Very wet weather prevailed for the first 18 days of the month. 25 inches of rain was recorded at New Hampton.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS DMX wrote it up.
Very wet weather prevailed for the first 18 days of the month. The month began with a heavy rain event on the 2nd when 2.25 inches of rain was recorded at New Hampton. Another round occurred on the 7th-8th with the heaviest rainfall being a 5.57 inch total at Edgewood. This primed the pump so to speak for future flooding. On the 13th-15th, heavy rain left a 4.60 inch total at Adair. Then on the 17th-18th, another round of heavy rain produced 3.20 inches at Bloomfield. The frequent heavy rains brought harvest activities to a halt following a rapid start to the harvest season in September. A sharp turnaround took place after mid month with an average of only 0.03 inches of rain for the final 12 days of October. Preliminary monthly rain totals vary from 2.08 inches at Burlington to 11.26 inches at Red Oak. Red Oak’s total more than doubled their previous October record of 5.88 inches set in 1935 (among 96 years of data).
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 Oct 15, 11:20 PM CST, 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 1220 AM CDT TUE OCT 16 2007 .UPDATED THE 16/06Z AVIATION DISCUSSION... .SYNOPSIS... NEARLY STACKED LOW CONTINUES TO SLOWLY LIFT NNW WITH TIME THIS EVENING. STILL A FEW SPOKES OF PVA ROTATING AROUND THE LOW WITH SFC CONVERGENCE MAXIMIZE ALONG THE NOW FORMING OCCLUSION. MAIN MOISTURE BANDS OUT FRONT OF THE BOUNDARY WITH WRAP A ROUND PRECIP BEGINNING TO FILL IN BEHIND THE LOW. OVERNIGHT...HAVE KEPT POP THE SAME AFT 06Z AND RAISED MINS 1-2 DEGREES EAST/CENTRAL AS CAA LIKELY TO ONLY GET INTO WESTERN IA WHILE FETCH OVER CENTRAL AND EAST EITHER SOUTH OR ESE. THIS SHOULD ALLOW FOR SLIGHTLY MILDER AIR TO REMAIN THRU 12Z. /REV .PREVIOUS SYNOPSIS... STACKED SYSTEM CURRENTLY DRIFTING ALONG THE MISSOURI RIVER VALLEY BETWEEN NEBRASKA AND IOWA THIS AFTERNOON. SOME WEAK DESTABILIZATION ACRS THE SOUTHWEST HAS ALLOWED FOR SOME ISOLATED DEVELOPMENT OF STORMS IN THE FAR WEST...HOWEVER OVERALL INSTABILITY IS NIL AS LOW CLDS HAVE KEPT DAYTIME HEATING IN CHECK. LIFT HAS ALSO SUBSIDED DRAMATICALLY WITH ONLY SOME SCATTERED LIGHT PCPN OCCURRING ACRS THE NORTH. && .PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... THE SYSTEM WL CONTINUE TO DRIFT NORTHEAST OVER THE NEXT DAY BEFORE BEGINNING TO ACCELERATE AS KICKING SYSTEM PASSES THROUGH THE ROCKIES. LOW CLDS...DRIZZLE AND LIGHT SHOWERS WL PERSIST INTO THE OVERNIGHT...PRIMARILY IN THE NORTH WHERE LIFT REMAINS THE BEST. TEMPS WL NOT SEE A SIGNIFICANT DROP AS LOW CLDS KEEP READINGS IN CHECK DESPITE SOME CAA. THE THREAT FOR PCPN WL DIMINISH ON TUESDAY AS THE SYSTEM PULLS NORTHEAST AND SUBSIDENCE CONTINUES ACRS THE CWA. WAA BEGINS QUICKLY ON TUESDAY NIGHT AS NEXT SHORTWAVE PASSES THROUGH THE ROCKIES. SYSTEM WL CONTINUE TO DEEPEN INTO WEDNESDAY WITH INCREASING ISENTROPIC LIFT AND THETA-E ADVECTION. BOTH NAM/GFS INDICATE SOME CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT INTO WESTERN IA BY AFTERNOON IN AXIS OF STRONG THETA-E AND WAA. HAVE CONTINUED TO INCREASE POPS...ESPECIALLY BY AFTERNOON IN THE WEST AS FORCING IMPROVES. NEGATIVELY TILTED SHORTWAVE BLOWS THROUGH THE STATE ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY MORNING AS SFC LOW DEEPENS TO AROUND 980MB. THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD RACE ACRS THE STATE OVERNIGHT AS INSTABILITY AXIS CROSSES THE STATE. SOME SEVERE CONVECTION MAY OCCUR WITH THE STRONG SHEAR WITH SOME DAMAGING WINDS BUT CAPES WL BE THE LIMITING FACTOR. OTHERWISE...WINDS SHOULD INCREASE AND CONTINUE INTO THURSDAY/THURSDAY NIGHT AS GRADIENT TIGHTENS. ANY THREAT OF PCPN INTO THURSDAY/THURSDAY NIGHT WL BE BEST ACRS NORTHERN IA WHERE WRAP AROUND POTENTIAL EXISTS. THIS SYSTEM WL GRADUALLY PULL AWAY ON FRIDAY WITH DRY WEATHER FROM LATE FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY AS WEAK RIDGING SLIDES THROUGH THE STATE. THE NEXT SYSTEM WL APPROACH SOMETIME LATE IN THE WEEKEND AND WL ALSO AMPLIFY AS IT PASSES THROUGH THE REGION. STILL SOME UNCERTAINTY AS TO THE EXACT TRACK AND PLACEMENT GIVEN ITS TEMPORAL DISTANCE FROM NOW...BUT HAVE ADDED LOW POPS AT THAT TIME. TEMPS SHOULD REMAIN RELATIVELY SEASONAL FOR MOST LOCATIONS WITH NO REAL EXTREMES THROUGH DAY 7. && .AVIATION...16/06Z PRECIPITATION HAS STEADILY CREPT NORTHWARD...AND IS NOW PRACTICALLY OUT OF THE CWA. STILL A POSSIBILITY OF SOME ISOLATED SHOWERS ACROSS THE NORTH OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. OTHERWISE AS SFC LOW SLOWLY MIGRATES NORTHEAST THROUGH THE NIGHT...EXPECT LOW STRATUS DECK ASSOCIATED WITH WRAP-AROUND MOISTURE STREAMING INTO ERN NEBRASKA TO ROTATE EASTWARD INTO IOWA. THEREFORE HAVE CEILINGS DROPPING INTO THE IFR/LIFR CATEGORIES THROUGH THE NIGHT INTO TUESDAY. NOT A LOT OF SUPPORT FOR PRECIPITATION TUESDAY...SO HAVE GONE WITH DRIZZLE WORDING IN THE TAFS DUE TO ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE. AS SYSTEM LIFTS OUT OF THE AREA EXPECT SFC WINDS TO SHIFT TO THE SOUTH/SOUTHWEST THROUGH THE DAY. HOWEVER AS WAA SETS UP ACROSS THE AREA TUESDAY NIGHT AHEAD OF THE NEXT SYSTEM...DO EXPECT TO SEE BACKING WINDS SETTING UP THROUGH THE LATTER HOURS OF THE TERMINAL FORECAST. && .DMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && LONG TERM...COGIL SHORT TERM...FAB/REV AVIATION...MJA
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 255 PM CDT MON OCT 15 2007 IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075- 081>086-092>097-161100- 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- POWESHIEK-CASS-ADAIR-MADISON-WARREN-MARION-MAHASKA-ADAMS-UNION- CLARKE-LUCAS-MONROE-WAPELLO-TAYLOR-RINGGOLD-DECATUR-WAYNE- APPANOOSE-DAVIS- 255 PM CDT MON OCT 15 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR ALL OF CENTRAL IOWA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT PERIODS OF SHOWERS WILL AGAIN OCCUR OVER CENTRAL IOWA. MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL IS LIKELY WHICH WILL AGGRAVATE THE RIVERS IN FLOOD. ISOLATED NON SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. A STORM OR TWO COULD PRODUCE PEA TO DIME SIZED HAIL THROUGH EARLY EVENING. HEAVY RAIN IS ALSO POSSIBLE WITH STRONGER STORMS. SEVERAL RIVER FLOOD WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT DUE TO RUNOFF FROM PREVIOUS DAYS RAINFALL. PLEASE REFER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/DESMOINES FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THUNDERSTORMS RETURN TO THE FORECAST LATE WEDNESDAY INTO EARLY THURSDAY. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY AGAIN PRODUCE HEAVY RAINS WITH AMOUNTS FROM ONE TO TWO INCHES POSSIBLE...AND THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS. THIS MAY CAUSE ADDITIONAL FLOODING...OR EXASPERATE FLOODING ALREADY IN PROGRESS. A FEW STORMS MAY ALSO BE SEVERE OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF OF IOWA...BUT DETAILS AND EXACT THREATS WILL NOT BECOME BETTER DEFINED UNTIL TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS RELATIVELY LOW FOR THE TIME BEING. REPORTS OF HEAVY RAIN AND FLOODING MAY BE NEEDED AND ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED. SMALL/FAB
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, October 2007
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 60051, 60050, 60052.