Alert archive / Iowa / River Flood Warnings in 2026

River Flood Warning 19, NWS Des Moines, IA

September 9, 2026Polk County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this river flood warning at Sep 9, 2026, 4:59 AM CDT for Polk County, Iowa. It took effect at Sep 9, 2026, 6:41 AM CDT. It was in force for 14 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Sep 9, 2026, 4:59 AM CDT (09:59 UTC)
In effect from: Sep 9, 2026, 6:41 AM CDT
Expired: Sep 9, 2026, 8:34 PM CDT
In force: 14 hr
Issued by: NWS Des Moines, IA
Area: Storm-based polygon
Flood severity: Minor

County Polk County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 13 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:01 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 river

Written for the forecast point Raccoon River at Des Moines Fleur Dr (DEMI4). The gauge peaked at 12.34 ft at Sep 9, 2026, 1:00 PM CDT.

Action stage: 8 ft
Minor stage: 12 ft
Moderate stage: 16 ft
Major stage: 25 ft

This gauge today: stage, forecast and historic crests

Stage from the USGS instantaneous record for site 05484900, one reading an hour, from a day before the product to a day after it ended. Flood stages are today's.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this river flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Des Moines, IA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this river flood warning went out at Sep 9, 2:27 AM CDT, 2 hours 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 9, 2:27 AM CDT, 2 hours 32 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 9, 3:45 AM CDT, 1 hour 14 minutes before

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Des Moines IA
345 AM CDT Wed Sep 9 2026

IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075-
081>086-092>097-100845-
Emmet-Kossuth-Winnebago-Worth-Palo Alto-Hancock-Cerro Gordo-
Pocahontas-Humboldt-Wright-Franklin-Butler-Bremer-Sac-Calhoun-
Webster-Hamilton-Hardin-Grundy-Black Hawk-Crawford-Carroll-Greene-
Boone-Story-Marshall-Tama-Audubon-Guthrie-Dallas-Polk-Jasper-
Poweshiek-Cass-Adair-Madison-Warren-Marion-Mahaska-Adams-Union-
Clarke-Lucas-Monroe-Wapello-Taylor-Ringgold-Decatur-Wayne-
Appanoose-Davis-
345 AM CDT Wed Sep 9 2026

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of central Iowa.

.DAY ONE...Today and tonight

Showers and non severe storms are expected to continue over
south central to southern Iowa into early this afternoon. Heavy
rainfall may continue at times, leading to localized areas of
flash flooding through sunrise.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday

Thunderstorm chances return to the forecast from Friday evening
through the weekend. Any severe weather potential during this time
will be assessed in the coming days.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not anticipated, though rainfall reports are
appreciated.

&&

NWS Des Moines will discontinue the Hazardous Weather Outlook
product (HWO) on September 30th, 2026. Weather hazards and
outlooks will continue to be provided through the standard
forecast channels, including weather briefing packets, forecast
discussions, weather story graphics, the experimental graphical
hazardous weather outlook, and updated hazard messaging. All
local products and visual tools are accessible directly at
weather.gov/desmoines.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 9, 1:29 AM CDT	River Flood Warning	DMX	Polk	15 hr
Sep 9, 1:49 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DMX	Adair, Audubon, Cass, Dallas, Guthrie, Madison and 2 more	5 hr
Sep 9, 1:52 AM CDT	River Flood Watch	DMX	Polk	3 hr
Sep 9, 2:08 AM CDT	River Flood Warning	DMX	Dallas, Polk	17 hr
Sep 9, 7:06 AM CDT	River Flood Watch	DMX	Warren	8 hr

Nearby

River Flood Warnings in Iowa, 2026 Every river flood warning in 2026

Sources

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