Flash Flood — Pottawattamie, Iowa

2015-09-23 · near Chautauqua, Pottawattamie, Iowa

Event narrative

Numerous reports of flash flooding were received from broadcast media, spotters, and social media. Very heavy rainfall occurred during the overnight and into the early morning hours on the 23rd with the Council Bluffs area seeing over 7 inches of rainfall. This lead to significant flash flooding of streets and small streams. This had a large impact on the morning rush hour with numerous cars stalled with several water rescues taking place. Basement flooding also occurred throughout the city during the morning hours.

Wider weather episode

An area of upper level low pressure slowly moved across the central Plains during the September 22nd through the 23rd time frame. Significant moisture was in place across the mid Missouri River Valley ahead of this system. This combination led to scattered to numerous thunderstorms over eastern Nebraska and western Iowa starting on the 22nd and continuing into the day on the 23rd. The heavy persistent thunderstorms, especially late in the night and into the early morning hours on the 23rd led to significant flash flooding across parts of western Iowa, specifically in Council Bluffs.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.2799, -95.8303)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 602059. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.