Recent Flooding in the Midwest, 5 Year Anniversary of 2008 Flood
An advancing frontal system extending from the Great Lakes region all the way down to the Gulf Coast supported a line of widespread storms and thunderstorms that brought heavy rain to parts of Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana. The hardest hit area was northern Illinois where flooding was reported in and around Chicago. The scenario was set up by a deep upper-level trough that moved out of the Rockies and into the Plains. Strong southerly winds ahead of the trough allowed warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico to stream northwards all the way up to Lake Michigan. The TRMM-based, near-real