***Official 2024 Weather Thread***



Pretty crazy. I think NWS in that region really dropped the ball last night.

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I’m surprised a tornado could find anyone out there, but I guess it did.


We were livestreaming a youtuber last night (max velocity?) and he was amazed that they didn't get a tornado warning to those people in time. It took the NWS a very long time when he saw it way before. Good thing no one was killed.
 
All of this rain reminds a little of 1993 when we had summer flooding. I attended a post-flood conference in the Quad Cities. Think it was billed as some sort of mayor's conference. Post flood there is always all sorts of second guessing and finger pointing from a lot of folks*** who should just talk less and listen more. I do remember the chief hydrologist from the Corps of Engineers Rock Island District speaking. Went something like this "I am going to tell you why it flooded so bad" Mayors and local officials were all ears awaiting the reveal of some secret or some huge error by the feds or the states that caused everything. "Well, it rained." Big pause and than "It rained a lot. And than it rained some more!" And the mayors all slumped back into their chairs. I was chuckling to myself.

*** Example: "The flood control project downstream of me caused my flooding!" "The flood control project upstream of me caused my flooding!" "The reservoir upstream could have prevented my flooding!"
 
We were livestreaming a youtuber last night (max velocity?) and he was amazed that they didn't get a tornado warning to those people in time. It took the NWS a very long time when he saw it way before. Good thing no one was killed.
The county where Mullen, NE is located has roughly one person per square mile. They either know what’s coming or aren’t paying attention anyway.
 
I'd like to see a similar map for Iowa. You can catch the border counties a little bit. That's a lotta rain in two weeks especially coming on the heels of two years of drought conditions for much of the state.


If anyone is interested in seeing rainfall totals and other data pertinent to floods I would recommend the Iowa Flood Information System. It has some pretty good interactive tools you can use to look at different types of data.

 
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All of this rain reminds a little of 1993 when we had summer flooding. I attended a post-flood conference in the Quad Cities. Think it was billed as some sort of mayor's conference. Post flood there is always all sorts of second guessing and finger pointing from a lot of folks*** who should just talk less and listen more. I do remember the chief hydrologist from the Corps of Engineers Rock Island District speaking. Went something like this "I am going to tell you why it flooded so bad" Mayors and local officials were all ears awaiting the reveal of some secret or some huge error by the feds or the states that caused everything. "Well, it rained." Big pause and than "It rained a lot. And than it rained some more!" And the mayors all slumped back into their chairs. I was chuckling to myself.

*** Example: "The flood control project downstream of me caused my flooding!" "The flood control project upstream of me caused my flooding!" "The reservoir upstream could have prevented my flooding!"
There is something to the human tendency to follow every natural disaster with "Why didn't we see it coming and build for it?" In my line of work I'll sometimes have people ask me why we don't build houses to withstand tornadoes. Well, you can if you want to live in a concrete bunker with no windows or live underground. Or you can build a nicer wood house above ground, that's way cheaper and accept that there is a 1/10,000 chance it takes a direct hit from a tornado in the next 50-100 years.
 


Pretty crazy. I think NWS in that region really dropped the ball last night.

——
I’m surprised a tornado could find anyone out there, but I guess it did.




It's the old "if a tree falls and no one hears it........did it make a sound".

Or in today's world "if an F5 tears up the earth and Reed Timmer didn't see it.........does it count".


This stuff has been happening in the open plains forever. And before everyone had a camera (phone) no one had a clue how many tornado's there actually were for any given season. If it doesn't hit a town (population)...........who cares.
 
Projected MN River crest in Twin Cities south metro expected on Saturday being the highest crest since 1969. Having a theme park next to a river can be quite scenic... until the river floods. Roller coasters are now water rides. This park is no stranger to floods, but this is the worst they have experienced. Park remains open (obviously some rides are closed), but people have to park offsite and take a shuttle to arrive/depart

0625-VALLEYFAIR-FLOODING-KSTP_BCMP01_mxf_00.00.58.14-1024x576.jpg0625-VALLEYFAIR-FLOODING-KSTP_BCMP01_mxf_00.02.42.50-1024x576.jpg
 
It's the old "if a tree falls and no one hears it........did it make a sound".

Or in today's world "if an F5 tears up the earth and Reed Timmer didn't see it.........does it count".


This stuff has been happening in the open plains forever. And before everyone had a camera (phone) no one had a clue how many tornado's there actually were for any given season. If it doesn't hit a town (population)...........who cares.
Yeah there was a massive tornado earlier this year in Oklahoma that could have possibly been a F5 but it didn’t come over any structures and just in open plains at night
 
Does the green area in Northern Iowa on 7/1 and 7/2 and then West Central Iowa on 7/3 and 7/4 sit ok with rivers receding enough by then, or is it setting up for a huge issue?
The last I heard was that the Missouri at Omaha was set to peak today but Saylorville isn't expected to peak until 7/5. This may not be up to date, but you can see there's no magic date in sight for an "all clear".
 
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