This Day in Weather History July 2

1999: Severe thunderstorms produced strong winds, large hail, and very heavy rain and flooding across parts of Iowa. One particularly severe storm moved from Guthrie into Dallas and Adair counties producing hail the size of baseballs and larger with one report of softball sized hail near Casey. A large swath of 6 to 8 inches of rainfall produced near record flooding in the Beaver Creek basin in northeastern Iowa, where 6.55 inches of rain fell in less than three hours at Parkersburg and a bucket survey in Butler County showed a few locations receiving 11 to 14 inches of rain.

1958: The first several days of July were rainy across Iowa with heavy accumulations across about the southwestern quarter of the state. Total rainfall amounts from July 1-4 exceeded 4 inches at nearly every observing station south of Highway 30 and west of modern day Interstate 35. The heaviest rain fell overnight from July 1st through the 2nd with the highest amounts reported in Shelby, Audubon, and Guthrie counties. Four day rainfall amounts in these counties included 7.62 inches at Harlan, 8.96 inches at Guthrie Center, and 15.14 inches at Audubon, while rainfall amounts just in the 24 hours ending on July 2nd were 6.72 inches at Harlan, 6.55 inches at Guthrie Center, and a remarkable 12.53 inches at Audubon. These very heavy rains resulted in widespread flooding and flash flooding across the area. In the Exira area in southern Audubon County the East Nishnabotna River flooded very badly, destroying 75 homes and nearly 20 business with the loss of 19 lives. Much of the heavy rain also fell across the headwaters of the Raccoon River, sending a crest downstream that badly flooded portions of Des Moines. The month would finish as the wettest July on record at Des Moines with a total of 10.51 inches of rainfall.

Source: National Weather Service