Flood in Iowa, May 29, 2002

Name: Flood in Iowa, May 29, 2002
Start: 2002-05-29T01:45
End: 2002-05-29T01:45
Location: Iowa

May 29, 2002 · 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 28, 1:01 PM CST, 12 hours 44 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 28, 1:01 PM CST, 12 hours 44 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
201 PM CDT TUE MAY 28 2002

SYNOPTIC PICTURE THIS AFTERNOON SHOWS 500H TROF EXTENDING FROM WESTERN
MN THROUGH WESTERN IA. AT THE JET LEVEL A 70KT EXTENDS FROM NORTHERN
WI ACROSS NORTHERN MI. AT THE SURFACE A TROF EXTENDS FROM THE CENTRAL
DAKOTAS THRU IOWA...FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST...INTO SOUTH CENTRAL
IL. STRONG CONVECTION IS CURRENTLY EXPANDING ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL IOWA
IN ASSOCIATION WITH PVA...300H DIVERGENCE...AND 700H VVS.

THE MODELS INITIALIZED WELL THIS MORNING.  THE MESO-ETA AND ETA HAVE
THE BEST HANDLE ON ONGOING PRECIP THIS AFTERNOON.

THE PRIMARY FORECAST CONCERN THIS PACKAGE IS PRECIP CHANCES OVER THE
NEXT 48 HOURS...WITH CHANGEABLE WEAK TO MODERATE FEATURES CHANGING IN
GUIDANCE FROM RUN TO RUN...WITH A TROF/COLD FRONT THURSDAY SWEEPING
WEATHER OUT TO THE EAST.

SHORT-TERM MODELS AGREE ON STRONG FORCING LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS
EVENING AFFECTING THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE FORECAST AREA. CANT
RULE OUT PRECIP FURTHER SOUTH ACROSS THE AREA EITHER...WITH BOUNDARIES
SET UP BY THIS MORNINGS RAINFALL SOUTH. 500H SHORT WAVE MOVES THRU
AROUND 12Z WEDNESDAY.  AT THE SURFACE...TROFING CONTINUES ACROSS IA
WEDNESDAY...WHICH WILL PROVIDE FORCING...MAINLY NORTH AND WEST.  THE
COLD FRONT MOVES THRU THE FORECAST AREA NEAR 12Z THURSDAY...WITH 500H
TROF IN THE 12Z-18Z TIME FRAME...AND PVA INTO THE AFTERNOON.

MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ARE MORE IN PHASE THAN ON YESTERDAYS RUNS THRU
SATURDAY...WITH MRF NOW COMING MORE IN LINE WITH THE EUROPEANS LOWER
AMPLITUDE TROF...BUT THEY DIVERGE BY SUNDAY IN THE PLACING OF A
WARM/STATIONARY FRONT ACROSS THE AREA. THE MRF FORMS THE FRONT
SATURDAY NIGHT ALONG THE IA/MO LINE...LIFTING IT NORTH THRU THE FORECAST
AREA SUNDAY...THEN FORCING IT SOUTH AGAIN SUNDAY NIGHT WHERE IT
REMAINS INTO TUESDAY. THE EUROPEAN HAS A MORE NORTHERN SOLUTION THAT
COULD MAKE A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN TEMPS AND PRECIP.

WILL CONTINUE FORECAST ON SAME TRACK. WILL KEEP LOW POPS TONIGHT AND
WEDNESDAY...AND MAYBE CUT BACK WEDNESDAY NIGHT.  MAY MENTION POPS OR
SPRINKLES THURSDAY IN AFTERMATH OF FRONT.  WILL HOLD OFF ON PRECIP FOR
SATURDAY...AS LOOKS LIKE BEST CHANCES...PER FMR AND MEX...START
SATURDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUE THRU TUESDAY.

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

REA

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 28, 7:45 PM CST, 6 hours before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
845 PM CDT TUE MAY 28 2002

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

0840 PM    VINTON                    IA   .5 INCH HAIL
05/28/02   BENTON                         REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

Local storm report, May 28, 8:48 PM CST, 4 hours 57 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
948 PM CDT TUE MAY 28 2002

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

0945 PM    CEDAR RAPIDS              IA   .25 INCH HAIL
05/28/02   LINN                           REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

Local storm report, May 28, 9:37 PM CST, 4 hours 8 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
1037 PM CDT TUE MAY 28 2002

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

1015 PM    CEDAR RAPIDS              IA   HEAVY RAIN
05/28/02   LINN                           1.18 INCHES OF RAIN
                                          SINCE 830 PM IN
                                          NORTHEAST CEDAR RAPIDS.
                                          REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

Local storm report, May 28, 11:14 PM CST, 2 hours 31 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
1214 AM CDT WED MAY 29 2002

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

0800 PM    SOUTH ENGLISH             IA   .5 INCH HAIL
05/28/02   KEOKUK                         REPORTED BY FIRE AND
                                          RESCUE.

0814 PM    CEDAR RAPIDS              IA   .5 INCH HAIL
05/28/02   LINN                           REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

0825 PM    1 E SOUTH ENGLISH         IA   .5 INCH HAIL
05/28/02   KEOKUK                         REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

0840 PM    VINTON                    IA   .5 INCH HAIL
05/28/02   BENTON                         REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

0945 PM    CEDAR RAPIDS              IA   .25 INCH HAIL
05/28/02   LINN                           REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

1015 PM    CEDAR RAPIDS              IA   HEAVY RAIN
05/28/02   LINN                           1.18 INCHES OF RAIN
                                          SINCE 830 PM IN
                                          NORTHEAST CEDAR RAPIDS.
                                          REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

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, Jones

When: May 29, 1:45 AM CST
Where: Jones County, Monticello
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.121, -91.131 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Several streets with water up to the curb.

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, May 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: 5297854.