Montezuma, IA

I didn't note the National Weather Service had issued any flood watches for Poweshiek County (where Montezuma and the upcoming Sig contest reside). Still, it could be problematic travelling through surrounding counties since most rivers aren't expected to crest until this weekend.

Although Iowa is not part of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve district, we were getting lots of calls from member banks evacuating their primary data centers and taking up operations at their contingency sites (assuming they were on higher ground).

Pretty miserable spring so far here in the Midwest.

Steve,

Could be worse. You could be in the Puget Sound.

See my post in the "Who's Going to SIG?" thread. I should have posted that here.
Time will tell.
Dan McEntee

So today NWS issues this alert for Poweshiek and other counties:

Short Term Forecast
Poweshiek (Iowa)

SHORT TERM FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
131 PM CDT SAT JUN 14 2008
IAZ037>039-047>050-059>062-072>075-083>086-094>097-142000-
HARDIN-GRUNDY-BLACK HAWK-BOONE-STORY-MARSHALL-TAMA-DALLAS-POLK-JASPER-
POWESHIEK-MADISON-WARREN-MARION-MAHASKA-CLARKE-LUCAS-MONROE-WAPELLO-
DECATUR-WAYNE-APPANOOSE-DAVIS-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ELDORA...GRUNDY CENTER...WATERLOO...BOONE...
AMES...MARSHALLTOWN...TOLEDO...ADEL...DES MOINES...NEWTON...
GRINNELL...WINTERSET...INDIANOLA...KNOXVILLE...OSKALOOSA...OSCEOLA...
CHARITON...ALBIA...OTTUMWA...LEON...CORYDON...CENTERVILLE...
BLOOMFIELD
131 PM CDT SAT JUN 14 2008
.NOW...
...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 528 IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS
EVENING...
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING BETWEEN AMES AND IOWA FALLS MAY
EXPAND IN COVERAGE TO THE SOUTH AND EAST THROUGH THE AFTERNOON
REACHING OVER PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN IOWA. THE STRONGER
STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND
LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS. THE RAINS MAY CAUSE ISOLATED PONDING WATER
AND RISES IN SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS...BUT SHOULD NOT BE HEAVY OR
WIDESPREAD ENOUGH TO IMPACT LARGER RIVERS.
$$

Issuing Weather Forecast Office Homepage

Odd that they would include Grinnell and Oskaloosa but not Montezuma (which lies between Grinnell and Oskaloosa).

Hi Steve;
The route I take from the St. Louis area is basically up Hiway 61 through Hannibal, MO, then up through St. Francisville to 218, then a stae highway that runs due west to Oskaloosa, the 63 north to SIG field. We cross the Skunk River at least 5 times on that route, heard anything about that River and the central part of the state?
Got a whole week to go yet, hardly worth the worry right now.
Best of luck to all up that way.
Dan McEntee

Hi Dan,

Ordinarily, I'd agree with you on this. However, my wife has been in contact with her cousins all over Iowa, and this is the 500-year flood!

Swollen rivers in Minnesota are slowly draining into Iowa. I'll be coming from near Chicago, and am planning on taking US Route 20 most of the way, instead of I-80. This will add at least an hour to my trip.

It would be best to stop at an Iowa Welcome Center, as you enter the state. These people are great at verifying where the problems are, when they're over, and how to circumnavigate them.

Investing 15 minutes at a Welcome Center might save you hours of driving.