Flood in Iowa

Events

4,756

Deaths

8

Injuries

123

Damage

$3.3 billion

• Tornadoes and Flooding in Iowa, June 29, 1998125 injured · $86 million · F2 · 97 eventsA complex weather situation was set up over the central U.S. as a mesoscale convective system passed to the south of Iowa during the overnight hours and early morning of the 29th. Initially, the surface warm front was located to the south of this system.
• Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Iowa, June 11 to 13, 20084 deaths · 48 injured · EF3 · 18 eventsA very strong and unseasonably cold upper level low pressure system that was tracking across the northern plains brought a strong low level jet to the region during the early morning hours of June 11th.
• Flooding in Iowa, September 21 to 30, 2010100 injured · $165,000 · 5 eventsA strong weather system moved through the central U.S. from the 21st through the 23rd of the month. Strong convection formed north of a warm frontal boundary lifting north through the state.
• Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Iowa, June 7 to 11, 20082 deaths · $4.5 million · EF1 · 126 eventsLow pressure developed over Kansas with a strong southerly flow of very moist air streaming into Iowa ahead of it. Surface temperatures warmed into the 80s with dew point readings in the low to mid 70s.
• Flooding in Iowa, June 20 to 30, 20242 deaths · $61 million · 50 eventsA multi-day significant heavy rainfall event from June 20-22 resulted in widespread rain totals between 5 and 10 inches across portions of southeast South Dakota, northwest Iowa, and southwest Minnesota.
• Tornado and Flash Flooding in Iowa, August 10 to 12, 20101 death · 4 injured · $52 million · EF0 · 64 eventsOnce again the atmosphere over Iowa became very unstable during the peak heating of the day. CAPE rose to 3500-4500 J/kg by the mid to late afternoon with lifted indices of -8 to -10 C.
• Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Iowa, June 12 to 13, 2013$2.0 million · EF3 · 53 eventsLow pressure moved northeast out of north central Kansas into central Iowa by mid day on the 12th, then into northern Illinois by evening. A strong push of very warm and humid air pushed into the state south of the warm front extending east from the low.
• Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Iowa, May 29 to 30, 200811 injured · $3.0 million · EF2 · 70 eventsA very unstable airmass moved into Iowa during the day on the 29th as a warm front lifted north into the state during the afternoon.
• Flash Flooding and Flooding in Iowa, March 12 to 31, 20191 death · 2 injured · $50 million · 12 eventsA 971mb bomb cyclone moved out of the central Rockies on Wednesday, March 13, 2019 and helped to create widespread, moderate to major, and in many cases historic, flooding across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.
• Flash Flooding and Flooding in Iowa, June 30, 20181 death · $9.0 million · 1.5 in hail · 58 eventsA frontal boundary was draped across areas just west of Iowa during the morning hours of June 30th, and slowly moved eastward into the state throughout the day.
• Flash Flooding and Flooding in Iowa, August 23 to 27, 20161 death · $7.3 million · 35 eventsRepeated rounds of thunderstorms with heavy rains moved across portions of northeast Iowa during the evening of August 23rd into the early morning hours of the 24th.
• Tornadoes and Flood in Iowa, May 15, 19981 injured · $4.8 million · F2 · 80 eventsAs the system mentioned above continued to evolve, a widespread outbreak of severe weather took place over Iowa. Strong upper level dynamics moved over the state over the top of an unstable air mass.
• Tornado and Flash Flooding in Iowa, May 26 to 27, 20131 death · $2.3 million · EF0 · 32 eventsThe continued series of thunderstorms moved across Iowa during the afternoon of the 26th and through the overnight hours of the 26th into the 27th. A stationary front remained in place from central Nebraska into northern Missouri.
• Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Iowa, July 27 to 28, 2008$3.5 million · EF1 · 159 eventsA very unstable airmass was in place over Iowa as a warm front lifted north slowly into the state. The warm air had moved in aloft as freezing levels increased from 14,600 feet in the morning, to 16,200 by the evening hours.
• Flooding in Iowa, June 12 to 30, 2010$1.0 billion · 51 eventsHeavy rainfall during the month of June caused considerable crop losses across the state. Crop damage was done through a combination of inundation flooding and losses due to crops not being able to be planted or rotting in the ground.
• Flash Flooding and Flooding in Iowa, June 23 to 25, 2015$4.7 million · 3.5 in hail · 156 eventsA slowly northward moving boundary/warm front was draped across the area throughout the day. By the evening vigorous storms fired up just north of the boundary and continued as the low level jet began to pick up. Numerous reports of large hail and damaging winds were reported.
• Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Iowa, May 6 to 7, 2007$5.4 million · EF2 · 41 eventsA very strong upper level low pressure trough had carved out over the western U.S. Iowa was in the strong southwest flow on the front side of this system. A surface warm front lifted north into southwest Iowa during the evening of the 5th.
• Flash Flooding and Flooding in Iowa, August 19, 20071 death · $1.0 million · 7 eventsA nearly stationary front across the region was the focus for thunderstorms across northeast Iowa during the late afternoon and evening of August 19. Excessive rainfall amounts of 2 to 5 inches in two to three hours caused flash flooding.
• Flooding in Iowa, June 1 to 30, 2008$1.1 billion · 21 eventsMajor to record flooding occurred during the month of June 2008 with most forecast points above flood stage for the majority of the month.
• Flash Flooding and Flooding in Iowa, May 20 to 22, 2024$1.1 million · 2 in hail · 156 eventsPLEASE NOTE, for tornadoes, please see separate Storm Data entry for May 21st. Multiple rounds of thunderstorms brought torrential rainfall, damaging winds, hail and destructive tornadoes to the state.
• Flooding in Iowa, June 26 to 27, 20051 death · $465,000 · 6 eventsFollowing the second round of heavy rainfall during the night of the 25th into the morning of the 26th, widespread flooding occurred over parts of northern Iowa.
• Flash Flooding and Flooding in Iowa, July 28 to 30, 2015$7.5 million · 1 in hail · 98 eventsA boundary was pushing through the state with ongoing convection through central Iowa through the day. As the boundary neared the area, the convection intensified and impacted central and southern Iowa in the evening to early morning hours.
• Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Iowa, June 27 to 28, 1998$1.3 million · F2 · 39 eventsIowa was located in the warm sector of a developing storm system to the west. The warm front had moved to the northern Iowa border during the afternoon of the 27th with dew point temperatures in the mid 70s to around 80 blanketing the state in the warm sector.
• Flash Flooding and Flooding in Iowa, September 9 to 12, 2014$4.5 million · 2 in hail · 108 eventsDeep moisture moved into Iowa as a strong shortwave moved into the central U.S. Moisture from former hurricane Norbert moved into the central U.S. as a low pressure system developed over Kansas.
• Flooding in Iowa, June 1 to 25, 2008$310 million · 14 eventsIowa came off of a very wet May, only to be followed by a near record wet June. Some of the flooding along Iowa's rivers continued from May into June. Heavy rains fell on a nearly daily basis somewhere in Iowa through the first half of the month.

Flood everywhereEvery kind of event in Iowa

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.