Heavy rainfall continued into early October with several streams and rivers already running high. This led to additional river flooding across portions of the Des Moines, Cedar and Iowa River basins, and also along Black Hawk Creek in Hudson.
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.
Heavy rainfall continued into early October with several streams and rivers already running high. This led to additional river flooding across portions of the Des Moines, Cedar and Iowa River basins, and also along Black Hawk Creek in Hudson. The West Fork of the Des Moines River at Estherville had been in flood already with its crest in late September and the flooding continued into early October.
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 Sep 30, 10:59 PM CST, 1 hour 1 minute earlier.
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html><!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The West Fork of the Des Moines River at Estherville crested at 10.62 ft on 21 September 2018 at 21:45 UTC. The flooding had carried over from September 2018.
Black Hawk Creek at Hudson crested twice, the first crest was at 15.9 ft on 2 October 2018 at 11:45 UTC and the second crest at 16.32 ft on 3 October 2018 at 10:00 UTC.
The Cedar River at Cedar Falls crested at 89.02 ft on 3 October 2018 at 12:30 UTC.
The Des Moines River at Southeast 6th Street crested at 24.04 ft on 4 October 2018 at 20:30 UTC.
The Iowa River at Tama Highway E49 crested at 13.04 ft on 4 October 2018 at 12:15 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, October 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 789570, 789571, 789566, 789568, 789573.