The threat of severe weather and flash flooding exists over much of Iowa through Friday morning. Several rounds of storms overnight produced funnel clouds, hail and up to five inches of rain. Rod Donovan is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
He says hail was reported near Madrid in central Iowa that measured 3.25 inches in diameter. Parts of Iowa that are already waterlogged received storms that produced heavy rainfall in a short period of time.
"They were pretty efficient rain producers," Donovan said. "We did have some areas where they had an inch of rain in around 15 minutes. Parts of Story, Polk and southern Warren County had those rainfall rates…some rainfall amounts did range upward of five inches in that area."
Residents of Ottumwa, in southeast Iowa, reported receiving over two inches of rain in 30 minutes. Funnel clouds were reported last night near Wellsburg in northeast Iowa and early this morning in Ida County in western Iowa. Donovan says there no reports of confirmed tornadoes, but there were some very strong winds.
"Our biggest, major wind gust was 76 miles an hour at Coon Rapids but we also did have several areas of trees down across western Iowa, including the Denison area and Charter Oak," Donovan said. "We just had a 60 mile per hour wind gust up toward the Ames area and down through Ankeny."
Donovan says many rivers in eastern Iowa, including those around Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, are still in the major flood category and any heavy rainfall could produce flash flooding.