The Des Moines River at Fort Dodge briefly went into minor flood in early March from some snowmelt.
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The episode as NWS DMX wrote it up.
The Des Moines River at Fort Dodge briefly went into minor flood in early March from some snowmelt.
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 Mar 3, 6:06 PM CST, 3 hours 14 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Des Moines IA 606 PM CST Sat Mar 3 2018 ...Updated for 00z Aviation Discussion... .SHORT TERM.../Tonight through Sunday/ Issued at 315 PM CST Sat Mar 3 2018 Strong warm advection underway with stiff southeast winds over the state this afternoon. Have seen a few sites reach wind criteria for sustained winds and likely to see a few more before daytime heating subsides enough for winds to slacken just a bit. Airmass is relatively dry with little in the way of cloudiness this afternoon. However, moisture axis to the west and south will begin to edge into the state overnight with clouds developing in the north and west. Some sprinkles may also occur in the far north overnight where the moist layer deepens albeit still only 3-5kft deep. Farther east, drier east-southeast flow will limit eastward extent of cloudiness with clear skies near the eastern CWA border. Will continue to monitor extent of clouds as overnight lows will be affected by where the clouds end up toward daybreak. The strong moisture transport and axis of low level flow will remain in eastern Nebraska in western Iowa on Sunday as the system moves into the Plains. Forcing is also somewhat limited during the day and doesn't really increase until after the period on Sunday, therefore the precipitation threat looks rather minimal during the day. In fact, soundings across the eastern half of the forecast area are much to dry to support pcpn and half cut back on pops quite aggressively through much of Sunday. Winds will remain strong through the day once again on the cusp of sustained advisory criteria. Temperatures are likely to be a few degrees cooler than today, especially in the west where cloudiness will be thicker. .LONG TERM.../Sunday night through Saturday/ Issued at 315 PM CST Sat Mar 3 2018 Sunday night...Theta-e advection shifts over eastern Iowa mid to late evening as broad mid level forcing increases. Mid and upper levels of the atmosphere saturate while lower levels take until after midnight to do so. Instability also increases across southwest into west central Iowa during this period. We should see a period of drizzle develop then go to showers with an isolated thunderstorm or two possible. As an inverted trough shifts across the state overnight, the instability will wain or shift east so during the overnight, we should lose the thunder threat and just have showers. Precip should be ongoing Monday morning but as the low pivots down much of the CWA will get dry slotted and we will see precip end as a cold front passes through the state. Then Monday night into Tuesday the upper low pivots down bringing in deeper cold air and snow to the area. Overall, accumulations at this point still look light with locations from Mason city to Audubon seeing around an inch with locations from Waterloo to Des Moines seeing between a half an inch to an inch. Northwest Iowa may see 2 to 3 inches but there are still some questions as to where the heaviest snow might occur. It may fall to the west and north of Iowa depending on the track of the low and how fast the changeover occurs. In addition to the precip, strong northwest winds will work down on the backside of this system. There will likely be areas of blowing snow with this system late Monday night into Tuesday morning. Precip will gradually end on Tuesday from west to east late Tuesday afternoon and evening. Beyond Tuesday night, it will be dry with moderating temperatures. A shortwave is expected to slide through the state Thu/Fri but it will be too dry aloft to create much in the way of precip. The GFS is the only model holding on to qpf so token PoPs were left in for Friday afternoon but confidence on slight chance PoPs on Day6 is very low. A stronger shortwave for late on Day 7 and beyond may mean precip for late next Saturday and Saturday night but this potential will better be addressed in the coming days. && .AVIATION.../For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Sunday evening/ Issued at 607 PM CST Sat Mar 3 2018 VFR conditions are expected to prevail at all terminals through the TAF period. There will be a period of low level wind shear this evening at all but KOTM as surface winds from the southeast subside to around 10 to 15 knots with 2000 foot winds around 45 knots. As moisture is drawn into the state, will see clouds develop overnight into Sunday morning with ceilings down to FL050 at KFOD and KMCW. Winds from the southeast will turn gusty once again Sunday. && .DMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && SHORT TERM...Cogil LONG TERM...FAB AVIATION...Ansorge
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Des Moines IA 349 PM CST Sat Mar 3 2018 IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075- 081>086-092>097-042200- 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-Dallas-Polk-Jasper- Poweshiek-Cass-Adair-Madison-Warren-Marion-Mahaska-Adams-Union- Clarke-Lucas-Monroe-Wapello-Taylor-Ringgold-Decatur-Wayne- Appanoose-Davis- 349 PM CST Sat Mar 3 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of central Iowa. .DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday Isolated non severe thunderstorms are possible over southern Iowa late Sunday night into Monday. Across northern to west central Iowa, light to locally moderate snow is anticipated late Monday evening into Tuesday. In addition to the falling snow, a strong northwest wind may cause blowing snow and lead to difficult travel at times. A wintry mix is possible over central to southern Iowa Tuesday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed. FAB
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Des Moines River at Fort Dodge crested at 14.61 ft on 5 March 2018 at 0645 UTC.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, March 2018
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: 746820.