Flood — Mitchell, Iowa

2023-05-14 to 2023-05-15 · near New Haven, Mitchell, Iowa

Event narrative

Significant runoff from heavy rainfall upstream resulted in a rapid rise of water and minor flooding along the Little Cedar River near Orchard on May 15th. Minor flooding was initially realized late on May 14th, with the river cresting 0.51 feet above flood stage of 1081.5 feet above sea level during the early morning of May 15th. It then fell below flood stage later that morning.

Wider weather episode

Four consecutive days of light to heavy rainfall events during the middle of May resulted in near 1.5 inches and some minor flooding along the more narrow, shallow rivers in northeast Iowa. Initial light to moderate rainfall on May 12th quenched soils from a drier than normal spring, while subsequent storms over the weekend of May 13th-14th resulted in rapid runoff and minor flooding along the Little Cedar and Turkey Rivers. Along the Little Cedar River, the highest realized height above flood stage occurred in Nashua (Chickasaw County) on May 16th with 0.94 feet. Along the Turkey River, the river gauge in Cresco (Howard County) crested 0.57 feet above flood stage on May 15th.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (43.2293, -92.6677)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1100497. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.