closeIMPORTANT NOTICE

Over the past few days we have experienced technical difficulties with the network of rain gauges operated by the Iowa Flood Center in the Iowa City area. The system is designed to report data to IFIS in real-time (every 15 minutes). The problems appear in IFIS in two ways: (1) erroneous reporting (e.g. as no rainfall) and (2) underestimated amounts of rainfall. We have determined the causes for both complications and are now working to fix the problems. The missed reports are due to communication and computer system glitches which will be fixed by Monday or Tuesday. The underestimation issue, which exists only during extreme rainfall (like the storms that went through the area last Wednesday, April 17th), is occurring with some of our older systems.

We will resolve this over the next few months by replacing hardware elements with new generation components. The rain gauge and soil moisture networks that IFC is currently installing in the Turkey River and the South Fork basins use new technologies and should not experience either problem.