT. VEHICLES
CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY.

$$

JDH

The office that day

Everything else NWS Quad Cities, IA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 14, 12:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCedar, Clinton, Scott25 min
May 14, 12:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNMuscatine, Scott46 min
May 14, 2:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCedar, Scott46 min
May 14, 4:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNKeokuk37 min
May 14, 4:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNWashington42 min
May 14, 4:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBenton48 min
May 14, 5:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNLinn37 min
May 14, 5:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNLee, Van Buren47 min
May 14, 5:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJohnson48 min
May 14, 6:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNLinn43 min
May 14, 6:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNDes Moines55 min
May 14, 6:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCedar50 min
May 14, 6:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJohnson25 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Iowa, 2003Every flash flood warning in 2003

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.