Alert archive / Iowa / Flash Flood Warnings in 2012

Flash Flood Warning 4, NWS La Crosse, WI

September 4, 2012Allamakee County, Winneshiek County, Iowa

NWS La Crosse, WI issued this flash flood warning at Sep 4, 2012, 11:09 PM CDT for Allamakee County, Winneshiek County, Iowa. It was in force for 5 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
Sep 4, 2012, 11:09 PM CDT (04:09 UTC)
Expired
Sep 5, 2012, 4:00 AM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
NWS La Crosse, WI
Area
Storm-based polygon
Flood severity
None

Counties Allamakee County, IA, Winneshiek County, IA

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 81 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:12 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 00:00Z, 4.2 hours before the alert went out and 194 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 00:00Z on 2012-09-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1890 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 00:00Z on 2012-09-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -23 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1890 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-49 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1662 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
44 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

689 
WGUS53 KARX 050409
FFWARX
IAC005-191-050900-
/O.NEW.KARX.FF.W.0004.120905T0409Z-120905T0900Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
1109 PM CDT TUE SEP 4 2012

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LA CROSSE HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEASTERN WINNESHIEK COUNTY IN NORTHEAST IOWA...
  SOUTHERN ALLAMAKEE COUNTY IN NORTHEAST IOWA...

* UNTIL 400 AM CDT

* AT 1108 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS THE      
  WARNED AREA. RADAR ESTIMATES THAT 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN HAS        
  FALLEN WITH AN ADDITIONAL INCH POSSIBLE THROUGH MIDNIGHT. 

* RUNOFF FROM THIS EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING TO
  OCCUR. SOME LOCATIONS THAT WILL EXPERIENCE FLOODING INCLUDE...
  OSSIAN AND POSTVILLE.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS...COUNTRY ROADS...AS WELL AS FARMLAND ALONG THE
BANKS OF CREEKS AND STREAMS.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODING. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT QUICKLY. DO
NOT ENTER THE WATER. TURN AROUND AND MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND TO
ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN
WATER BEGINS RISING.

&&

LAT...LON 4322 9183 4321 9125 4308 9127 4308 9182

$$

JW
3 follow-up statements
520 
WGUS73 KARX 050443
FFSARX

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
1143 PM CDT TUE SEP 4 2012

IAC005-191-050900-
/O.CON.KARX.FF.W.0004.000000T0000Z-120905T0900Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
ALLAMAKEE IA-WINNESHIEK IA-
1143 PM CDT TUE SEP 4 2012

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHEASTERN WINNESHIEK
AND SOUTHERN ALLAMAKEE COUNTIES UNTIL 400 AM CDT...

AT 1140 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED 
THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS THE WARNED AREA. RADAR 
ESTIMATES THAT 3 TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN IN THE WARNED 
AREA...WITH AN ADDITIONAL 2 TO 3 INCHES POSSIBLE.  

RUNOFF FROM THIS EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING TO
OCCUR. SOME LOCATIONS THAT WILL EXPERIENCE FLOODING INCLUDE...OSSIAN
AND POSTVILLE.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL CREEKS
AND STREAMS...COUNTRY ROADS...NORMALLY DRY WASHES... AS WELL AS
FARMLAND ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS AND STREAMS.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODING. IF FLOODING IS OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY. DO NOT
ENTER THE WATER. TURN AROUND AND MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND. DO NOT
STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

&&

LAT...LON 4322 9183 4321 9125 4308 9127 4308 9182

$$

JW
126 
WGUS73 KARX 050706
FFSARX

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
206 AM CDT WED SEP 5 2012

IAC005-191-050900-
/O.CON.KARX.FF.W.0004.000000T0000Z-120905T0900Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
ALLAMAKEE IA-WINNESHIEK IA-
206 AM CDT WED SEP 5 2012

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHEASTERN WINNESHIEK
AND SOUTHERN ALLAMAKEE COUNTIES UNTIL 400 AM CDT...

AT 204 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED 
THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS THE WARNED AREA. RADAR 
ESTIMATED 4 TO 5 INCHES OF RAIN HAS ALREADY FALLEN...WITH ANOTHER 
INCH POSSIBLE. 

RUNOFF FROM THIS EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING TO
OCCUR. SOME LOCATIONS THAT WILL EXPERIENCE FLOODING INCLUDE...OSSIAN 
AND POSTVILLE.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL CREEKS
AND STREAMS...COUNTRY ROADS...NORMALLY DRY WASHES... AS WELL AS
FARMLAND ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS AND STREAMS.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODING. IF FLOODING IS OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY. DO NOT
ENTER THE WATER. TURN AROUND AND MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND. DO NOT
STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

&&

LAT...LON 4322 9183 4321 9125 4308 9127 4308 9182

$$
260 
WGUS73 KARX 050855
FFSARX

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
355 AM CDT WED SEP 5 2012

IAC005-191-050909-
/O.EXP.KARX.FF.W.0004.000000T0000Z-120905T0900Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
ALLAMAKEE IA-WINNESHIEK IA-
355 AM CDT WED SEP 5 2012

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING THAT WAS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHEASTERN
WINNESHIEK AND SOUTHERN ALLAMAKEE COUNTIES WILL BE ALLOWED TO EXPIRE
AT 400 AM CDT...

SHERIFF DEPARTMENTS FROM WINNESHIEK AND ALLAMAKEE COUNTIES HAVE SAID 
THAT NO FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED AND ANY EXCESS RUNOFF FROM HEAVY 
RAIN HAS ENDED OVER THE WARNED AREA. STREAMS AND CREEKS IN THE 
WARNED AREA HAVE RECEDED OR WERE BEGINNING TO RECEDE...ENDING THE 
FLOOD THREAT. IF FLOODING HAS BEEN OBSERVED...PLEASE REPORT IT TO 
YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.

LAT...LON 4322 9183 4321 9125 4308 9127 4308 9182

$$

HALBACH

The office that day

Everything else NWS La Crosse, WI issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 4, 7:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXAllamakee24 min
Sep 4, 7:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXClayton70 min
Sep 4, 8:09 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningARXAllamakee, Clayton6 hr
Sep 4, 10:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXClayton, Fayette65 min
Sep 4, 10:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXAllamakee, Winneshiek33 min
Sep 4, 11:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXClayton46 min
Sep 4, 11:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXAllamakee, Clayton, Fayette, Winneshiek47 min
Sep 4, 11:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXClayton61 min
Sep 5, 12:12 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXFloyd, Mitchell63 min
Sep 5, 12:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXChickasaw, Howard44 min
Sep 5, 1:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXFayette, Winneshiek24 min
Sep 5, 1:28 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXAllamakee32 min
Sep 5, 1:51 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningARXClayton, Fayette3 hr
Sep 5, 1:59 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningARXAllamakee, Clayton3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Iowa, 2012Every flash flood warning in 2012

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.