Iowa, 2016

Flash Flooding and Hail in Iowa, May 26, 2016

May 26, 2016 · NWS OAX · 3 events in 1 county or zone

As a stronger upper-level storm system moved into the high Plains during the day on the 26th, a warm front rapidly moved north from Kansas into southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa bringing warm and unstable air into the region. Thunderstorms developed along the advancing warm front by early afternoon and persisted into the evening.

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

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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 OAX wrote it up.

As a stronger upper-level storm system moved into the high Plains during the day on the 26th, a warm front rapidly moved north from Kansas into southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa bringing warm and unstable air into the region. Thunderstorms developed along the advancing warm front by early afternoon and persisted into the evening. Thunderstorms concentrated along the warm front over southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa, which led to some heavy rainfall and flash flooding in parts of the area.

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 Omaha, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 26, 1:23 PM CST, 22 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 26, 1:23 PM CST, 22 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Omaha/Valley NE
223 PM CDT THU MAY 26 2016

.SHORT TERM...(tonight through Sunday)
Issued at 220 PM CDT Thu May 26 2016

Warm front was located across northeast Kansas at 19z with a large
area of convection blooming on either side of the front. Periods
of thunderstorms are expected through most of the period as upper
trough over the southern Rockies this afternoon lifts across the
plains region toward the upper Midwest through Saturday. There
looks to be a brief break in the stormy pattern late Saturday
night into Sunday behind the trough but additional storms return
by Monday.

Flash flood watch will cover parts of southeast Nebraska and
southwest Iowa near the warm front through tonight with potential
for several rounds of thunderstorms and heavy rain.

.LONG TERM...(Sunday night through Thursday)
Issued at 220 PM CDT Thu May 26 2016

Upper pattern becomes more amplified again in the extended period
with more storm chances into at least Wednesday although ECMWF is
a bit quicker with drier conditions by Tuesday night compared to
the GFS.

&&

.AVIATION...(18Z TAFS for KOMA...KLNK...KOFK through 18Z Friday)
Issued at 1250 PM CDT Thu May 26 2016

Showers and thunderstorms will begin to pop up across the region
this afTernoon. Storms could begin in KLNK as early at 19Z and
move into KOMA and KOFK later this afternoon and evening. Showers
and thunderstorms will continue well into the overnight hours
before clearing and potentially allowing light fog to develop
early Friday morning.

&&

.OAX Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
NE...Flash Flood Watch through Friday morning for NEZ066-068-078-
     088>093.

IA...Flash Flood Watch through Friday morning for IAZ090-091.

&&

SHORT TERM...Fobert
LONG TERM...Fobert
AVIATION...KG
Hazardous weather outlook, May 26, 10:59 AM CST, 2 hours 46 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
1159 AM CDT THU MAY 26 2016

IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034-
042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-270700-
MONONA-HARRISON-SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MILLS-MONTGOMERY-FREMONT-
PAGE-KNOX-CEDAR-THURSTON-ANTELOPE-PIERCE-WAYNE-BOONE-MADISON-
STANTON-CUMING-BURT-PLATTE-COLFAX-DODGE-WASHINGTON-BUTLER-
SAUNDERS-DOUGLAS-SARPY-SEWARD-LANCASTER-CASS-OTOE-SALINE-
JEFFERSON-GAGE-JOHNSON-NEMAHA-PAWNEE-RICHARDSON-
1159 AM CDT THU MAY 26 2016

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST
IOWA...WEST CENTRAL IOWA...EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA...NORTHEAST
NEBRASKA AND SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

THERE IS AN ENHANCED RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER TODAY AND TONIGHT ACROSS
MUCH OF THE REGION...ESPECIALLY ACROSS SOUTHERN NEBRASKA. A WARM
FRONT WILL LIFT NORTHWARD INTO THE AREA TODAY. THUNDERSTORMS ARE
EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY BEGINNING EARLY
THIS AFTERNOON...THEN LIFTING NORTH THROUGH THE AREA OVERNIGHT.
ALL MODES OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE POSSIBLE TODAY...INCLUDING
DAMAGING WINDS...VERY LARGE HAIL UP TO GOLF BALL SIZE OR
LARGER...AND EVEN TORNADOES IF STORMS ARE ABLE TO DEVELOP DIRECTLY
ON OR SOUTH OF THE WARM FRONT. SOME STORMS COULD PRODUCE VERY
HEAVY RAINFALL AS WELL...ESPECIALLY SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80. STORM
CHANCES BEGIN TO DIMINISH AFTER MIDNIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

THUNDERSTORM CHANCES REMAIN IN THE FORECAST JUST ABOUT EVERY DAY
THROUGH THE PERIOD.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE
AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 26, 1:37 PM CST, 8 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
237 PM CDT THU MAY 26 2016

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

0234 PM     HAIL             2 E DENTON              40.74N 96.81W
05/26/2016  E1.00 INCH       LANCASTER          NE   STORM CHASER

            56TH STREET AND DENTON

&&

PEARSON

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 99 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:43 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Hail, Fremont

When
May 26, 1:45 PM CST
Where
Fremont County, 0.87 mi NW of Farragut
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
40.730, -95.480

Flash Flood, Fremont

When
May 26, 5:36 PM CST
Where
Fremont County, 1.72 mi ESE of Percival to 0.66 mi SE of Percival
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
40.740, -95.770

Local law enforcement reported flooding along 200th avenue near the city of Percival.

Flash Flood, Fremont

When
May 26, 5:36 PM CST
Where
Fremont County, 0.69 mi S of Tabor to 1.46 mi SSW of Tabor
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
40.890, -95.670

Local law enforcement reported flooding along Green Hollow Road near the city of Tabor.

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

More

Every storm in Iowa in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, May 2016

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 627883, 629234, 629235.