Thunderstorms continued nearly every day of the month at some point in the state. Heavy rainfall in the South Skunk and Chariton River basins caused some minor flooding.
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.
Thunderstorms continued nearly every day of the month at some point in the state. Heavy rainfall in the South Skunk and Chariton River basins caused some minor flooding. Little damage occurred due to the river flooding and it was more of an inconvenience than a major problem. This rainfall was the beginning of what would become another significant flood event later in the month. The heaviest rainfall was in Brooklyn, with 4.21 inches.
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 Jul 18, 5:45 AM CST, 4 hours 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 645 AM CDT FRI JUL 18 2008 .UPDATED 18/12Z AVIATION DISCUSSION. .DISCUSSION... COMPLEX THAT MOVED ACRS IA LAST EVE INTO THE ERY MRNG HRS...LEAVING 2 TO 5 INCHES OVER THE NRN AND ERN CWA IN ITS WAKE HAS PRETTY MUCH DISPTD AND BECME STNRY ACRS THE S. WILL SEE THAT CONT FOR A WHILE WITH PCPN SPRDG AGAIN AS HEATING GETS UNDER WAY. MAIN FEAT WILL BE THE S/WV MOVG INTO THE CENTRAL U.S. TNGT WITH WAVE LFTG ALONG FNTL BNDRY. EXPECT WDSPRD TSRA DVLPMT WITH INC LLJ TNGT AND WILL GO WITH A FFA EAST OF I-35 AND S OF I-80 WHERE SIG RAFL OCCURRED LAST NGT. FEEL THE REST OF THE AREA WILL BE ABLE TO TAKE DECENT RAFL JUST AS THE FFA AREA DID LAST NIGHT WITH RELATIVELY LITTLE PROB. FNTL BNDRY REMAINS IN THE AREA AND THUS THE CHCS FOR PCPN CONT INT THE FIRST PART OF NEXT WEEK. SVR WX IS A POTENTIAL EACH DAY THRU MON BFR THINGS FINALLY MOVE OUT OF THE AREA. SHUD SEE A FEW DAY BRK BFR NEXT WX SYS LATER NXT WEEK. && .AVIATION...18/12Z FRONT CONTINUES OVER THE AREA WITH LEFTOVER RAINS AND ISO THUNDER FAR SOUTHEAST. WEAK WAVE TO LIFT NORTHEAST TODAY WITH BETTER CHANCES FOR CONVECTION THIS AFTERNOON NORTH TO INTERSTATE 80. LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING STRONGER MID LEVEL WAVE TO TRACK NORTHEAST WITH GENERAL THUNDER ACROSS AREA. LIKELY TO SEE MVFR CIGS AND LOWER VSBYS WITH SCT TO NUM THUNDER AFT 05Z THRU 12Z SAT. && .DMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...FLASH FLOOD WATCH MOST OF IOWA EAST OF INTERSTATE 30 AND SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80 FROM 23Z/18-11Z/19. && LONG TERM...MS JUL 08 SHORT TERM/AVIATION...REV
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 533 AM CDT FRI JUL 18 2008 IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-191045- 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- 533 AM CDT FRI JUL 18 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IOWA NORTH OF INTERSTATE 80. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL SPREAD NORTH THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT. THERE IS LITTLE RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER...HOWEVER AN ISOLATED STORM MAY PRODUCE HIGH WINDS AND PENNY SIZE HAIL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THERE WILL BE INTERMITTENT CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY THROUGH NEXT THURSDAY. SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE SATURDAY NIGHT...AND AGAIN LATE SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT. BEYOND THAT...IT IS TO EARLY TO DETERMINE THE SEVERE POTENTIAL ACCURATELY. THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREATS WILL BE FOR LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED BOTH SATURDAY AND SUNDAY LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. IAZ057>062-070>075-081>086-092>097-191045- AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS-POLK-JASPER-POWESHIEK-CASS-ADAIR-MADISON- WARREN-MARION-MAHASKA-ADAMS-UNION-CLARKE-LUCAS-MONROE-WAPELLO- TAYLOR-RINGGOLD-DECATUR-WAYNE-APPANOOSE-DAVIS- 533 AM CDT FRI JUL 18 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IOWA ALONG AND SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS OVER FAR SOUTHERN WILL SPREAD NORTH DURING THE DAY AND BECOME WIDESPREAD TONIGHT. THERE IS ONLY A SMALL CHANCE FOR ANY SEVERE WEATHER...HOWEVER AN ISOLATED STORM MAY PRODUCE PENNY SIZE HAIL OR HIGH WINDS. HEAVY RAINFALL IS A THREAT. WIDESPREAD RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF AROUND AN INCH ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT...WITH SPOTTY AMOUNTS OF UP TO 4 INCHES POSSIBLE. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR PARTS OF IOWA FROM INTERSTATE 35 EAST. SEE HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/DESMOINES FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THERE WILL BE INTERMITTENT CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY THROUGH NEXT THURSDAY. SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE SATURDAY NIGHT...AND AGAIN LATE SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT. BEYOND THAT...IT IS TO EARLY TO DETERMINE THE SEVERE POTENTIAL ACCURATELY. THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREATS WILL BE FOR LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED TONIGHT...HOWEVER RAINFALL REPORTS WOULD BE APPRECIATED. SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED BOTH SATURDAY AND SUNDAY LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, July 2008
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: 111904, 111905.