Flooding in Iowa, May 9 to 10, 2006

Name: Flooding in Iowa, May 9 to 10, 2006
Start: 2006-05-09T22:50
End: 2006-05-10T23:45
Location: Iowa

May 9 to 10, 2006 · NWS DVN · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Locally heavy rainfall the first third of the month resulted in minor flooding of the Wapsipinicon River.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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: 2

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 DVN wrote it up.

Locally heavy rainfall the first third of the month resulted in minor flooding of the Wapsipinicon River.

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 9, 9:00 PM CST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 9, 9:00 PM CST, 1 hour 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
1000 PM CDT TUE MAY 9 2006

.DISCUSSION...
ISOLATED BUT ACTIVE STORMS FINALLY WEAKENING... BUT STILL GOING
ALONG AND EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI. WILL HAVE POPS THERE NEXT FEW
HOURS. WILL ADD MENTION OF FOG EASTERN HALF OF CWA WITH LIGHT WINDS
AND ABUNDANT LLVL MOISTURE. EXPECT POCKETS OF DENSE FOG...AND CAN/T
RULE OUT ADVISORY. DRIER AIR MAY WORK IN LATER TONIGHT ALLOWING THE
FOG TO LIFT...ESPECIALLY WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

&&

.PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...

.SYNOPSIS...
AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF COOL AND UNSETTLED WEATHER WILL BE SEEN ACROSS
THE REGION THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. TEMPERATURES ARE
EXPECTED TO BE BELOW NORMAL.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
THE MCS THAT FIRED OVER THE PLAINS LAST NIGHT GENERATED A NICE MCV.
THIS MCV CAUSED A NEW MCS TO DEVELOP OVER THE AREA THIS MORNING
WHICH IS CURRENTLY MOVING INTO WISCONSIN. THE QUESTION NOW IS WHAT
WILL DEVELOP LATE THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING. MODELS FINALLY DISCOVERED
THE VORT MAX OVER THE PLAINS WITH THE 12Z RUNS BUT INDICATE IT NOT
DOING MUCH. SATELLITE TRENDS INDICATE CELLULAR CU OVER IOWA THAT
DOES NOT LOOK REAL HEALTHY FOR ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT. RADAR HAS
SOME SHRA AND POSSIBLE TSRA FROM NORTHERN IOWA INTO SOUTHEAST
MINNESOTA. WE SHOULD SEE SOME SCATTERED SHRA AND POSSIBLE TSRA
DEVELOP LATE AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING BUT THE SEVERE THREAT LOOKS TO
BE MINIMAL.

MODELS CONTINUE TO HAVE DISAGREEMENTS ON WHAT WILL OCCUR OVER THE
NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. THEY DO AGREE ON A DEEP CUT OFF UPPER LOW
DEVELOPING OVER OR VERY NEAR THE AREA. 12Z ECMWF/UKMET/ETA REV UP
THE SURFACE LOW BY THURSDAY MORNING WITH NEAR PERFECT PHASING. NGM
IS MUCH WEAKER BUT HAS A LOW CLUSTERED IN THE SAME GENERAL AREA. GFS
LOOKS TO BE AN OUTLIER WITH ITS STRONG LOW MUCH FURTHER NORTH. NOT
SURE IF I BELIEVE THE STRENGTH OF THE LOW (980-990 DEPENDING ON THE
MODEL) BUT A LOCATION SOMEWHERE NEAR KBEH LOOKS ABOUT RIGHT. SYSTEM
TO BECOME VERTICALLY STACKED AND MEANDER AROUND SOUTHERN LAKE
MICHIGAN FOR MUCH OF THE WEEKEND BEFORE DEPARTING. NET RESULT IS
CONSIDERABLE CLOUDS WITH SOME THREAT OF RAIN FOR SEVERAL DAYS. HAVE
OPTED TO GO WITH SILENT 20 POPS FOR FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY DUE TO
THE PROXIMITY OF THE UPPER LOW WITH VORT MAXES ROTATING AROUND IT. I
WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE SCATTERED SHRA DEVELOP DURING THE
DAYLIGHT HOURS DURING THIS TIME PERIOD.

TEMPERATURES TO BE BELOW NORMAL IN THE THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY TIME
PERIOD WITH A RECOVERY TO NEAR NORMAL BY NEXT TUESDAY.

&&

.DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
IA...NONE.
IL...NONE.
MO...NONE.

08

Hazardous weather outlook, May 9, 2:49 PM CST, 8 hours 1 minute before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
349 PM CDT TUE MAY 9 2006

IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007-
009-015>018-024>026-034-035-MOZ009-010-101000-
BENTON IA-BUCHANAN IA-BUREAU IL-CARROLL IL-CEDAR IA-CLARK MO-
CLINTON IA-DELAWARE IA-DES MOINES IA-DUBUQUE IA-HANCOCK IL-
HENDERSON IL-HENRY IA-HENRY IL-IOWA IA-JACKSON IA-JEFFERSON IA-
JO DAVIESS IL-JOHNSON IA-JONES IA-KEOKUK IA-LEE IA-LINN IA-LOUISA IA-
MCDONOUGH IL-MERCER IL-MUSCATINE IA-PUTNAM IL-ROCK ISLAND IL-
SCOTLAND MO-SCOTT IA-STEPHENSON IL-VAN BUREN IA-WARREN IL-
WASHINGTON IA-WHITESIDE IL-
349 PM CDT TUE MAY 9 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL
ILLINOIS...NORTHWEST ILLINOIS...WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS...EAST
CENTRAL IOWA...NORTHEAST IOWA...SOUTHEAST IOWA AND NORTHEAST
MISSOURI.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS
EVENING.  AT THIS TIME...THOUGH THERE IS ENOUGH INSTABILITY FOR
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS...IT APPEARS THAT THERE IS NOT ENOUGH LIFT
OR MID LEVEL SUPPORT FOR THUNDERSTORMS TO INITIATE ALONG AND AHEAD OF
THE FRONT. A FEW ISOLATED STORMS MAY STILL FORM IN THE IMMEDIATE
VICINITY OF THE FRONT.  THESE STORMS MAY STILL BE ABLE TO PRODUCE
LARGE HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS...BUT THEY SHOULD BE ISOLATED IN
NATURE...AND SHOULD BE LIMITED TO BETWEEN 4 AND 8 PM.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AS A STRONG UPPER
LEVEL LOW MOVES OVER THE AREA. CONDITIONS MAY BE FAVORABLE FOR
STORMS TO PRODUCE SMALL HAIL.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

THERE IS A LOW PROBABILITY OF SPOTTER ACTIVATION THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING.

LE

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 9, 7:04 PM CST, 3 hours 46 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
804 PM CDT TUE MAY 09 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0755 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     1 W WEST BRANCH         41.67N 91.37W
05/09/2006                   CEDAR              IA   LAW ENFORCEMENT

&&

MDB

Local storm report, May 9, 7:28 PM CST, 3 hours 22 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
828 PM CDT TUE MAY 09 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0655 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     NORTH LIBERTY           41.74N 91.61W
05/09/2006                   JOHNSON            IA   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            FUNNEL CLOUD WITH POSSIBLE BRIEF TOUCHDOWN BETWEEN NORTH
            LIBERTY AND INTERSTATE 380

&&

MDB

Local storm report, May 9, 7:43 PM CST, 3 hours 7 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
843 PM CDT TUE MAY 09 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0840 PM     TSTM WND GST     NEW LIBERTY             41.72N 90.88W
05/09/2006  M42 MPH          SCOTT              IA   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

MIKEM

Local storm report, May 9, 7:47 PM CST, 3 hours 3 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
847 PM CDT TUE MAY 09 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0840 PM     HAIL             SUNBURY                 41.67N 90.93W
05/09/2006  E0.50 INCH       CEDAR              IA   TRAINED SPOTTER

            RELAYED FROM KWWL.

&&

MIKEM

Local storm report, May 9, 8:22 PM CST, 2 hours 28 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
922 PM CDT TUE MAY 09 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0920 PM     HAIL             MOUNT JOY               41.62N 90.55W
05/09/2006  M0.50 INCH       SCOTT              IA   NWS EMPLOYEE

            1/2 INCH HAIL AT NWS DAVENPORT FORECAST OFFICE

&&

MDB

Local storm report, May 9, 8:39 PM CST, 2 hours 11 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
939 PM CDT TUE MAY 09 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0933 PM     HAIL             BETTENDORF              41.56N 90.48W
05/09/2006  M0.75 INCH       SCOTT              IA   NWS EMPLOYEE

&&

MDB

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Scott

When: May 9, 10:50 PM CST to May 10, 11:45 PM CST
Where: Scott County, 2 mi N of Dixon
Reported by: OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
Coordinates: 41.637, -90.623 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Clinton

When: May 9, 10:50 PM CST to May 10, 11:45 PM CST
Where: Clinton County, Toronto
Reported by: OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
Coordinates: 41.898, -90.532 (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 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, May 2006

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: 5512545, 5512546.