Flood in Iowa, May 17 to 18, 1999

Name: Flood in Iowa, May 17 to 18, 1999
Start: 1999-05-17T04:00
End: 1999-05-18T17:00
Location: Iowa

May 17 to 18, 1999 · NWS OAX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
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.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Fremont

When: May 17, 4:00 AM CST to May 18, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Fremont forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 40.746, -95.605 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Slow moving thunderstorms the evening of 5/16/99, besides producing destructive tornadoes, also dropped heavy rain across southwest Iowa. This caused the Nishnabotna River to flood around Hamburg. The river at Hamburg reached 27.4 feet at 445 pm on 5/17/99, flood stage is 23 feet. The West Nishnabotna also flooded much of 5/17/99, reaching a crest of 21.23 feet at Randolph at 815 am 5/17/99, flood stage is 19 feet.

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, 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: 5697202.