Flooding in Iowa, April 6 to 15, 1999

Name: Flooding in Iowa, April 6 to 15, 1999
Start: 1999-04-06T18:00
End: 1999-04-15T21:00
Location: Iowa

April 6 to 15, 1999 · NWS DMX · 30 events in 30 counties and zones

After a dry month in March, April turned around and was a wet month across Iowa. The first significant rainfall event took place on the 5th and 6th.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 30 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: $210,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 30

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.

After a dry month in March, April turned around and was a wet month across Iowa. The first significant rainfall event took place on the 5th and 6th. Some of the heavier rain included one and one half to two and one half inches of rain over the headwaters of the Des Moines River basin. The rivers in the state were already rising when more heavy rain and severe weather struck the state on the 8th. This led to some significant river rises and minor flooding in central and northern Iowa. The North Raccoon River at Jefferson crested about 2 feet over flood stage on the 9th. On the East Fork Des Moines River, the stage went above flood at Algona on the 8th and actually remained above flood stage for 3 weeks. Some of the heavier rain on the 8th that contributed to the flooding included 1.28 inches at Des Moines, which was a record for the greatest for the date. Also, at Waterloo, 1.49 inches there was also a 24-hour record for the date as well. The flooding from this event was relatively minor even though it was fairly widespread. By the middle of the month, cooler weather moved in. By the 15th and 16th, snow fell across central and southern Iowa with several inches of accumulation. Snowfall averages for the 1998-99 winter season totalled 36.1 inches for the state, which is about 5 inches above normal.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

30 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Adair

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Adair forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.331, -94.471 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Butler

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Butler forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.732, -92.790 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Calhoun

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Calhoun forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.385, -94.640 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Carroll

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Carroll forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.036, -94.861 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Clarke

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Clarke forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.029, -93.785 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Dallas

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Dallas forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.685, -94.040 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Emmet

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Emmet forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.378, -94.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Franklin

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Franklin forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.733, -93.262 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Greene

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Greene forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.036, -94.397 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Guthrie

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Guthrie forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.684, -94.501 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Hamilton

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Hamilton forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.384, -93.707 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Hancock

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Hancock forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.082, -93.734 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Hardin

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Hardin forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.384, -93.240 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Jasper

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Jasper forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.686, -93.054 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Kossuth

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Kossuth forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.204, -94.207 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Lucas

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Lucas forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.029, -93.328 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Madison

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Madison forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.331, -94.016 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Mahaska

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Mahaska forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.335, -92.641 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Marshall

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Marshall forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.036, -92.999 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Monroe

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Monroe forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.030, -92.869 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Pocahontas

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Pocahontas forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.734, -94.679 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Polk

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Polk forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.686, -93.573 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Sac

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Sac forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.386, -95.105 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Story

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Story forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.036, -93.465 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Wapello

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Wapello forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.031, -92.409 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Warren

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Warren forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.334, -93.561 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Wayne

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Wayne forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 40.740, -93.327 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Webster

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Webster forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.428, -94.182 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Winnebago

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Winnebago forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.378, -93.734 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Wright

When: April 6, 6:00 PM CST to April 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Wright forecast zone
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.733, -93.735 (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 1999 Every state in 1999 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, April 1999

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: 5687068, 5687069, 5687070, 5687071, 5687072, 5687073, 5687074, 5687075, 5687076, 5687077, 5687078, 5687079, 5687080, 5687081, 5687082, 5687083, 5687084, 5687085, 5687086, 5687087, 5687088, 5687089, 5687090, 5687091, 5687092, 5687093, 5687094, 5687095, 5687096, 5687097.