The National Weather Service issues Flood Warnings for monitored points along rivers when the forecast stage (river height) is expected to cause flooding. NWS Des Moines issued their first such warning of the year yesterday for the East Fork of the Des Moines River at Algona. This was the office's first such warning since February of last year! The featured chart presents the period each year between the first and last issuance along with the number of issuances per day. Flood Warnings tend to last many days, so unfortunately this visualization does not represent that aspect of these warnings. Anyway, the chart is still informative when one compares this to years dominated by drought, namely 2012 and a number of recent years. The very wet years of 2008 and 2010 certainly stand out on this chart as well. For recently drought stricken Iowa, a bit of flooding is a good sign that our hydrological situation is improving. Of course, it would be nice if things do not get out of hand over the months ahead.

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