Flash Flood — Lee, Iowa

2023-08-05 to 2023-08-30 · near Keokuk, Lee, Iowa

Event narrative

Law Enforcement reported several stalled vehicles and water rescues by first responders in town in the past 2 to 3 hours. There was 4 to 5 feet of water reported on many roads and streets.

Wider weather episode

A significant rain event occurred late Friday into Saturday across extreme southeast Iowa. A slow moving mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) tracked over eastern Lee and Des Moines Counties and brought very heavy rain in a short amount of time. Rainfall amounts between 3 and 9 inches fell in less than 6 hours, which caused many stalled vehicles and several water rescues in Keokuk, Iowa. Other towns that received heavy rain were Fort Madison, Iowa and Burlington, Iowa.

A new daily rainfall record of 6.14 of rain occurred in Burlington, which broke the previous record of 2.03 back in 1903. This record also is the second highest daily rainfall on any given day in Burlington. The wettest day was 6.28 on June 29th, 1933.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.4100, -91.4000)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1129569. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.