Flash Flooding in Iowa, March 14, 2007

Name: Flash Flooding in Iowa, March 14, 2007
Start: 2007-03-14T03:00
End: 2007-03-14T16:00
Location: Iowa

March 14, 2007 · NWS DMX · 4 events in 3 counties and zones

Very warm temperatures moved into Iowa during the previous several days. High temperatures warmed into the 50s and 60s across snow covered areas.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: $600,000
Crop damage: None recorded
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.

Very warm temperatures moved into Iowa during the previous several days. High temperatures warmed into the 50s and 60s across snow covered areas. This caused considerable snow melt, leading to flooding along area rivers. Many of the rivers remained ice covered as the water rose. Ice broke free and began flowing down the river during the night of the 13th into the day on the 14th. Flash flooding in Webster, Emmet and Dallas Counties. An ice jam on the Des Moines River in Webster County north of Fort Dodge caused rapid rises on the river. Flooding and chunks of ice damaged 20 to 30 homes in the Fort Dodge area. Several vehicles were also damaged. Later in the morning, an ice jam on the Lizard Creek caused flash flooding in the Fort Dodge area. A vehicle was swept off the road and the driver needed to be rescued from the flood waters. An ice jam in Emmet County, near Estherville, on the Des Moines River caused flash flooding along the Des Moines River. The flooding had minor impact, but did result in water over roads. Flash flooding was also reported on the Raccoon River near Adel in Dallas County. This was also caused by ice jamming. Damage was relatively minor. Several roads were closed in the area, including U.S. Highway 169.

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 Mar 14, 2:11 AM CST, 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 14, 2:11 AM CST, 49 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
315 AM CDT MAR 14 2007

.DISCUSSION...
FOCUS WILL BE TIMING AND DURATION OF ANY PRECIPITATION OVER TODAY
AND THURSDAY.  SECONDARY FOCUS IN TRANSITION WILL BE TEMPERATURES
ESPECIALLY TODAY.  IN LONGER TERM WITH COOLER NORTHWEST FLOW AGAIN
TIMING OF ANY PRECIPITATION EVENT WITH RAPIDLY MOVING SHORTWAVES.

TODAY QUITE TRICKY ON HIGH TEMPERATURES AS FRONT ALREADY INTO THE
STATE WITH LOWER TEMPERATURES NORTH HOWEVER EXPECT SOME RECOVERY
DESPITE CLOUDS AND SMALL CHANCES FOR RAIN.  FAVOR NAM ALL THE WAY
WITH TIMING POPS AND TEMPERATURES WITH MINOR ADJUSTMENTS IN SHORT
TERM.  EVEN THAT SAID HARD TO TIME THINGS THOUGH MODELS POINT TO
MOSTLY POST FRONTAL PCPN AND VERY SPOTTY.  DYNAMICAL FIELDS ARE NOT
WELL DEFINED OR STRONG. WONDER ABOUT POSSIBILITY OF ANY THUNDER AS
TQ FIELDS HAVE GONE SOUTH LEAVING FAR SOUTHEAST WITH MARGINAL
NUMBERS. LOOKING AT SHORT TERM EXPERIMENTAL MODELS VERY SIMILAR
SOLUTION WITH LITTLE IF ANY PCPN FIRST 24 HOURS THEN ANY PCPN ON
THURSDAY ACROSS NORTH LIKE NAM SOLUTION.  DYNAMICAL FIELDS WEAK ON
SHORT TERM EXPERIMENTAL MODELS TOO.

IN LONGER TERM AS STATED WILL BE QUESTION ON TIMING RAPIDLY MOVING
SHORTWAVES IN NORTHWEST FLOW.  ANY TEMPERATURE MODERATION WILL BE
SLOW.  BEST CHANCE AND THAT IS LOW WILL BE BEGINNING NEXT WEEK
MONDAY WITH SLIGHT CHANCES.

&&

.DMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.

&&

FORSTER/171/33

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 13, 2:47 PM CST, 12 hours 13 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
347 PM CDT TUE MAR 13 2007

IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>061-070>072-081-
142100-
EMMET-KOSSUTH-WINNEBAGO-WORTH-PALO ALTO-HANCOCK-CERRO GORDO-
POCAHONTAS-HUMBOLDT-WRIGHT-FRANKLIN-BUTLER-BREMER-SAC-CALHOUN-
WEBSTER-HAMILTON-HARDIN-GRUNDY-BLACK HAWK-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-GREENE-
BOONE-STORY-MARSHALL-TAMA-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS-POLK-JASPER-CASS-
ADAIR-MADISON-ADAMS-
347 PM CDT TUE MAR 13 2007

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IOWA.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

MANY RIVERS...STREAMS AND TRIBUTARIES ARE AT OR NEAR BANKFULL DUE
TO SNOW MELT RUN OFF. A FEW LOCATIONS HAVE OVERFLOWED THERE
BANKS...FLOODING ADJACENT LOW LANDS. ICE JAMS MAY OCCUR ALONG THE
SOUTH SKUNK...IOWA...RACCOON...DES MOINES AND CEDAR RIVERS PERIODICALLY
WHICH COULD EXACERBATE THE FLOOD THREAT AT ANY GIVEN POINT.

VARIOUS FLOOD WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR THE AREA.
PLEASE REFER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEBSITE AT
WEATHER.GOV/DESMOINES FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

MINOR SNOWMELT FLOODING ALONG AREA RIVERS AND TRIBUTARIES WILL
CONTINUE. PLEASE REFER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEBSITE AT
WEATHER.GOV/DESMOINES FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED BUT REPORTS OF RIVER AND
STREAM FLOODING ARE APPRECIATED.

IAZ062-073>075-082>086-092>097-142100-
POWESHIEK-WARREN-MARION-MAHASKA-UNION-CLARKE-LUCAS-MONROE-WAPELLO-
TAYLOR-RINGGOLD-DECATUR-WAYNE-APPANOOSE-DAVIS-
347 PM CDT TUE MAR 13 2007

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IOWA.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

MANY RIVERS...STREAMS AND TRIBUTARIES ARE AT OR NEAR BANKFULL DUE
TO SNOW MELT RUN OFF. A FEW LOCATIONS HAVE OVERFLOWED THERE
BANKS...FLOODING ADJACENT LOW LANDS. ICE JAMS MAY OCCUR ALONG THE
SOUTH SKUNK...IOWA...RACCOON...DES MOINES AND CEDAR RIVERS PERIODICALLY
WHICH COULD EXACERBATE THE FLOOD THREAT AT ANY GIVEN POINT.

VARIOUS FLOOD WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR THE AREA.
PLEASE REFER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEBSITE AT
WEATHER.GOV/DESMOINES FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE...BUT COULD PRODUCE
SMALL HAIL. MINOR SNOWMELT FLOODING ALONG AREA RIVERS AND
TRIBUTARIES WILL CONTINUE.

PLEASE REFER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEBSITE AT
WEATHER.GOV/DESMOINES FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED BUT REPORTS OF RIVER AND
STREAM FLOODING ARE APPRECIATED.

MOYER

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 99 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:01 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Webster

When: March 14, 3:00 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
Where: Webster County, 4 mi N of Ft Dodge
Cause: Ice Jam
Property damage: $500,000
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 42.558, -94.180

Flash Flood, Emmet

When: March 14, 8:30 AM CST to 1:00 PM CST
Where: Emmet County, Estherville to 5 mi E of Estherville
Cause: Ice Jam
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 43.420, -94.850

Flash Flood, Webster

When: March 14, 9:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where: Webster County, Ft Dodge
Cause: Ice Jam
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 42.500, -94.180

Flash Flood, Dallas

When: March 14, 11:00 AM CST to 4:00 PM CST
Where: Dallas County, Adel to 5 mi N of Adel
Cause: Ice Jam
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 41.620, -94.020

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Iowa in 2007 Every state in 2007 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, March 2007

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: 11196, 11198, 11197, 11199.