Iowa, 2018

Flooding in Iowa, October 1 to 2, 2018

October 1 to 2, 2018 · NWS FSD · 2 events in 1 county or zone

Flooding continued to ease on portions of the Big Sioux River from around Akron southward to near Richland.

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
2

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 FSD wrote it up.

Flooding continued to ease on portions of the Big Sioux River from around Akron southward to near Richland.

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 Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 30, 9:41 PM CST, 2 hours 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 30, 9:41 PM CST, 2 hours 19 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Plymouth

When
October 1, 12:00 AM CST to October 2, 9:00 AM CST
Where
Plymouth County, 5.46 mi N of Akron to 5.78 mi WSW of Akron
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
River/Stream Gage
Coordinates
42.908, -96.538

River levels on the Big Sioux River at Akron (gage site AKRI4) continued to fall in early October. Impacts were limited to minor agricultural flooding.

Flood, Plymouth

When
October 1, 12:00 AM CST to October 2, 11:00 AM CST
Where
Plymouth County, 2.13 mi NW of Westfield to 1.47 mi WNW of Westfield
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
River/Stream Gage
Coordinates
42.774, -96.626

River levels on the Big Sioux River near Richland (gage site BSRS2) continued to fall in early October. Impacts were limited to minor agricultural flooding.

What these are

Flood
Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Iowa in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, October 2018

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 786675, 786676.