Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Iowa, July 9 to 10, 2000

A nearly stationary frontal boundary was located to the north of Iowa during the day on the 9th. Very rich air was pumped north into the state with surface dew point temperatures reaching the mid 70s to low 80s by the late afternoon and evening hours. The front began to sag south during the evening. Thunderstorms erupted along the front with a training effect setting up over the northern part of the state. Severe weather was limited with the storms and occurred mainly during the early life of the developing mesoscale convective system. There were several reports of winds around 60 MPH over northern Iowa during the evening hours as the storms moved in initially. In Palo Alto County, winds around 75 MPH caused considerable damage on a farm south of Ruthven. Part of the roof of the house was torn off, a cattle shed was severely damaged, and many trees were lost or damaged. The main event with these storms was the very heavy rain. Rainfall of five to eight inches was common in a broad swath from Emmet County, southeast to Tama County. Some of the heaviest rainfall occurred in southern Kossuth County, where as much as 10 inches of rain was measured. About 40 homes in the town of LuVerne were damaged by the wind driven rain with numerous basements flooded. Nearly all of the county blacktop roads were under water at one point. There were numerous reports of debris being swept onto roads. For example, in Black Hawk County water was reported 2 to 3 feet deep on major streets in the town of Cedar Falls. Numerous roads were reported in a multi-county area. One injury occurred during the event in Grundy County. Highway 175 was closed near Reinbeck as water swept a truck off the highway. One man was injured and taken to the hospital. In addition to flooded roads, numerous basements were flooded. In Kossuth County for example, many houses were reporting anywhere from two to six feet of water in the basements. Crop damage occurred as farm fields were flooded by the heavy rainfall. This seemed ironic considering much of Iowa was in the grips of the worst drought since the 80s as recently as three weeks prior to this event. As the thunderstorms moved through Kossuth County, lightning struck a house north of Bancroft. The lightning knocked out the electricity to the house and causing some minor appliance damage. Another house was struck in Cerro Gordo County at Meservey. The lightning started a small fire near the rafters. Some smoke damage occurred, along with considerable water damage. In another lightning strike, lightning struck a tree near a house in Sully of Jasper County. The lightning traveled through one of the roots of the tree and blew a whole in the driveway and curled up the metal trim on the garage. All of the brooms and tools within the garage were knocked onto the floor.