Flooding in Iowa, June 13 to 14, 2002

Name: Flooding in Iowa, June 13 to 14, 2002
Start: 2002-06-13T16:00
End: 2002-06-14T06:00
Location: Iowa

June 13 to 14, 2002 · NWS DMX · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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: $40,000
Crop damage: $80,000
Events: 4

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.

A warm, humid air mass covered most of the state during the day June 12, with a weak frontal boundary in place across south central Iowa. In the late afternoon storms erupted along this boundary, producing some severe weather and very heavy precipitation. Rainfall was especially heavy across the Des Moines metro area, and a Flash Flood Warning was issued for Polk county at 550 PM as several reports of severe flooding in the city were received. Flash flood warnings were also issued for Dallas and Marshall counties, and while some flooding did occur in Dallas county, little of significance was reported in Marshall county. The rains fell quickly in the Des Moines area with 1-hour rainfall from gages including West Des Moines DCP (WDMI4) 1.79"; Des Moines Airport ASOS (DSM) 1.63"; and River Woods Elementary - KCCI (SDRI4) 1.43". Total rainfall was not much higher with several locations measuring in excess of 2 inches, including SDRI4 at 2.22", WDMI4, 2.10"; Iowa State Fairgrounds (STFI4), 2.06"; and Maffitt Reservoir (MAFI4), 2.00". Outside the metro area, rainfall was scattered, with parts of the lower Iowa River basin receiving 1 to 2 inches. River flooding was confined to the South Skunk at Oskaloosa, which briefly exceeded flood stage late on June 13.

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 Des Moines, IA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 13, 1:29 PM CST, 2 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 13, 1:29 PM CST, 2 hours 31 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
229 PM CDT THU JUN 13 2002

LGT PCPN EVENTS AND TEMPS ONLY CONCERNS TDA AS WE HEAD INTO COOL AND
RELATIVELY DRY SPRINGLIKE PTN.  MDLS IN FAIR AGREEMENT SHIFTING UPR
LOW OVR DAKOTAS AND MN THIS AFTN INTO ERN GTLKS BY WEEKEND.
CONFIDENCE NOT THE GREATEST HWVR AS WE TRANSITION INTO SUBTLE NWLY
FLOW.  ONLY INITIAL QUESTION WL BE WHETHER TO BRING SD/MN SHWRS INTO
NRN FA...AND IF WI TSTMS DVLP SWWD.  KFSD/KMPX RADARS INDC SHWRS
EXPANDING A BIT UPSTREAM SO UNLESS CONDS DICTATE OTRW CLOSE TO
ISSUANCE TIME WL ADD BRIEF PD OF SCT SHWRS/ISOLD TSTMS NRN PTNS THIS
EVE.   CLD MASS ASSOCD WITH UPR LOW LOOKS SUBSTANTIAL ENOUGH TO KEEP
SOME CLDS IN TNGT AS WELL.  18Z SFC ANLYS PLACES SGFNT CNVGNC WELL S
OF IA WITH SCNDRY AXIS IN TROF ALG MS RVR IN WHAT LOOKS TO BE SURGE
OF DRIER AIR.  THUS DO NOT XPC WI TSTMS TO DVLP MUCH MORE SWWD.  LGT
SHWRS OVR SWRN SXNS HIGH BASED AND LIKELY JUST VIRGA SO WL NOT
MENTION.

IN LATER PDS CANNOT FIND MUCH OF ANYTHING IN TERMS OF QG
FORCING...ISENT LIFT...OR LOW LVL CNVGNC AS SFC RDG RMNS ALG
OR W OF MO RVR THRU AT LEAST SAT.  THERE IS SOME HINT AT PCPN ALG
BACLIN ZN LATE FRI NGT/EARLY SAT BUT CHCS DO NOT LOOK GREAT ENOUGH
TO ADD TO FCST ATTM.  PERSISTENCE PLUS A FEW DEGREES MAY BE GOOD BET
FOR TEMPS.  NGM MOS HAS GOOD HANDLE ON CURRENT TEMPS AND SEEMS TO
DEPICT THIS TREND SO WL GENERALLY FOLLOW.

AVN/MRF AND ENSEMBLES AS WELL AS EURO MDLS AND NOGAPS IN DECENT
AGREEMENT.  CANADIAN FOLLOWS ALG THRU TUE WITH NIL QPF BUT DVRGS FM
OTHER MDLS FOR RMNDR OF PD GOING INTO MORE ZNL FLOW.  CANNOT FIND
MUCH REASON TO DEVIATE FM AVN/MRF ATTM.  PTN GOES FM NWLY FLOW AND
THEN FLATTENS THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK WITH SVRL MAINLY MINOR BUT LOW
CONFIDENCE PCPN EVENTS PSBL.

ELEVATED WRM ADVCTN AND FRONTOGENETICAL FORCING THRU MO VLY BRUSHES
EXTRM WRN FA LATE SAT/SUN BUT THIS SEEMS TO MAINLY BE W OF FA.  PTN
OF UPR LOW OVR NRN CANADA TDA DROPS INTO MIDWEST MON.  MRF/UKMET
STGR THAN OTHER MDLS...BUT STILL CANNOT FIND SGFNT KINEMATIC OR
THERMODYNAMIC FORCING AND LOW LVL CNVGNC WEAK TOO.  HARD TO IGNORE
QPF HWVR AND IS CURRENTLY MENTIONED IN FCST SO WL LEAVE IN MON.
RTRN FLOW BGNS WED NGT INTO THU WITH INCRG H85 THETA-E ADVCTN AND
INSTABILITY.  WL ADD CHC MENTION WED NGT AND THU.  OTRW WL SCALE
BACK ON PCPN MENTION IN FCST WITH NIL UVM AND POPS AOB CLIMO.

OVERALL PTN AND ENSEMBLE H85 TEMP ANOMALIES SUPPORT GOING TWRD
COOLER OF OBJECTIVE AND MOS GUID THRU TUE.  AFT THAT TIME SLY FLOW
AND LOW LVL WRM ADVCTN INCRS SO WL SWING BACK CLOSER TO WRMR END.

.DSM...NONE

SMALL

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 13, 2:13 PM CST, 1 hour 47 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
313 PM CDT THU JUN 13 2002

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

1100 PM    ST CHARLES                IA   .75 INCH HAIL
06/12/02   MADISON                        REPORTED BY MEDIA.
                                          KZZQ RADIO IN WINTERSET
                                          AND WEST DES MOINES.

1100 PM    ST CHARLES                IA   WIND DAMAGE
06/12/02   MADISON                        KZZQ RADIO IN WINTERSET
                                          AND WEST DES MOINES.
                                          REPORTED BY MEDIA.
                                          NUMEROUS 4 TO 6 INCH
                                          TREE BRANCHES DOWN.

0122 AM    2 S ALBIA                 IA   .75 INCH HAIL
06/13/02   MONROE                         KLBA RADIO IN ALBIA.
                                          REPORTED BY MEDIA.

Local storm report, Jun 13, 2:42 PM CST, 1 hour 18 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
342 PM CDT THU JUN 13 2002

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

0130 AM    2 S ALBIA                 IA   .75 INCH HAIL
06/13/02   MONROE                         KLBA RADIO IN ALBIA.
                                          REPORTED BY MEDIA.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Jasper

When: June 13, 4:00 PM CST to June 14, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Jasper forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Crop damage: $20,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.686, -93.054 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Mahaska

When: June 13, 4:00 PM CST to June 14, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Mahaska forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Crop damage: $20,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.335, -92.641 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Marion

When: June 13, 4:00 PM CST to June 14, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Marion forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Crop damage: $20,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.334, -93.099 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Poweshiek

When: June 13, 4:00 PM CST to June 14, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Poweshiek forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Crop damage: $20,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.686, -92.531 (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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, June 2002

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: 5294549, 5294550, 5294551, 5294552.