116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Cedar Rapids under a flood warning: National Weather Service
The Cedar River is expected to crest next Tuesday at eight feet above major flood stage, after rainfall in northeast Iowa Wednesday night.
Cedar Rapids was placed under a flood warning by the National Weather Service before noon today.
The river is forecast to crest in Cedar Rapids at 24.1 feet by late Monday or early Tuesday (Sept. 26 - Sept. 27). The major flood stage for the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids is 16 feet.
Rainfall across northeastern and east central Iowa on Wednesday night led to flooding in the Cedar River Basin, said Peter Speck, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Davenport. A large frontal boundary storm system that has been hanging over much of Northern Iowa and southern Minnesota dropped more than 4.5 inches of precipitation Wednesday night. The Twin Cities saw about 10 inches of rainfall last night.
Spotty showers will persist throughout the rest of today in northeastern Iowa and Cedar Rapids, Speck added.
All that rain leads to rising river levels, he noted. Though forecasts are subject to change, the Cedar River will begin flooding on Sunday, Sept. 25, Speck said.
Though the river was not above flood stage as of Thursday morning, the water levels in:
l Waterloo measured 9.77 feet at 8 a.m.
l Vinton measured at about 11 feet in Vinton around 9 a.m. The river is forecast to crest in Vinton Wednesday evening, Sept. 28, at 16 feet - half a foot below major flood stage.
l Cedar Rapids measured 9.41 feet at 10 a.m. Thursday.
Speck said Northern Iowa and southern Minnesota already are seeing effects of heavy rain, with Minnesota roads closed due to mudslides. Manhole covers in Charles City in Floyd County, Iowa, popped off after Wednesday's rain, and roads are covered with water in Monona, in Clayton County, Thursday.
'This is not usually typical for this time of year,” Speck said of Eastern Iowa rainfall totals for August and September.
According to the National Weather Service, there was a total of 5.04 inches at The Eastern Iowa Airport in September 2015. The average September rain is 3.16 inches.
Cedar Rapids Streets Department worker Dan Dudley (right) passes a sandbag to Lou Isaac as they and others sandbag around a seven-foot tall concrete cone that was placed over a catch basin drain along Ellis Boulevard NW in northwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016. City workers are preparing for a crest of the Cedar River of about 24 feet. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Boaters remove their boats at the Ellis Boat Harbor along Ellis Boulevard NW in northwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016. City workers and residents are preparing for a crest of the Cedar River of about 24 feet. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Cedar Rapids Streets Department workers position a seven-foot tall concrete cone over a catch basin drain along Ellis Boulevard NW in northwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016. City workers are preparing for a crest of the Cedar River of about 24 feet. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Daily Newsletters