Additional precipitation fell across portions of central and southern Iowa in mid to late December causing a few rivers to go back into flood.
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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.
Additional precipitation fell across portions of central and southern Iowa in mid to late December causing a few rivers to go back into flood.
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 Dec 21, 11:37 AM CST, 53 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 1137 AM CST MON DEC 21 2015 ...UPDATED FOR AVIATION DISCUSSION... .SHORT TERM /TODAY/... ISSUED AT 350 AM CST MON DEC 21 2015 COUPLE OF ITEMS THAT NEED CONSIDERATION TODAY. FRONT NOW BISECTING THE FORECAST AREA FROM NEAR LAMONI NORTHEAST TO WATERLOO BUT THROUGH DES MOINES AT 0730Z. ONE WEAK WAVE OVER NORTHEAST IOWA AND MAIN WAVE ACROSS NORTHEAST KANSAS WHERE SHOWERS AND ISOLATED ELEVATED CONVECTION HAS DEVELOPED. THE FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO DRIFT SOUTHEAST AS THE KANSAS WAVE MOVES EAST NORTHEAST THROUGH 18Z TODAY. MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE IN COLD AIR ADVECTION WITH LITTLE RECOVERY IN HIGHS FROM THE MORNING LOWS. DESPITE THAT...TEMPERATURES NEAR SUNRISE WILL STILL BE QUITE MILD WITH LOWER 30S NORTHWEST...NEAR 40 OVER CENTRAL IOWA AND IN THE MID TO UPPER 40S SOUTHEAST. WITH THE WAVE LINGERING TODAY OVER THE SOUTHEAST ALONG THE BOUNDARY...EXPECTING SOME LIGHT RAIN AND POSSIBLE ISO THUNDER EARLY SOUTHEAST...WITH LINGERING SHOWERS TO PERSIST UNTIL ABOUT 15-16Z PRIOR TO ENDING THERE. CLOUDS WILL ALSO BE PRESENT ALL DAY AS UPPER LEVEL TROUGH STILL WEST OF THE IOWA TONIGHT AND WILL FINALLY SWING EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA BY 00Z. CLEARING WILL EVENTUALLY ARRIVE LATER IN THE EVENING. EARLY TODAY SOME FOG WILL BE AROUND THE BOUNDARY AND JUST NORTHWEST OF IT THROUGH EARLY MORNING. HAVE ADDED PATCHY WORDING MOST OF NORTHWEST REMAINDER OF THE OVERNIGHT. A FEW SPOTS HITTING 1/4SM NOW...BUT DRIER AIR ARRIVING WILL HELP MITIGATE SOME OF THE VIS ISSUES NOW CURRENTLY SEEN OVER NORTHWEST SECTIONS. WILL MONITOR FOR ANY NEED OF SPS THIS MORNING. WINDS WILL PICK UP FROM THE NORTHWEST TODAY...WITH SOME GUSTS APPROACHING 20 MPH DURING THE MID TO LATE MORNING HOURS. .LONG TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/... ISSUED AT 350 AM CST MON DEC 21 2015 IOWA WILL REMAIN ALONG THE EASTERN PERIPHERY OF A BROAD LONGWAVE TROUGH THROUGH THE WEEK AND INTO THE WEEKEND WITH WEAK IMPULSES PROPAGATING THROUGH THE MEAN FLOW. THIS WILL RESULT IN VARIABLE CLOUDINESS AND PERIODIC CHANCES FOR LIGHT PRECIP AS WELL AS CONTINUED ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES. SURFACE RIDGE AXIS WILL BE SHIFTING ACROSS THE CWA ON MONDAY NIGHT AS OUR CURRENT SYSTEM DEPARTS. AS THIS RIDGE MOVES EASTWARD ON TUESDAY...WAA WILL TAKE PLACE THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON WITH A TIGHTENING PRESSURE GRADIENT RESULTING IN STIFF SOUTHERLY WINDS OF 15 TO 20 KTS. SOME CONCERN THAT HIGHS MAY NOT BE WARM ENOUGH GIVEN HOW WARM THE AREA GOT YESTERDAY...SO REMAINED ON THE WARMER SIDE OF THE GUIDANCE SPECTRUM. A DEEPENING CYCLONE WILL TRACK ACROSS THE DAKOTAS AND INTO SOUTHWEST ONTARIO BY EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING...DRAGGING A COLD FRONT ACROSS IOWA DURING THIS TIMEFRAME. KINEMATIC FORCING OUT AHEAD OF A SECOND LOW LIFTING NORTH OUT OF EASTERN KANSAS WILL TRIGGER RAIN ACROSS PRIMARILY THE EASTERN HALF OF THE CWA WITH A POSSIBLE CHANGEOVER TO SNOW ON THE BACKSIDE OF THE SYSTEM AS IT LIFTS OUT OF THE AREA. AN ADDITIONAL PV ANOMALY WILL SCOOT THROUGH THE STATE ON CHRISTMAS EVE...WITH BOTH THE GFS AND EC PAINTING A SHORT PERIOD OF SNOW WITH ITS PASSAGE ACROSS NORTHERN IOWA. THE UPPER LEVEL PATTERN AMPLIFIES FOR LATER IN THE WEEK/WEEKEND WITH THE GFS AND EC NOW COMING INTO BETTER ALIGNMENT SINCE YESTERDAY...DEVELOPING A CUTOFF LOW ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST US BY THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEKEND. THIS WILL RESULT IN A STATIONARY BOUNDARY BECOMING ESTABLISHED OVER THE CENTRAL US THAT WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR HEAVY RAINFALL. THIS BAND LOOKS TO FIRST DEVELOP OVER THE SOUTHERN MISSOURI RIVER VALLEY DURING THE WEEKEND...BUT THE EVOLUTION OF THE BAND AS IT LIFTS NORTHWARD BEYOND THIS TIME IS MORE UNCERTAIN DUE TO MODEL DISCREPANCIES IN HOW SOON THE LOW EJECTS NORTHEASTWARD. && .AVIATION...21/18Z ISSUED AT 1129 AM CST MON DEC 21 2015 CHANCES FOR VFR CONDITIONS NIXED FOR THIS TAF PERIOD. FCST CHALLENGES COVER OSCILLATION BTX MVFR AND IFR. VSBYS EXPECTED TO DROP AT KMCW OVERNIGHT. TAF HERE MAY BRIEFLY REACH LIFR BEFORE SUNRISE...SO MAY NEED TO CONSIDER ADDITION OF TEMPO GROUP IN NEXT UPDATE. CIGS WILL QUICKLY RISE TO VFR AT KFOD...KOTM...AND KDSM WHEN ST DECK MOVES OFF TO THE NORTHEAST WHICH LOOKS TO BE TUESDAY AFTERNOON...PAST THIS TAF PERIOD. && .DMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && SHORT TERM...REV LONG TERM...SKOW AVIATION...KOTENBERG
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 352 AM CST MON DEC 21 2015 IAZ059-060-075-085-086-221000- DALLAS-POLK-MAHASKA-MONROE-WAPELLO- 352 AM CST MON DEC 21 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IOWA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT RIVER FLOOD WARNINGS REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR THE AREA INCLUDING THE NORTH RACCOON...RACCOON...AND DES MOINES RIVERS. PLEASE REFER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/DESMOINES FOR FURTHER DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY RIVER FLOOD WARNINGS WILL PERSIST THROUGH AT LEAST MID WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057-058-061-062- 070>074-081>084-092>097-221000- 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-JASPER-POWESHIEK-CASS- ADAIR-MADISON-WARREN-MARION-ADAMS-UNION-CLARKE-LUCAS-TAYLOR- RINGGOLD-DECATUR-WAYNE-APPANOOSE-DAVIS- 352 AM CST MON DEC 21 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IOWA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Des Moines River crested at 11.97 feet on 24 December 2015 at 22:50 UTC.
The Raccoon River crested at 12.82 feet on 23 December 2015 at 01:30 UTC.
The Des Moines River crested at 24.24 feet on 24 December 2015 at 19:45 UTC.
The Des Moines River crested at 61.20 feet on 29 December 2015 at 03:00 UTC.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, December 2015
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: 611160, 611157, 611158, 611159.