From NWS
1959: Slow moving thunderstorms produced extremely heavy rain and flash flooding across portions of southern Iowa from August 5-6, with a post-storm field survey estimating that an astonishing 16.7 to 17.0 inches of rain fell in a small section of Decatur County between 9 pm and 6 am. The survey also estimated 10.0 to 13.0 inches of rain in other areas of Decatur County and as much as 11.3 inches at one location in Wayne County. Adair, Clarke, Madison, Ringgold, and Union counties also received generally 2 to 6 inches of rainfall. Further east at Fort Madison an official rainfall measurement of 8.50 inches was recorded, resulting in significant flooding across much of the city.

1890: A very severe hail storm struck portions of Adair and Union counties producing incredible amounts of hail. One person wrote that near Orient “the hail destroyed all green vegetation and small animals, such as rabbits, ground squirrels, etc., and all the birds. It fell to a depth of four inches, varying in size from a quail’s egg to a hen’s egg, and drifting in many places to a depth of six feet, where it remained, when protected by the trash, for twenty-six days after the storm, or until September 1st.” Another observer in Creston wrote that “hail commenced to fall…for forty minutes…on the bottomlands hail was drifted from four to six feet deep, and where protected by long grass, was found in large quantities twelve days after the date of the storm.”

6 August 1890 → Thunderstorms left 4 inches of hail covering the ground in parts of Iowa. The hail eventually drifted into six foot mounds, and, in some places, remained on the ground for nearly a month. 6 August 1977 → Eighteen tornadoes, ten downbursts, and seventeen microbursts struck a three county area near Springfield, IL. One of the tornadoes grew to F3 strength.

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