Multiple rounds of rainfall over the previous few days led to a swelling of the Cedar River and short lived minor flooding at Cedar Falls.
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The episode as NWS DMX wrote it up.
Multiple rounds of rainfall over the previous few days led to a swelling of the Cedar River and short lived minor flooding at Cedar Falls.
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 21, 5:44 PM CST, 3 hours 16 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Des Moines IA 644 PM CDT Sat Mar 21 2020 ...Updated for 00z Aviation Discussion... .DISCUSSION.../Tonight through Saturday/ Issued at 243 PM CDT Sat Mar 21 2020 Light southerly flow and weak warm air advection across Iowa today has allowed temperatures to warm, at least relatively comparative to yesterday, into the upper 30s and low 40s this afternoon. Meanwhile, a compact shortwave across the northern plains will drop towards the midwest tonight. This will allow for a brief window of light snow across our very far north/northeastern counties. No more than a dusting a best is expected there as qpf is very light and lift into Iowa is weak. Synoptic models fail to develop anything in the way of qpf with this system, however nearly all of the CAMs show light precipitation across Minnesota and into northern Iowa as the shortwave quickly slides across the area. The more prominent system across the southwest US will lift into Iowa by Sunday morning. Thermal profiles indicate a brief period of snow is possible across southern Iowa Sunday morning before warming and transitioning over to rain across central and southern Iowa. A few tenths of snow accumulation is possible on grassy or elevated surfaces, however with warm ground temperatures and the narrow window for snow, do not anticipate any impactful accumulations. After transitioning over to rain for most of the day, another brief period of light snow is possible after sunset tomorrow evening as this system exits east. Monday will be fairly quiet between system, however with weak warm air advection into the state, expect to see fog development Monday morning, which could have impacts on the morning commute. Otherwise temperatures will warm back towards more seasonal highs in the upper 40s and low 50s. A setup similar to the weekend system will be in place Tuesday as another system lifts out of the southwest US into the midwest, however model trends indicate much better forcing and theta-e advection compared to the weekend system. Previous runs showed some variability in qpf, however the latest runs show improving agreement between the Euro and GFS for on half to one inch of qpf. Return flow as this system departs will allow for temperatures Wednesday to warm into the 50s and near 60 degrees. There is some uncertainty with Wednesday highs, as a shortwave and tight surface low will pull a cold front across the area Wednesday afternoon. Depending on how quickly cloud cover/rain moves in and the progress of the cold front, high temperatures could be several degrees too high. This will be something to monitor as the system get closer. Models continue to diverge towards the end of the week and yet another system moves through to cap off another active week of weather. While previous runs showed a quicker Euro and slower GFS, solutions appear to have "flip-flopped", with the GFS arriving earlier ahead of the much slower Euro solution. With such uncertainty amongst models, confidence with this late week system is quite low. && .AVIATION.../For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Sunday evening/ Issued at 644 PM CDT Sat Mar 21 2020 VFR conditions will prevail overnight with ceilings lowering toward and after daybreak Sunday as snow/rain spreads into southern Iowa. MVFR/IFR restrictions will become common over southern Iowa as any snow transitions to primarily rain by late morning. Ceilings will lower over northern Iowa around or after midday into MVFR with ceilings perhaps lowering into IFR late in the afternoon. Fog may also develop late in this TAF period or overnight Sunday across parts of central Iowa as well. && .DMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && DISCUSSION...Hagenhoff AVIATION...Ansorge
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Des Moines IA 302 PM CDT Sat Mar 21 2020 IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075- 081>086-092>097-222015- 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- 302 PM CDT Sat Mar 21 2020 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 Patchy fog is likely Sunday night into Monday morning with dense fog possible mainly south and southwest. There is a chance for non-severe thunderstorms across Iowa Wednesday afternoon and evening. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed. REV
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Cedar River at Cedar Falls crested at 89.32 feet on March 22nd at 1745 UTC.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, March 2020
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: 882952.