Flood in Iowa, May 3, 2001

Name: Flood in Iowa, May 3, 2001
Start: 2001-05-03T20:15
End: 2001-05-03T20:15
Location: Iowa

May 3, 2001 · NWS DVN · 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

Open the live radar over this ground

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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Quad Cities, IA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 3, 2:00 PM CST, 6 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 3, 2:00 PM CST, 6 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
300 PM CDT THU MAY 3 2001

STATIONARY FRONT STILL POSITIONED OVER CWA THIS AFTERNOON.  AT 18Z
FRONT WEAVING ITS WAS FROM SOUTHEAST WI THROUGH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
IA AND EASTERN KS.  RADAR WAS SHOWING MOST OF THE CONVECTION NEAR THE
FRONTAL BOUNDARY FROM SOUTH CENTRAL IA INTO NORTHWEST MO AND
EASTERN KS.  AN AREA OF OVERUNNING TYPE RAIN WAS LOCATED FROM
EASTERN NE INTO NORTHWEST IA. THERE IS NOT MUCH DIFFERENCE IN THE
MODEL SOLUTIONS THROUGH SATURDAY.  ALL MODELS ARE PROGGING SURFACE
HIGH OVER SOUTHERN CANADA TO MOVE SOUTHEAST TONIGHT AND FRIDAY...
FORCING SURFACE FRONT SOUTH INTO MO.  FRONT SHOULD PUSH SOUTH OF
CWA EARLY FRIDAY...WITH COOLER EASTERLY FLOW SETTING UP OVER REGION
INTO SATURDAY AS HIGH MOVES THROUGH THE GREAT LAKES.  UPPER TROUGH
OVER SW U.S. PROGGED TO LIFT OUT OVER WEEKEND BRING MORE TSRA TO
REGION.

MAIN CONCERN THIS ROUND WILL BE THE FRONTAL POSITION AND PCPN
CHANCES AND QPF AS IT MOVES SOUTH THROUGH REST OF CWA TONIGHT.
CONVECTION HAS BEEN INCREASING SOME WITH HEATING THIS AFTERNOON
NEAR THE FRONT.  MODEL SOLUTIONS LOOK REASONABLE WITH CANADIAN HIGH
SAGGING SOUTH TONIGHT AND WILL BUY INTO FRONT STARTING A SOUTHWARD
PUSH LATE TONIGHT.  WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP HIGHER POPS ALONG AND
NORTH OF BOUNDARY...HOWEVER WILL NOT GO QUITE AS HIGH AS GUIDANCE.
BELIEVE THAT MORE ORGANIZED CONVECTION WILL RESULT FROM AFTERNOON
HEATING.  TSRA/SHRA SHOULD BE MORE SCATTERED LATE TONIGHT WITH OUT
ANY INDICATION OF AN UPSTREAM S/W TO ENHANCE PRECIPITATION. LACK OF
UPSTREAM SYSTEM SHOULD ALSO KEEP QPFS IN LINE WITH HPC PROGS.

WILL CONTINUE CHANCE POPS MOST AREAS FRIDAY.  EVEN WITH FRONT WELL
INTO NORTHERN MO...WE STILL COULD SEE SOME SCATTERED SHOWERS IN THE
COOL AIR.  MODEL QPFS ARE PRINTING OUT SOME LIGHT AMOUNTS DURING
THE DAY...AND SEEM TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE 850 FRONT.  SHOULD BE
ABLE TO DROP POPS FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY WITH STRONG HIGH TO THE
EAST AND EASTERLY FLOW OVER REGION.  WILL INTRODUCE CHANCE POPS
SATURDAY NIGHT AS WAA PICKS UP OVER MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY IN
RESPONSE TO  TROUGH LIFTING OUT OF SOUTHWEST U.S.

MOS TEMPERATURES ARE SIMILAR AND LOOK REASONABLE...SO NO SIGNIFICANT
CHANGES ARE ANTICIPATED.

IN THE EXTENDED TROF LIFTING OUT OF SW U.S. SHOULD BRING ANOTHER
ROUND OF SIGNIFICANT RAINS TO THE REGION SUNDAY INTO MONDAY.
SYSTEM THEN MERGES WITH S/W MOVING THROUGH CANADA CAUSING H5 TROF TO
LINGER OVER MID AND UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF
THE WEEK.  THIS SHOULD KEEP COOLER TEMPS AND A THREAT OF SHOWERS AT
LEAST THROUGH TUESDAY. SIGNIFICANT DISSAGREEMENTS APPEAR AFTER MID
WEEK.  CON,SENSUS IS TO GO WITH DRY FCST PER ECMWF FOR NOW.

.DVN...
IA...NONE.
IL...NONE.
MO...NONE.

DLF

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 3, 4:35 PM CST, 3 hours 40 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
535 PM CDT THU MAY 03 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0532 PM    BLUE GRASS                IA   .7 INCH HAIL
05/03/01   SCOTT                          DIME SIZED HAIL
                                          REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

Local storm report, May 3, 4:49 PM CST, 3 hours 26 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
549 PM CDT THU MAY 03 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0540 PM    ALEDO                     IL   HEAVY RAIN
05/03/01   MERCER                         0.95 INCHES OF RAIN
                                          FELL IN 15 TO 20
                                          MINUTES. ALSO HAD A FEW
                                          PEA SIZED HAIL STONES.
                                          REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

Local storm report, May 3, 4:53 PM CST, 3 hours 22 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
553 PM CDT THU MAY 03 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0523 PM    ALEDO                     IL   .25 INCH HAIL
05/03/01   MERCER                         PEA SIZED HAIL REPORTED
                                          BY LAW ENFORCEMENT
                                          OFFICIAL.

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, Henry

When: May 3, 8:15 PM CST
Where: Henry County, Mt Pleasant
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.988, -91.544 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

2 inches of rain produced street flooding. Reported by law enforcement.

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 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, May 2001

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: 5250619.