Flooding in Iowa, June 17 to 25, 1996

Name: Flooding in Iowa, June 17 to 25, 1996
Start: 1996-06-17T03:00
End: 1996-06-25T06:00
Location: Iowa

June 17 to 25, 1996 · NWS DMX · 21 events in 21 counties and zones

The wet weather conditions experienced during the month of May carried into June. 04 inches during the month of June.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 21 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $500,000
Crop damage: $1.0 million
Events: 21

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS DMX wrote it up.

The wet weather conditions experienced during the month of May carried into June. Preliminary information provided by the State Climatologist Harry Hillaker, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, indicated a statewide rainfall average of 5.04 inches during the month of June. This is 114% of the normal. Strong thunderstorms with locally torrential rain moved through parts of central and north central Iowa beginning on the evening of the 16th. Rainall amounts in excess of 3 inches were common over large parts of the area, with point rainfall as high as 9 inches over the Skunk River and Squaw Creek basins upstream of Ames. The resulting flood was the third highest flood of record for the Squaw Creek at Ames and the highest flood of record on the Skunk River at Ames. Hundreds of homes sustained damage with about 10 destroyed. Some of the damages are listed in this report with the flash flood event rather than the general flood event here. Total damage in Ames and surrounding areas is believed to be seveal million dollars.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

21 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Fayette

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Fayette forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.863, -91.844 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Sac

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Sac forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.386, -95.105 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Calhoun

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Calhoun forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.385, -94.640 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Webster

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Webster forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.428, -94.182 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Hamilton

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Hamilton forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.384, -93.707 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Hardin

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Hardin forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.384, -93.240 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Grundy

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Grundy forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.402, -92.791 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Black Hawk

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Black Hawk forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.470, -92.309 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Carroll

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Carroll forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.036, -94.861 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Greene

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Greene forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.036, -94.397 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Boone

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Boone forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.037, -93.932 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Story

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Story forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.036, -93.465 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Marshall

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Marshall forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.036, -92.999 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Tama

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Tama forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.080, -92.532 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Guthrie

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Guthrie forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.684, -94.501 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Dallas

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Dallas forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.685, -94.040 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Polk

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Polk forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.686, -93.573 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Jasper

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Jasper forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.686, -93.054 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Poweshiek

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Poweshiek forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.686, -92.531 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Marion

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Marion forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.334, -93.099 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Mahaska

When: June 17, 3:00 AM CST to June 25, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Mahaska forecast zone
Property damage: $500,000
Crop damage: $1.0 million
Coordinates: 41.335, -92.641 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Iowa in 1996 Every state in 1996 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, June 1996

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5553690, 5553691, 5553692, 5553693, 5553836, 5553837, 5553838, 5553839, 5553840, 5553841, 5553842, 5553843, 5553844, 5553845, 5553846, 5553847, 5553848, 5553849, 5553850, 5553851, 5553852.