Iowa, 1998

Flooding and Hail in Iowa, May 23, 1998

May 23, 1998 · NWS DMX · 11 events in 8 counties and zones

A complex weather situation unfolded over Iowa. Initially, a stationary front was located to the south of the state.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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
$197,000
Crop damage
$39,000
Events
11

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.

A complex weather situation unfolded over Iowa. Initially, a stationary front was located to the south of the state. An upper low pressure system was poised to the southwest of Iowa and began to lift out. As it lifted out and its associated vorticity maximum moved northeast, a line of thunderstorms formed in western Iowa. This line advanced east across the west half of the state producing hail and heavy rainfall. Some of the hail was up to golf ball in size. Rainfall rates were in excess of 1.5 inches per hour. In Greene County, flooding washed a police squad car off of a highway north of Scranton. While all of this was going on, another mesoscale convective system formed over Missouri. Iowa was on the north edge of this system as it advanced northward and merged with the line of thunderstorms moving east into Iowa. The system in Missouri formed as the surface low pressure system moved east across northern Missouri. There was little in the way of severe weather over southern Iowa from the convective system. Though there was some hail, the main feature was heavy rainfall. Nearly 3 inches of rain fell in under 3 hours southeast of Moravia in Appanoose County, causing local flooding there. There were numerous reports of lowland flooding throughout Appanoose, Davis, and Wapello Counties.

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 113 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:28 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 hail, 4 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Carroll

When
May 23, 5:30 PM CST
Where
Carroll County, Manning
Measured
0.75 in hail
Property damage
$200
Crop damage
$2,000
Coordinates
41.900, -95.070

Hail, Greene

When
May 23, 5:42 PM CST
Where
Greene County, Churdan
Measured
1.75 in hail
Property damage
$10,000
Crop damage
$1,000
Coordinates
42.170, -94.480

Hail, Webster

When
May 23, 6:00 PM CST
Where
Webster County, 4 mi NE of Gowrie
Measured
0.75 in hail
Property damage
$200
Crop damage
$3,000
Coordinates
42.320, -94.250

Hail, Hamilton

When
May 23, 6:15 PM CST
Where
Hamilton County, 2 mi E of Stanhope
Measured
0.75 in hail
Property damage
$200
Crop damage
$3,000
Coordinates
42.280, -93.770

Hail, Monroe

When
May 23, 6:26 PM CST
Where
Monroe County, 9 mi SE of Albia
Measured
1 in hail
Property damage
$500
Crop damage
$3,000
Coordinates
40.930, -92.700

torrential rainfall

Flood, Greene

When
May 23, 6:30 PM CST to 8:30 PM CST
Where
Greene County, 4 mi N of Scranton
Property damage
$30,000
Crop damage
$2,000
Coordinates
42.036, -94.397 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Appanoose

When
May 23, 7:00 PM CST to 9:45 PM CST
Where
Appanoose County, 2 mi SE of Monrovia
Property damage
$50,000
Crop damage
$5,000
Coordinates
40.743, -92.869 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Davis

When
May 23, 7:00 PM CST to 9:45 PM CST
Where
Davis County, Bloomfield
Property damage
$50,000
Crop damage
$5,000
Coordinates
40.748, -92.410 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Wapello

When
May 23, 7:00 PM CST to 9:45 PM CST
Where
Wapello County, Ottumwa
Property damage
$50,000
Crop damage
$5,000
Coordinates
41.031, -92.409 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Appanoose

When
May 23, 7:17 PM CST
Where
Appanoose County, 5 mi SE of Moravia
Measured
1 in hail
Property damage
$3,000
Crop damage
$5,000
Coordinates
40.830, -92.820

Hail, Davis

When
May 23, 7:54 PM CST
Where
Davis County, Bloomfield
Measured
1 in hail
Property damage
$3,000
Crop damage
$5,000
Coordinates
40.750, -92.420

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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

More

Every storm in Iowa in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, May 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: 5646920, 5646921, 5646922, 5646923, 5646924, 5646930, 5646925, 5646926, 5646927, 5646928, 5646929.