Alert archive / Missouri / Flash Flood Warnings in 2026

Flash Flood Warning 45, NWS Quad Cities, IA

September 15, 2026Lee County, Iowa; Clark County, Scotland County, Missouri

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this flash flood warning at Sep 15, 2026, 10:28 PM CDT for Lee County, Iowa; Clark County, Scotland County, Missouri. It was in force for 6 hr. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Sep 15, 2026, 10:28 PM CDT (03:28 UTC)
Expired
Sep 16, 2026, 4:30 AM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area
Storm-based polygon
Flood severity
None

Counties Lee County, IA, Clark County, MO, Scotland County, MO

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 157 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:29 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Sep 15, 10:35 PM CDTRAIN 2.94 Ssw Crawford, MO3-hour rainfall total.
Sep 16, 2:30 AM CDTRAIN 1.53 Ene Charlie Heath Mem, MO

Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this flash flood warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 00:00Z, 3.5 hours before the alert went out and 162 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 2026-09-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 101 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 2026-09-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 59 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
101 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-196 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
844 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
59 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
127 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

911 
WGUS53 KDVN 160328
FFWDVN
IAC111-MOC045-199-160930-
/O.NEW.KDVN.FF.W.0045.260916T0328Z-260916T0930Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
Flash Flood Warning
National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL
1028 PM CDT Tue Sep 15 2026

The National Weather Service in Quad Cities has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...
  West Central Lee County in southeastern Iowa...
  Northwestern Clark County in northeastern Missouri...
  Central Scotland County in northeastern Missouri...

* Until 430 AM CDT Wednesday.

* At 1028 PM CDT, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing
  heavy rain across the warned area. Between 1 and 2 inches of rain
  have fallen. Additional rainfall amounts of 0.5 to 1.5 inches are
  possible in the warned area. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected
  to begin shortly.

  HAZARD...Flash flooding caused by thunderstorms.

  SOURCE...Radar indicated.

  IMPACT...Flash flooding of small creeks and streams, urban areas,
           highways, streets and underpasses as well as other poor
           drainage and low-lying areas.

* Some locations that will experience flash flooding include...
  Fort Madison, Memphis, Donnellson, Montrose, Luray, Granger,
  Croton, New Boston, Crawford, Revere, Arbela, Chambersburg, Ashton,
  Heath Memorial Conservation Area, Anson, Prospect Grove, Etna,
  Peaksville and Battle of Athens Campground.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood
deaths occur in vehicles.

Be especially cautious at night when it is harder to recognize the
dangers of flooding.

&&

LAT...LON 4049 9235 4057 9199 4061 9173 4060 9172
      4061 9172 4065 9162 4066 9133 4062 9133
      4055 9141 4052 9138 4043 9180 4039 9205
      4036 9235

FLASH FLOOD...RADAR INDICATED

$$

Gross
1 follow-up statement
929 
WGUS73 KDVN 160922
FFSDVN

Flash Flood Statement
National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL
422 AM CDT Wed Sep 16 2026

IAC111-MOC045-199-160932-
/O.EXP.KDVN.FF.W.0045.000000T0000Z-260916T0930Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
Lee IA-Clark MO-Scotland MO-
422 AM CDT Wed Sep 16 2026

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING WILL EXPIRE AT 430 AM CDT EARLY THIS MORNING
FOR WEST CENTRAL LEE, NORTHWESTERN CLARK AND CENTRAL SCOTLAND
COUNTIES...

The heavy rain has ended. Flooding is no longer expected to pose a
threat. Please continue to heed remaining road closures.

&&

LAT...LON 4049 9235 4057 9199 4061 9173 4060 9172
      4061 9172 4065 9162 4066 9133 4062 9133
      4055 9141 4052 9138 4043 9180 4039 9205
      4036 9235

$$

Gross

What forecasters said that day

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

NWS Quad Cities, IA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Sep 15, 6:47 PM CDT, 3 hours 41 minutes earlier. Its key messages:

  • While there is a Marginal, level 1 out of 5, Risk for severe storms through this evening, the weak forcing and warm air aloft may limit any severe risk to a few isolated storms. Damaging winds are the primary risk.
  • An active weather pattern will persist through the weekend with rounds of rain, some potentially heavy, expected. There will be brief respites in the active pattern the second half of the week.
  • With each round of rainfall, the risk of flash flooding will be on the increase the second half of the week and weekend, especially if storms repeat over the same areas. There is a medium to high chance (40-75%) for portions of eastern Iowa to see over 2 inches of rainfall, with localized areas of 4+ inches possible (5-10%). By the weekend, general rises are expected on area waterways.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 15, 6:47 PM CDT, 3 hours 41 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL
647 PM CDT Tue Sep 15 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- While there is a Marginal, level 1 out of 5, Risk for severe
  storms through this evening, the weak forcing and warm air
  aloft may limit any severe risk to a few isolated storms.
  Damaging winds are the primary risk.

- An active weather pattern will persist through the weekend
  with rounds of rain, some potentially heavy, expected. There
  will be brief respites in the active pattern the second half
  of the week.

- With each round of rainfall, the risk of flash flooding will
  be on the increase the second half of the week and weekend,
  especially if storms repeat over the same areas. There is a
  medium to high chance (40-75%) for portions of eastern Iowa to
  see over 2 inches of rainfall, with localized areas of 4+
  inches possible (5-10%). By the weekend, general rises are
  expected on area waterways.

&&

.SHORT TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY/...
Issued at 220 PM CDT Tue Sep 15 2026

Convergence at 850 mb is allowing a band of light rain/sprinkles to
persist across the northwest part of the area. Said convergence of
moisture/wind will slowly weaken through sunset and allow the rain
to dissipate.

Convergence and lift along the southward moving front is weak, and,
combined with warm temperatures aloft raises questions regarding the
potential for convection this afternoon/evening. However, given the
energy potential building in the atmosphere and recent radar trends,
isolated to low end scattered (15-35%) coverage of some diurnal
convection is reasonable. The energy potential is there for severe
storms, but as mentioned earlier, the warm air aloft may limit the
severe potential.

Late tonight and into Wednesday morning the LLJ will increase the
lift and moisture convergence across the front. From a QPF and
reflectivity standpoint the CAMs are struggling. Internally,
however, the models are suggesting the better potential for rain and
storms is south of a line from Ottumwa, IA to Sterling, IL. Given
PWATs progged to be 2+ inches in this area, heavy rainfall is a
given. The saving grace is that this area received little or no rain
the past 24 hours and thus should be able to take this round of rain
with not much problems, save urban areas.

Thus tonight into Wednesday morning areas of 1-2 inches of rain
across the southeast half of the area is fairly high. Locally
heavier amounts of 2-3+ inches are definitely possible.

As the LLJ weakens Wednesday morning the areal coverage of rain and
embedded thunderstorms will slowly decrease. Residual showers and a
few storms will be possible through the afternoon but will be
isolated to scattered (20-40%).

&&

.LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/...
Issued at 220 PM CDT Tue Sep 15 2026

Wednesday night through Thursday night
Assessment...medium confidence (40-50%) confidence on rain occurring.
Low (<20%) confidence on where rain will occur.

A frontal boundary will vacillate across the area through Thursday
night. Both nights the LLJ will increase and help initiate new rounds
of storms across the area. The signal for this is a given. The
uncertainty is where each round of showers/storms develops and moves
during the overnight hours of Wednesday night and Thursday night.

During the day on Thursday, the nocturnal round from Wednesday night
will slowly dissipate during the late morning. Thursday afternoon
looks to be mainly dry with some isolated diurnal convection
occurring on boundaries left over from the morning rain.

Friday-Saturday...The mid-level trough moves into the Dakotas and
Minnesota, dragging the Colorado low with it towards Iowa. A
WAA wing will likely develop along the warm front moving into
our CWA and force more scattered storms (50-70% coverage).
Muggy conditions are likely (60-90%) to return Friday into
Saturday with dew points back into the upper 60s and 70s
areawide. By Saturday, the low pressure slowly meanders across
the Upper Mississippi River Valley as another round of
scattered storms (40-70% coverage) is forecast to form from the
enhanced surface convergence.

Sunday-Tuesday...The trough over the western CONUS finally
ejects eastward into the Northern Plain on Sunday, introducing
the upper- level flow needed to kick the low pressure sitting
over the region eastward towards the Great Lakes. With the
return to northerly surface flow/dry air advection on the
backside of this low, PoPs should decrease on Sunday with Monday
likely (80-95% chance) being the first area-wide dry day in
over a week as seasonable conditions resume!

&&

.AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z THURSDAY/...
Issued at 647 PM CDT Tue Sep 15 2026

MVFR or lower conditions are expected through the majority of the
TAF period. A front stalled just to our south across Missouri and
Illinois will provide a focus for showers and storms at CID/MLI/BRL.
Confidence in thunderstorms is highest at BRL, with a low (<30%)
chance at MLI and not expected at CID/DBQ. Thus, TSRA has only been
included for BRL. While initially coverage will be low, increasing
coverage is expected past 16/08Z. In addition, lowering CIGs are
expected from south to north, resulting in IFR CIGS for BRL/MLI
during the period. Winds will remain 5-10 kts from the north to
northeast.

&&

.DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
IA...None.
IL...None.
MO...None.

&&

SHORT TERM...08
LONG TERM...Delaune/08
AVIATION...Ellingworth
Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 15, 2:38 PM CDT, 7 hours 50 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL
238 PM CDT Tue Sep 15 2026

IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007-
009-015>018-024>026-034-035-MOZ009-010-161945-
Buchanan-Delaware-Dubuque-Benton-Linn-Jones-Jackson-Iowa-Johnson-
Cedar-Clinton-Muscatine-Scott-Keokuk-Washington-Louisa-Jefferson-
Henry IA-Des Moines-Van Buren-Lee-Jo Daviess-Stephenson-Carroll-
Whiteside-Rock Island-Henry IL-Bureau-Putnam-Mercer-Henderson-
Warren-Hancock-McDonough-Scotland-Clark-
238 PM CDT Tue Sep 15 2026

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of north central
Illinois...northwest Illinois...west central Illinois...east
central Iowa...northeast Iowa...southeast Iowa and northeast
Missouri.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

Thunderstorms are possible this afternoon and evening. There is a
Marginal Risk, Level 1 out of 5, for severe storms south of a
Cantril, Iowa to Hennepin, Illinois line this afternoon and
evening. Primary severe threat will be isolated damaging winds.

Late tonight a large area of rain with embedded thunderstorms will
be seen. Locally heavy rainfall will be possible for some areas
south of Interstate 80.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

Additional rounds of thunderstorms are possible Wednesday through
Saturday which could lead to an elevated flash flood risk and
rises on small creeks and streams.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not anticipated this afternoon or evening.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 15, 5:09 PM CDT, 5 hours 19 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL
509 PM CDT Tue Sep 15 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0508 PM     Rain             2 ESE Fairview          42.08N 91.30W
09/15/2026  M1.20 Inch       Jones              IA   CO-OP Observer

            Rainfall from last night through 5 PM today.
            Measurement this morning was 0.60;
            additional accumulation of 0.60 since then.

&&

ALE
Local storm report, Sep 15, 6:49 PM CDT, 3 hours 39 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL
649 PM CDT Tue Sep 15 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0649 PM     Rain             1 ENE Green River       41.47N 90.32W
09/15/2026  M1.40 Inch       Henry              IL   Trained Spotter

            Rainfall total from last night.

&&

ALE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 16, 10:56 AM CDTRiver Flood WatchDVNJohnson, Washington12 hr
Sep 16, 12:32 PM CDTFlood WatchDVNBenton, Cedar, Clinton, Des Moines, Henry, Iowa and 12 more20 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Missouri, 2026Flash Flood Warnings in Iowa, 2026Every flash 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; local storm reports from the same archive; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.