Flash Flood, Black Hawk
- When
- May 17, 8:00 AM CST to 1:45 PM CST
- Where
- Black Hawk County, Waterloo
- Property damage
- $150,000
- Reported by
- BROADCAST MEDIA
- Coordinates
- 42.470, -92.309 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Iowa, May 17, 1999
Heavy rainfall once again began falling over northeast Iowa during the early morning hours. Rainfall occurred at the rate of an inch or more per hour.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
- 1
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.
Heavy rainfall once again began falling over northeast Iowa during the early morning hours. Rainfall occurred at the rate of an inch or more per hour. The soils over the county were already totally saturated by the heavy rainfall of the previous evening. As a result flash flooding took place easily. The additional damage was not major as the rain served only to exacerbate the flooding situation already taking place in the county.
The radar
The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 143 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 14:01 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- 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.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Indiana, May 17, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Michigan, May 17, 1999
- Flooding in Iowa, May 17 to 19, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, May 17 to 18, 1999
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Arkansas, May 17, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Michigan, May 17, 1999
- Damaging Wind in Illinois, May 17, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, May 17, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Ohio, May 17, 1999
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, May 17, 1999
- Lightning Strike in Ohio, May 17, 1999
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Indiana, May 17, 1999
More
Every storm in Iowa in 1999Every state in 1999This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, May 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: 5693575.