The Cedar River went into flood in the Cedar Falls area across northern Iowa. Rainfall amounts of around half an inch to over 2 inches fell across much of central Iowa during the first half of the month.
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.
The Cedar River went into flood in the Cedar Falls area across northern Iowa. Rainfall amounts of around half an inch to over 2 inches fell across much of central Iowa during the first half of the month. This additional precipitation combined with already high streamflows from heavy rain in December 2015, led to flooding on the Cedar river.
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 Jan 16, 11:27 PM CST, 3 hours 13 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 1127 PM CST SAT JAN 16 2016 .SHORT TERM /TONIGHT/... ISSUED AT 325 PM CST SAT JAN 16 2016 CURRENT BAND OF SNOW FRONTOGENETICALLY FORCED ACROSS CENTRAL IOWA THIS AFTERNOON WILL GRADUALLY WEAKEN AS FORCING/LIFT SUBSIDE. ARCTIC FRONT ALREADY INTO NORTHERN IOWA WHERE WINDS HAVE INCREASED FROM THE NORTHWEST. MAIN CONCERN GOING FORWARD WILL BE PRECIPITATION PLACEMENT WITH NEXT APPROACHING SHORTWAVE AND DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS. AS FOR PRECIPITATION...12Z AND NOW 18Z RUNS HAVE SHIFTED MAIN AXIS A BIT FARTHER SOUTH ALTHOUGH THIS WILL STILL IMPACT THE SOUTHERN HALF OF IOWA. GOOD MID LEVEL QG FORCING AND FRONTOGENETICAL FORCING ARE EVIDENT WITH THIS SYSTEM AS IT PASSES AND WILL SEE SNOW RE-INTENSIFY ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE HIGHWAY 30 CORRIDOR THIS EVENING. WHILE MOISTURE WILL BE LIMITED...THERE IS A DECENT PORTION OF THE SOUNDING WITHIN THE DENDRITIC GROWTH ZONE ALTHOUGH MUCH OF THE STRONGER FORCING RESIDES AT THE HIGHER END OF THE ZONE. WILL STILL SEE SLIGHTLY ENHANCE RATIOS OVERNIGHT AND WILL SEE AN INCH OR TWO OF SNOW IN THE FAR SOUTH DESPITE THE MINIMAL LIQUID EQUIVALENT. WINDS WILL ALSO LIKELY SOME BLOWING SNOW GIVEN THE LIGHT FLUFFY NATURE OF THE FLAKES. THIS PRECIPITATION WILL END QUICKLY BY THE END OF THE PERIOD AS STRONG SUBSIDENCE SPREADS ACROSS THE STATE. THEREAFTER... ARCTIC AIR WILL SPILL SOUTHWARD OVERNIGHT WITH MODERATE NORTH WINDS. THE WELL ADVERTISED DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS ARE ANTICIPATED WITH VALUES AROUND 40 BELOW IN THE NORTH AND 20 BELOW IN THE SOUTH. HEADLINES HAVE BEEN ISSUED TO COVER THE VARIOUS THREATS WHICH CONTINUE INTO SUNDAY MORNING. .LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... ISSUED AT 325 PM CST SAT JAN 16 2016 A LARGE DOME OF HIGH PRESSURE AT THE SURFACE AND A DEEP NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL KEEP VERY COLD AIR IN PLACE SUNDAY. IN FACT HIGHS WILL REMAIN WELL BELOW ZERO ACROSS THE NORTH WITH ONLY SINGLE DIGITS ABOVE ZERO SOUTH. IT IS LIKELY THAT THE HEADLINES WE HAVE IN PLACE WILL CONTINUE IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER ACROSS CENTRAL IOWA THROUGH MUCH OF THE DAY. TO KEEP THINGS CLEANER AND LESS CONFUSING... ADDITIONAL HEADLINES WILL BE ISSUED AS EACH PERIOD APPROACHES. ON MONDAY THE SURFACE HIGH SHIFTS EAST WHILE UPPER RIDGING MOVES IN. THIS WILL GIVE US A RELATIVE BREAK FROM THE BRUTAL COLD...THOUGH IT WILL STILL BE VERY COLD WITH HIGHS EITHER SIDE OF ZERO NORTH TO BETWEEN 10 AND 15 SOUTH. FOR TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT...A DECENT SHORTWAVE PUSHES ACROSS THE PLAINS WITH SOME PRETTY STRONG FORCING IN PLACE TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WE ARE STILL LOOKING AT A FAIRLY WIDESPREAD SNOWFALL EVENT THOUGH THE BETTER DYNAMICS REMAIN ACROSS THE WEST AND SOUTHWEST WHICH IS WHERE I HAVE THE GREATEST SNOWFALL. WE ARE NOT LOOKING AT THAT MUCH QPF AND WITH TEMPS MODERATING A BIT AHEAD OF THE SHORTWAVE SNOWFALL RATIOS WILL BE BETWEEN 15 AND 20:1 GIVING US BETWEEN 1 AND 2 INCHES ACROSS THE WEST/SOUTHWEST AND LIGHTER AMOUNTS NORTH AND EAST. SNOW WILL END FROM WEST TO EAST TUESDAY EVENING. FROM WEDNESDAY THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE LONG TERM WE BEGIN TO DIG OUT OF THE ARCTIC DEEP FREEZE WITH TEMPS MODERATING TO NEAR 30 NORTH AND ABOVE FREEZING SOUTH OVER THE WEEKEND. THE MODELS ARE STILL HAVING A TOUGH TIME RESOLVING ANOTHER SHORTWAVE AND POTENTIAL UPPER LOW DEVELOPING AND MOVING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS LATE IN THE WEEK...IN THE THURSDAY/THURSDAY NIGHT TIME FRAME. THE EURO TAKES THE LOW WAY SOUTH WHILE THE GFS PUTS IT ACROSS MISSOURI PUTTING FAR SOUTHERN IOWA IN A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR SOME SNOW. IT IS NOT WORTH GOING AGAINST MODEL BLENDS AT THIS POINT DUE TO THE LOW CONFIDENCE IN EITHER SCENARIO OCCURRING OVER THE OTHER.&& && .AVIATION...17/06Z ISSUED AT 1126 PM CST SAT JAN 16 2016 A PERIOD OF MVFR CIGS WITH AREAS OF SNOW OVER CNTRL AND SRN IOWA EARLY THEN MOSTLY VFR AFT 09Z. PRIMARILY VFR CONDITIONS THROUGH MUCH OF SUNDAY THEN POTENTIAL MVFR CIGS RETURNING OVER NRN IOWA SUNDAY EVENING. BREEZY NORTHWEST WINDS THROUGH THE FORECAST. && .DMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL ADVISORY UNTIL NOON CST SUNDAY FOR AUDUBON-BOONE- CARROLL-CRAWFORD-DALLAS-GREENE-GUTHRIE-JASPER-MARSHALL-POLK- POWESHIEK-STORY-TAMA. WIND CHILL ADVISORY FROM 3 AM TO NOON CST SUNDAY FOR ADAIR-ADAMS- APPANOOSE-CASS-CLARKE-DAVIS-DECATUR-LUCAS-MADISON-MAHASKA-MARION- MONROE-RINGGOLD-TAYLOR-UNION-WAPELLO-WARREN-WAYNE. WIND CHILL WARNING UNTIL NOON CST SUNDAY FOR BLACK HAWK-BREMER- BUTLER-CALHOUN-CERRO GORDO-EMMET-FRANKLIN-GRUNDY-HAMILTON- HANCOCK-HARDIN-HUMBOLDT-KOSSUTH-PALO ALTO-POCAHONTAS-SAC-WEBSTER- WINNEBAGO-WORTH-WRIGHT. && SHORT TERM...COGIL LONG TERM...FAB AVIATION...DONAVON
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 339 PM CST SAT JAN 16 2016 IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-172145- EMMET-KOSSUTH-WINNEBAGO-WORTH-PALO ALTO-HANCOCK-CERRO GORDO- POCAHONTAS-HUMBOLDT-WRIGHT-FRANKLIN-BUTLER-BREMER-SAC-CALHOUN- WEBSTER-HAMILTON-HARDIN-GRUNDY-BLACK HAWK- 339 PM CST SAT JAN 16 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IOWA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A WIND CHILL WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE AREA. PLEASE REFER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/DESMOINES FOR FURTHER DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY A WIND CHILL WARNING IS EFFECT FOR THE AREA THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. PLEASE REFER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/DESMOINES FOR FURTHER DETAILS. BITTERLY COLD TEMPERATURES AND WIND CHILLS WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. WIND CHILL VALUES WILL DROP TO 20 TO 30 DEGREES BELOW ZERO AT TIMES THROUGH TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. IAZ044>050-057>062-070>075-081>086-092>097-172145- 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- 339 PM CST SAT JAN 16 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IOWA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS EFFECT FOR THE AREA. PLEASE REFER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/DESMOINES FOR FURTHER DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY A WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS EFFECT FOR THE AREA THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. PLEASE REFER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/DESMOINES FOR FURTHER DETAILS. BITTERLY COLD TEMPERATURES AND WIND CHILLS WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. WIND CHILL VALUES WILL DROP TO 10 TO 20 DEGREES BELOW ZERO AT TIMES THROUGH TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. AWB
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Cedar River at Cedar Falls crested at 88.64 feet on 17 January 2016 at 18:00 UTC.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, January 2016
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: 614722.