Flash Flooding and Hail in Iowa, October 23, 2010

Name: Flash Flooding and Hail in Iowa, October 23, 2010
Start: 2010-10-23T16:14
End: 2010-10-23T22:30
Location: Iowa

October 23, 2010 · NWS FSD · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Thunderstorms produced one report of large hail and two flash flood events in different parts of northwest Iowa on the late afternoon and evening of October 23rd.

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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 FSD wrote it up.

Thunderstorms produced one report of large hail and two flash flood events in different parts of northwest Iowa on the late afternoon and evening of October 23rd.

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 Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 23, 3:28 PM CST, 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 23, 3:28 PM CST, 46 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 23, 3:31 AM CST, 12 hours 43 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
431 AM CDT SAT OCT 23 2010

SDZ038>040-050-052>071-MNZ071-072-080-081-089-090-097-098-
IAZ001>003-012>014-020>022-031-032-NEZ013-014-241200-
AURORA-BEADLE-BON HOMME-BROOKINGS-BRULE-BUENA VISTA IA-
CHARLES MIX-CHEROKEE IA-CLAY-CLAY IA-COTTONWOOD MN-DAKOTA NE-
DAVISON-DICKINSON IA-DIXON NE-DOUGLAS-GREGORY-HANSON-HUTCHINSON-
IDA IA-JACKSON MN-JERAULD-KINGSBURY-LAKE-LINCOLN-LINCOLN MN-
LYON IA-LYON MN-MCCOOK-MINER-MINNEHAHA-MOODY-MURRAY MN-NOBLES MN-
OBRIEN IA-OSCEOLA IA-PIPESTONE MN-PLYMOUTH IA-ROCK MN-SANBORN-
SIOUX IA-TURNER-UNION-WOODBURY IA-YANKTON-
431 AM CDT SAT OCT 23 2010

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA...
SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...NORTHWEST IOWA...AND NORTHEAST NEBRASKA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THUNDERSTORMS...
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS
THE AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT. THERE IS NO CHANCE FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS.

FLOODING...
MINOR FLOODING WILL CONTINUE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE ON THE MISSOURI
RIVER...UPSTREAM OF GAVINS POINT DAM NEAR NIOBRARA...SPRINGFIELD
AND VERDEL.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.

&&

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SIOUXFALLS. THIS INCLUDES THE GRAPHICAL HAZARDOUS
WEATHER OUTLOOK.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Oct 23, 4:14 PM CST, 0 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
514 PM CDT SAT OCT 23 2010

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

0512 PM     HAIL             3 NW JEFFERSON          42.63N 96.61W
10/23/2010  E0.75 INCH       UNION              SD   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

KWEISSER

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 95 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:12 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flash flood, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Plymouth

When: October 23, 4:14 PM CST
Where: Plymouth County, 5.55 mi N of Oyens
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 42.900, -96.040

Flash Flood, Sioux

When: October 23, 8:05 PM CST to 10:30 PM CST
Where: Sioux County, 2 mi N of Sheldon to 0.5 mi SW of Sheldon
Cause: Heavy Rain
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 43.209, -95.870

Heavy rain from thunderstorms caused flash flooding of numerous roads and several yards, with water deep enough on several roads to prevent safe crossing.

Flash Flood, O'Brien

When: October 23, 8:15 PM CST to 10:30 PM CST
Where: O'Brien County, 1.71 mi SW of Sheldon Muni Arpt to 1.47 mi SE of Sheldon
Cause: Heavy Rain
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 43.200, -95.850

Heavy rain from thunderstorms caused flash flooding of several streets and yards.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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 2010 Every state in 2010 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, October 2010

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 265789, 265790, 265791.