Persistent high flows along the Mississippi River caused a section of State Highway 82 to wash out south of De Soto. A person driving east from Lansing, Iowa unknowingly drove into the washed out area and drowned when the vehicle became submerged in the water.
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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 ARX wrote it up.
Persistent high flows along the Mississippi River caused a section of State Highway 82 to wash out south of De Soto. A person driving east from Lansing, Iowa unknowingly drove into the washed out area and drowned when the vehicle became submerged in the water.
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 La Crosse, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 30, 2:38 AM CST, 22 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service La Crosse WI 338 AM CDT Tue May 30 2017 .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 338 AM CDT Tue May 30 2017 30.08Z water vapor loop shows at least three distinct short-waves rotating around the parent low over central Ontario. The second two waves, currently across northern MN and along the Manitoba/ND border respectively, will drop south across the forecast area today. As a result, expect periods of scattered showers, with the best chances being mid-late afternoon for areas south of I-90 where a developing surface trough will provide a boundary for additional low-level lift/convergence. Kept isolated thunder mention for the southeast half of the forecast area where MUCAPE increases up to 500 J/kg. Otherwise, expect increasing cloud cover through the day, which will help keep temperatures in check with afternoon highs from the mid 50s across the north to mid 60s across the south. Westerly winds will be breezy at times with some gusts to around 20 mph. Showers will dissipate this evening after sunset with gradually decreasing cloud cover overnight from southwest to northeast. Temperatures will be dependent on clouds, but should drop into the mid 40s for most areas. .LONG TERM...(Wednesday through Monday) Issued at 338 AM CDT Tue May 30 2017 Wednesday/Thursday now look dry as surface high pressure builds across much of the Upper Midwest. A short-wave aloft Wednesday night/Thursday morning will interact with a warm front across the Central Plains, keeping showers/storms south across NE into northern MO/southern IA, so main impact farther north will be increasing cloud cover on Thursday. Temperatures Wednesday in the mid-upper 60s will warm 5 to 10 degrees for Thursday with most areas reaching the mid 70s. Aforementioned warm front then lifts northward Thursday night into Friday, increasing chances for showers and thunderstorms, especially across the southern forecast area. Friday through Sunday, shower/ storm chances will depend on position of the warm front with some rather stark differences between the GFS/ECMWF. The ECMWF stalls the front in the vicinity of the forecast area, allowing for multiple rounds of showers/storms and thus increasing the heavy rain threat with PWATS around 1.5 inches and warm cloud depths to 3.5 km. The GFS, however, pushes the front well south Friday night, resulting in a mostly dry Saturday with additional rain chances on Sunday due to another Pacific short-wave that's not depicted by the ECMWF. With a more northern frontal position, instability/shear profiles support potential for severe thunderstorms in addition to heavy rain. Too many differences within current model suite, so overall forecast confidence is low. However, something to watch closely over the next several days. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Tuesday night) Issued at 1145 PM CDT Mon May 29 2017 The afternoon/evening showers have finally dissipated, but there are still more clouds upstream of both airports as another short wave trough moves south across Minnesota. All the short range models indicate this wave will not produce any showers overnight and that most of the clouds should dissipate before getting too far south. Even if they do move over either airport, it would be a VFR ceiling anyway. Another short wave trough will move across the region Friday. This should produce another round of afternoon/early evening showers and will continue to mention a VCSH for both airports with a lower ceiling, but still VFR. For the showers that do form, expecting these to dissipate by early evening with the VFR ceiling continuing for a few hours before the clouds scatter out. && .HYDROLOGY... Issued at 338 AM CDT Tue May 30 2017 Flood Warnings continue along the Mississippi River at both McGregor and Guttenberg Dam 10 through at least the latter half of the week. Meanwhile, elevated water levels continue along the Mississippi River farther north. Heavy rainfall is possible at times Thursday night through Sunday, but the threat is highly dependent on the position of an expected warm front. Large differences in forecast guidance at this time result in low confidence, but something to watch over the next several days. && .ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...None. MN...None. IA...None. && SHORT TERM...Rogers LONG TERM...Rogers AVIATION...04 HYDROLOGY...Rogers
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service La Crosse WI 347 AM CDT Tue May 30 2017 IAZ008>011-018-019-029-030-MNZ079-086>088-094>096-WIZ017-029- 032>034-041>044-053>055-061-311200- Mitchell-Howard-Winneshiek-Allamakee-Floyd-Chickasaw-Fayette- Clayton-Wabasha-Dodge-Olmsted-Winona-Mower-Fillmore-Houston- Taylor-Clark-Buffalo-Trempealeau-Jackson-La Crosse-Monroe-Juneau- Adams-Vernon-Crawford-Richland-Grant- 347 AM CDT Tue May 30 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of southeast Minnesota...northeast Iowa and southwest into central Wisconsin. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Minor flooding continues along portions of the Mississippi River south of Lansing Iowa. Isolated thunderstorms are possible this afternoon across portions of northeast Iowa, far southeast Minnesota, and adjacent areas of southwest Wisconsin. Severe weather is not expected with the primary threat being lightning. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday Minor flooding continues along portions of the Mississippi River south of Lansing Iowa through the latter half of the week. Additional thunderstorms are possible at times late Thursday through Sunday. It is too early to determine if severe weather will occur with any of these thunderstorms. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... No action needed. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... No webinar is scheduled. Rogers
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
One person drowned when he unknowingly drove his vehicle into a section of washed out road south of De Soto. Persistent high flows along the Mississippi River caused a portion of State Highway 82 to wash out.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flood, Crawford | 2017-05-30 | 59 | Male | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Indirect |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, May 2017
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: 702258.