Flood — Butler, Iowa

2013-05-26 to 2013-05-27 · near Parkersburg, Butler, Iowa

Event narrative

Beaver Creek out of its banks and flooding about a mile long section of Iowa Highway 57 west of Parkersburg. Iowa DOT has already closed that section of the highway with water reaching several houses.

Wider weather episode

The 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. The front aloft remained over Iowa, setting the stage for repeated thunderstorm development. The parameters changed little from the previous event. A weakly sheared atmosphere was in place with 25 to 30 kts of shear available. CAPE values were slightly higher, in the 1000 to 2000 J/kg range. Downdraft CAPE ranged from under 400 J/kg over the east part of the CWA to 800 J/kg over the west. A substantial inversion was in place over most of the Des Moines CWA. CAPE in the -10 to -30 C layer of the atmosphere was relatively low, only 200 to 400 J/kg. Precipitable water values were in the 1.3 to 1.6 inch range, or over 2 standard deviations above normal. Thunderstorms from the previous night weakened, only to be replaced by a new round of thunderstorms that developed over northwest Iowa by mid day on the 26th. These storms moved southeast across the state, producing heavy rain across many of the areas that received heavy rainfall the night before. Highway closings were too numerous to mention with many small creeks overflowing their banks and causing flash flooding. There were several reports of road washouts and bridges being washed out. A man driving a SUV was swept away by swift flood waters Monday morning on Westbrook Street in Butler County west of Parkersburg. Severe weather was limited. The storms produced half dollar size hail in Taylor County. Hail also fell in Humboldt and Polk Counties. A funnel cloud was reported in Taylor County as well. One brief tornado touchdown was reported southwest Diagonal in Ringgold County. On the morning of the 27th, as the second MCS decayed, high winds occurred over a small part of north central into central Iowa as a wake low formed. Winds gusted to 58 MPH in Polk County at Ankeny. An RWIS site in Marshall County at Marshalltown recorded a 60 MPH wind gust. Wind damage occurred in Boone County and Hardin Counties. Sustained winds of 40 to 45 MPH were reported in Jasper and Story Counties. Scattered reports of outbuilding and tree damage were received.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (42.5700, -92.8000)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 442538. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.