The National Weather Service had 41 active flash flood alerts posted Friday across Florida, Guam, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin, more than double Thursday’s count of 20 warnings across seven states, as the flooding threat pushed into new territory even as it persisted in the Gulf Coast and Midwest.
Iowa has emerged as the new center of concern. The National Weather Service office in Des Moines issued a Flood Watch for the South Skunk River at Colfax, affecting Polk, Jasper and Marion counties, running from Friday afternoon into early Saturday afternoon. Beyond that river stretch, watches and warnings now span more than 30 Iowa counties, including Dallas, Story, Black Hawk, Webster, Hamilton, Boone, Marshall and Tama, reflecting how far the saturated ground has spread across the state.
Nebraska also joined the alert list for the first time in this stretch. A flash flood warning covers northeastern Dundy, northwestern Hitchcock and Red Willow counties in the southwestern part of the state, in effect until 11 a.m. MDT (noon CDT). The National Weather Service said flooding of rivers, creeks and low-lying areas is imminent or already occurring there, with numerous roads closed.
Illinois remains under pressure as well. A warning covering De Kalb County in north-central Illinois and DuPage, Kane, Kendall and Will counties in the northeast runs until 8 a.m. CDT, with the National Weather Service warning that creeks and streams may leave their banks and flood poor-drainage and urban areas. Clay and Richland counties in southeastern Illinois are also under warning.
The inclusion of Guam among Friday’s active alerts underscores how geographically scattered this flooding event has become, with a separate warning far outside the continental swath running from the Gulf Coast to the northern Plains.
Forecasters are watching river gauges closely as the Iowa watch extends into Saturday, and additional heavy rain could push already-swollen streams higher. The National Weather Service is directing residents in watch areas to monitor forecasts at weather.gov’s regional river-forecast pages and reiterated its standard flood safety guidance: turn around, don’t drown when encountering flooded roads, since most flood deaths occur in vehicles, and exercise extra caution at night when high water is harder to spot.
With saturated soils across the Midwest and warnings now stretching from the Gulf Coast to the Canadian border and out to the Pacific, additional flash flood warnings are likely as more rounds of rain move over ground that has little capacity left to absorb it.