A lack of rainfall and warmer than average temperatures resulted in severe drought conditions developing in northeast Iowa through June. Between April 1st and severe drought development by June 27th, approximately 6 inches of total rain fell in parts of Allamakee County, which was near 7 inches below normal for the time period or 25 to 50 percent of normal.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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 ARX wrote it up.
A lack of rainfall and warmer than average temperatures resulted in severe drought conditions developing in northeast Iowa through June. Between April 1st and severe drought development by June 27th, approximately 6 inches of total rain fell in parts of Allamakee County, which was near 7 inches below normal for the time period or 25 to 50 percent of normal.
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 La Crosse, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 27, 5:13 AM CST, 47 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service La Crosse WI 613 AM CDT Tue Jun 27 2023 .DISCUSSION...(Today through Monday) Issued at 256 AM CDT Tue Jun 27 2023 Key Messages: - Wildfire smoke may impact air quality over the next few days. - Thunderstorm chances increase Wednesday afternoon and Wednesday night with potential for a few severe storms, but confidence in location/coverage of storms is lower. - Although low end chances for showers/storms continue late this week into early next week, organized/widespread rain chances are low, and the weekend is trending drier for most areas. Today-Wednesday night: Hazy skies will persist through mid-week due to smoke from Canadian wildfires. Reduced visibilities from near surface smoke as of early this morning have been most prevalent across WI, as suggested by the the HRRR. Although hazy skies from smoke aloft likely will remain through Wednesday, the HRRR indicates some improvement in near surface smoke through the day across WI before returning tonight and Wednesday as winds shift southerly ahead of a front. Meanwhile, the upper air flow will transition to a more zonal flow pattern Wednesday as an upper trough east across the Great Lakes migrates east and a belt of westerlies overspreads the region north of a strong upper ridge over the southern plains. A few weak shortwave troughs cascading through the flow will traverse the area into early Wednesday. The airmass will remain quite dry into this evening, limiting the potential for any rain. However, some increase in low-level moisture transport and warm advection/broad lift should lead to scattered shower/isolated storms later tonight into Wednesday, although instability should be quite weak, limiting the thunder risk overall. By later Wednesday afternoon/evening, a pool of CAPE is forecast to build north and east into the Upper MS Valley, with the greater surface-based CAPE forecast near and west of the MS River, and increasing westerly shear providing a more favorable parameter space for organized storms. Confidence remains lower on coverage/placement and timing of storms with questions concerning degree of capping/warm air aloft and boundary layer moisture, and forcing ahead of a weak surface boundary. There is general consensus for higher potential for storms near/north of I-90, or especially I-94, where mid-level temps will be a bit cooler and forcing from the trough may be greater during the later afternoon/evening. A conditional risk for a few severe storms exists with 40+ kts of effective shear favorable for supercells. Some enhancement of low- level shear could occur in conjunction with a low-level jet, leading to greater low-level hodograph curvature. The SPC has included a slight risk (level 2 of 5) for severe storms across southeast MN for Wednesday with much of the rest of the area in a level 1 of 5 risk. Hail/strong winds are the most likely hazards with any surface-based storms and hail most likely with any elevated storms overnight. Thursday-Monday: The belt of mid-level westerlies is expected to extend northward into the Mid/Upper MS Valley through Friday with embedded shortwave troughs passing through the flow. Meanwhile, a northern stream trough will slowly progress into the Great Lakes through the weekend with northwest flow aloft developing in its wake. Given the lower predictability in placement of individual troughs, the late week period into early next week is muddled with lower end (20-40%) precip chances, although rain chances may lessen into the weekend with modestly drier, northerly flow. The deeper moisture and axis of higher instability is expected to push south of the area late this week while shear decreases through the weekend with lighter flow aloft, so there are no strong signals for severe storms during this time. Seasonably warm temps look to inch upwards heading towards early next week. && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Wednesday morning) Issued at 613 AM CDT Tue Jun 27 2023 Wildfire smoke has returned to the area this morning and is thick enough to produce both visbility reductions and VFR ceilings. Uncertain on how long it will persist but based on smoke guidance from the 27.08Z HRRR there should be a pretty decent push south allowing for improvements to occur. For now, have held onto the MVFR conditions through the morning so trends can be monitored and adjusted as needed. Otherwise, should be VFR conditions with just some increasing mid level clouds overnight ahead of an approaching short wave trough. && .ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...NONE. MN...NONE. IA...NONE. && DISCUSSION...JM AVIATION...04
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service La Crosse WI 505 AM CDT Tue Jun 27 2023 IAZ008>011-018-019-029-030-MNZ079-086>088-094>096-WIZ017-029- 032>034-041>044-053>055-061-281200- Mitchell-Howard-Winneshiek-Allamakee-Floyd-Chickasaw-Fayette- Clayton-Wabasha-Dodge-Olmsted-Winona-Mower-Fillmore-Houston- Taylor-Clark-Buffalo-Trempealeau-Jackson-La Crosse-Monroe-Juneau- Adams-Vernon-Crawford-Richland-Grant- 505 AM CDT Tue Jun 27 2023 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of southeast Minnesota...northeast Iowa and southwest into central Wisconsin. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Isolated, non-severe thunderstorms are possible tonight, mainly west of the Mississippi River. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday Thunderstorm chances continue Wednesday and Wednesday night with a few strong to severe storms possible during the late afternoon and evening. Large hail and strong winds are the primary hazards. Additional periodic low chances for storms exist through early next week, but the probability for organized severe storms appears low at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... No action needed today or tonight. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... No webinar is scheduled.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Drier than normal conditions resulted in Severe Drought for 387 square miles or 59% of Allamakee County towards the end of June.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, June 2023
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: 1106501.