Tornado and Flash Flooding in Iowa, June 27, 1998

Name: Tornado and Flash Flooding in Iowa, June 27, 1998
Start: 1998-06-27T18:35
End: 1998-06-27T23:49
Location: Iowa

June 27, 1998 · NWS ARX · 21 events in 7 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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: $264,000
Crop damage: $29,000
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 ARX wrote it up.

A line of thunderstorms swept across northeast Iowa producing widespread wind damage and flash flooding. The strongest winds were near the Iowa-Minnesota border with hundreds of trees downfrom Mitchell County east into the Decorah area. Further south damage was more sporadic along with occasional power outages.A brief tornado touched down just west of Cresco as witnessed by trained amateur radio storm spotters.The touchdown was brief and only damaged a small area of crops.Combined with other storms from earlier in the month, 7 northeast Iowa counties were declared Federal Disaster areas, including Allamakee, Clayton, Chickasaw, Fayette, Floyd, Howard, and Winneshiek. Chickasaw County had the highest estimated damage amounts approaching $500,000. Most counties had damage estimates from $100,000 to $200,000.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

11 thunderstorm wind, 5 flash flood, 2 flood, 2 hail, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Mitchell

When: June 27, 6:35 PM CST
Where: Mitchell County, St Ansgar
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Property damage: $2,000
Crop damage: $8,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.380, -92.930

Thunderstorm Wind, Howard

When: June 27, 7:05 PM CST
Where: Howard County, Cresco
Property damage: $3,000
Crop damage: $600
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 43.380, -92.120

Tornado, Howard

When: June 27, 7:08 PM CST
Where: Howard County, 2 mi W of Cresco
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.3 mi
Path width: 20 yd
Crop damage: $2,000
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 43.380, -92.150

Thunderstorm Wind, Mitchell

When: June 27, 7:15 PM CST
Where: Mitchell County, Mc Intire
Property damage: $15,000
Crop damage: $400
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.430, -92.600

Thunderstorm Wind, Floyd

When: June 27, 7:16 PM CST
Where: Floyd County, 1 mi W of Floyd
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Property damage: $2,000
Crop damage: $2,000
Reported by: FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates: 43.130, -92.780

Thunderstorm Wind, Floyd

When: June 27, 7:27 PM CST
Where: Floyd County, Powersville
Property damage: $300
Crop damage: $200
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.930, -92.700

Thunderstorm Wind, Winneshiek

When: June 27, 7:30 PM CST
Where: Winneshiek County, Burr Oak
Property damage: $25,000
Crop damage: $3,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.450, -91.880

Thunderstorm Wind, Allamakee

When: June 27, 7:34 PM CST
Where: Allamakee County, Dorchester
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Property damage: $4,000
Crop damage: $1,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 43.480, -91.550

Thunderstorm Wind, Howard

When: June 27, 7:39 PM CST
Where: Howard County, 6 mi N of Riceville
Crop damage: $1,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.450, -92.550

Thunderstorm Wind, Allamakee

When: June 27, 7:50 PM CST
Where: Allamakee County, New Albin
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Property damage: $130,000
Crop damage: $6,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 43.500, -91.330

Thunderstorm Wind, Winneshiek

When: June 27, 7:55 PM CST
Where: Winneshiek County, Decorah
Property damage: $17,000
Crop damage: $2,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.300, -91.800

Flood, Winneshiek

When: June 27, 8:00 PM CST to 9:03 PM CST
Where: Winneshiek County, Decorah
Property damage: $2,000
Crop damage: $2,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.291, -91.844 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Chickasaw

When: June 27, 8:15 PM CST to 9:03 PM CST
Where: Chickasaw County, New Hampton
Property damage: $2,000
Crop damage: $1,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.060, -92.318 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorm Wind, Allamakee

When: June 27, 8:30 PM CST
Where: Allamakee County, Harpers Ferry
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.200, -91.150

Flash Flood, Allamakee

When: June 27, 9:33 PM CST to 11:33 PM CST
Where: Allamakee County, Waukon
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.284, -91.378 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Chickasaw

When: June 27, 9:33 PM CST to 11:33 PM CST
Where: Chickasaw County, New Hampton
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.060, -92.318 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Floyd

When: June 27, 9:33 PM CST to 11:33 PM CST
Where: Floyd County, Charles City
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.060, -92.789 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Winneshiek

When: June 27, 9:33 PM CST to 11:33 PM CST
Where: Winneshiek County, Decorah
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.291, -91.844 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Howard

When: June 27, 9:46 PM CST to 11:49 PM CST
Where: Howard County, Cresco
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.357, -92.317 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Winneshiek

When: June 27, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Winneshiek County, Ossian
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 43.150, -91.780

Hail, Fayette

When: June 27, 10:17 PM CST
Where: Fayette County, 4 mi NE of West Union
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates: 43.000, -91.750

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Iowa in 1998 Every state in 1998 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Iowa, 1998 Warnings in Iowa, June 1998

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: 5653108, 5653110, 5653111, 5653113, 5653109, 5654153, 5653452, 5654152, 5653114, 5654146, 5653453, 5653115, 5654145, 5654154, 5654147, 5654148, 5654149, 5654150, 5654151, 5654155, 5653112.