Drought conditions developed across portions of northwest Iowa during mid-April after a winter and early spring of below normal precipitation.
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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 FSD wrote it up.
Drought conditions developed across portions of northwest Iowa during mid-April after a winter and early spring of below normal precipitation.
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 Apr 18, 9:42 PM CST, 2 hours 18 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD 1042 PM CDT Mon Apr 18 2022 .SHORT TERM...(This Evening through Tuesday) Issued at 243 PM CDT Mon Apr 18 2022 Surface observations continue to show mixy northwest winds gusting 25-40 mph this afternoon, but winds will weaken quickly with sunset. Tonight, expect light northerly winds to turn east and eventually settle southeast as sfc high pressure slides by to the east overnight. This evening, clear skies will prevail with dry northwest flow. Satellite shows snow cover east of I-29 melting in a hurry this afternoon, but nocturnal radiational cooling early this evening will still make for a chilly night. Temperatures will drop into the 20s to 30s pretty quickly tonight, but increasing cirrus and warm air advection help temperatures moderate slightly heading into Tuesday morning. Height rises aloft and the sfc trough preparing to eject from the High Plains means warm air advection will make for a slightly warmer day Tuesday. Bumped up highs slightly for Tuesday. Expect the warmest air west of the James River Valley, where temperatures will peak in the upper 50s to mid 60s, vs cooler with highs in the 40s to near 50 degrees along and east of the I-29 corridor. Model soundings support increasing mid level clouds Tuesday morning, spreading eastward through the region with the mid level front and a weakly unstable layer. Though the GFS and some hi-res guidance support a period of light rain, suspect the dry sub cloud layer will prevent much if anything from reaching the sfc so maintained sprinkles for a period Tuesday. More impactful to outdoor activities will once again be breezy southerly winds gusting 30-40 mph. Will need to monitor areas near and west of a Huron to Mitchell to Sioux City line with high to very high fire danger Tuesday where the strongest winds and warm air advection will bring highs near or above 60 degrees. For more details, read the Fire Weather discussion section below. .LONG TERM...(Tuesday Night through Monday) Issued at 243 PM CDT Mon Apr 18 2022 Late Tuesday night, the mid level wave upstream ejects from the Northern Rockies and tracks the associated sfc trough eastward into the Dakotas and Central Plains. 12z guidance is trending further south with the mid level wave, spreading in higher rain chances and further west than previously. Thus GEFS and Euro ensemble guidance have pushed a 50+ percent chance of over 0.10 inches of rain across nearly all of the forecast area (driest in central SD). Could see a few rumbles of thunder Wednesday morning and maybe as much as a quarter to half inch of rain for areas east of I-29, but the positively tilted upper trough tracks well to our north along the international border and keeps most instability (and thus potential for locally higher 0.50"+ rainfall amounts) well to our south. Rain should be exiting eastward of I-29 Wednesday afternoon. Strong ridging brings above normal temperatures and dry conditions for Thursday, allowing for a strong upper trough to create more amplified flow in the West. On Friday, deterministic models are in good agreement in the upper trough trekking east with a strong CO low draping a warm front eastward into the Central Plains. In fact, high temperatures are progged to reach the 60s to perhaps even low to mid 80s Friday. Height falls aloft, moderate instability, and strong 0-6km deep layer shear combined with potential warm frontal proximity may provide ingredients for thunderstorms across the region as highlighted in the SPC Day 5 outlook. Though confidence in any details is low, Friday and Friday night will be a period to monitor for severe weather potential. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Tuesday night) Issued at 1034 PM CDT Mon Apr 18 2022 Light winds tonight increase and turn southeasterly by daybreak Tuesday. Gusts are expected to be around 30 to 40 knots during the afternoon and evening, with the strongest gusts west of I-29. VFR conditions prevail through the period, although mid and upper clouds increase overnight into early Tuesday morning. Some flurries (morning) and sprinkles are possible after sunrise into the early afternoon, with the better chances east of I-29 early Tuesday afternoon. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 243 PM CDT Mon Apr 18 2022 As of mid afternoon, gusty northwest winds are exceeding expectations, peaking 35-45 mph east of the James River Valley. Additionally RH values have dipped to 20 to 35 percent across the region, aside from areas that received snowfall yesterday. Thus critical or near critical conditions are occurring across much of southeast SD, far northeast NE, and near the Sioux City metro area. Fire danger should improve around sunset as winds quickly weaken and temperatures start to fall, increasing humidity levels. Elevated fire danger continues Tuesday for portions of the region. Winds will be southeasterly with gusts of 25-40 mph. However mid level cloudiness should keep minimum RH values above 30 percent east of the James River Valley. Main area of concern continues to be along and west of the James River Valley where more sunshine will bring high temperatures near to above 60 degrees and RH values into the 20s Tuesday afternoon. At this point, humidity values do not look to dip low enough to cause critical conditions to occur so will forego any headlines and continue to monitor. Although gusty winds and minimum RH values below 30 percent may occur on Wednesday, there is a greater chance of receiving over 0.10 inches of rain Wednesday, so am not expecting fire danger to be as great of a concern with higher potential for wet fuels. && .FSD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SD...NONE. MN...NONE. IA...NONE. NE...NONE. && SHORT TERM...BP LONG TERM...BP AVIATION...SG FIRE WEATHER...BP
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD 819 PM CDT Mon Apr 18 2022 IAZ001>003-012>014-020>022-031-032-MNZ071-072-080-081-089-090-097- 098-NEZ013-014-SDZ038>040-053>056-059>062-065>071-200130- Lyon-Osceola-Dickinson-Sioux-O'Brien-Clay-Plymouth-Cherokee- Buena Vista-Woodbury-Ida-Lincoln-Murray-Cottonwood-Nobles-Jackson- Pipestone-Rock-Dixon-Dakota-Beadle-Kingsbury-Brookings-Sanborn-Miner- Lake-Moody-Davison-Hanson-McCook-Minnehaha-Hutchinson-Turner- Bon Homme-Yankton-Union- 819 PM CDT Mon Apr 18 2022 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northwest Iowa, west central Iowa, southwest Minnesota, northeast Nebraska, east central South Dakota and southeast South Dakota. .DAY ONE...Tonight. Hazardous weather is not expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday. Southeasterly gusts between 30 to 40 mph, coupled with dry antecedent conditions will result in high to very high danger across the region on Tuesday. Thunderstorm chances return to the region Friday and Friday night. Some stronger storms are possible. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. SDZ050-052-057-058-063-064-200130- Gregory-Jerauld-Brule-Aurora-Charles Mix-Douglas- 819 PM CDT Mon Apr 18 2022 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for central South Dakota and south central South Dakota. .DAY ONE...Tonight. Hazardous weather is not expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday. Southeasterly gusts between 35 to 50 mph, coupled with dry antecedent conditions, and relative humidity values near 30 percent will result in very high danger across the region on Tuesday. Thunderstorm chances return to the region Friday and Friday night. Some stronger storms are possible. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe (D2) drought developed mid-month with only 25 to 50 percent of normal January through March precipitation.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, April 2022
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: 1019269.