Flood, Emmet
- When
- April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 10, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Emmet forecast zone
- Property damage
- $150,000
- Coordinates
- 43.378, -94.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flooding in Iowa, April 1 to 10, 1997
63 inches for the month. 16 inches.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 9 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $150,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 9
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.
Preliminary information provided by State Climatologist Harry Hillaker of the Iowa Department of Agriculturena d Land Stewardship indicated a statewide average precipitation of 2.63 inches for the month. Normal is 3.16 inches. However, most of the precipitation fell in the form of snow, resulting in the snowiest April since 1982. The greater part of the April flooding was observed during the first third of the month, with snow melt flooding already underway in earnest over the Des Moines River basin in northern Iowa and southern Minnesota. This in turn produced significant flooding in the Estherville and Emmetsburg areas in north central Iowa. Further downstream toward Des Moines, far less serious flooding was observed with only agricultural flooding reported.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
9 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flood, Kossuth
- When
- April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 10, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Kossuth forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.204, -94.207 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood, Winnebago
- When
- April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 10, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Winnebago forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.378, -93.734 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood, Palo Alto
- When
- April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 10, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Palo Alto forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.082, -94.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood, Hancock
- When
- April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 10, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Hancock forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.082, -93.734 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood, Pocahontas
- When
- April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 10, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Pocahontas forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 42.734, -94.679 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood, Humboldt
- When
- April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 10, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Humboldt forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 42.777, -94.207 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood, Webster
- When
- April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 10, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Webster forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 42.428, -94.182 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood, Boone
- When
- April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 10, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Boone forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 42.037, -93.932 (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
- Heavy Snow and Strong Wind in Massachusetts, April 1, 1997
- High Wind in North Carolina, April 1, 1997
- Drought in Texas, April 1 to 30, 1997
- Heavy Snow and Strong Wind in Rhode Island, April 1, 1997
- Heavy Snow and Strong Wind in Connecticut, April 1, 1997
- Flooding in Louisiana, April 1 to 20, 1997
- Winter Storm and Hail in Kansas, April 1 to 29, 1997
- Heavy Snow and High Wind in New Jersey, April 1, 1997
- Cold in West Virginia, April 1 to 30, 1997
- Cold in North Carolina, April 1 to 18, 1997
- Flooding in South Dakota, April 1 to 30, 1997
- High Wind in New York, April 1, 1997
More
Every storm in Iowa in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, April 1997
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: 5596214, 5596215, 5596216, 5596217, 5596218, 5596219, 5596220, 5596221, 5596371.