Northwest Iowa — This is Severe Weather Awareness Week in Iowa. Each day this week the National Weather Service has been focusing on a different severe weather topic. Today we wrap up the week with flash flooding.
Warning Coordination Meteorologist Peter Rogers at the Sioux Falls office says, unfortunately, while the risk is pretty small for the next few weeks due to a very dry winter, this is a topic with which we in northwest Iowa are at least somewhat familiar.
According to the Weather Service, flash floods can roll boulders, tear out trees, destroy buildings and bridges, and scour out new channels. Rapidly rising water can reach heights of 30 feet or more. Flash flood-producing rains also can trigger catastrophic mudslides.
