712 Digital Group - top

KJAN Weather

Local Radar

Monthly Local Weather Information:
January May September
February June October
March July November
April August December

 

View Weather Announcements

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Saturday, Dec. 9th, 2023

Weather

December 9th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

Today
Mostly cloudy, with a high near 36. Windy, with a west northwest wind 16 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 36 mph.
Tonight
Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with a low around 19. Windy, with a northwest wind 16 to 21 mph decreasing to 10 to 15 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 32 mph.
Sunday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 38. Wind chill values as low as 10. Northwest wind 6 to 10 mph becoming south southwest in the afternoon.
Sunday Night
Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with a low around 22. South southeast wind around 6 mph.
Monday
Sunny, with a high near 45. South southeast wind 6 to 9 mph becoming west in the afternoon.
Monday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 22.
Tuesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 37.

Friday’s High in Atlantic was 56 (6 degrees shy of tying the record High). The Low was 33. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 37 and the Low was 32. The Record High on December 9th in Atlantic, was 62 in 1946 and 2020. The Record Low was -17 in 1917 & 2005. Sunrise is at 7:35. Sunset at 4:50.

Four Iowa cities set records for December warmth

News, Weather

December 8th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – It’s pretty rare Iowans get to run around in sweatshirts or light jackets in December, but unseasonably warm weather settled on the state late this week. Meteorologist Rod Donavon, at the National Weather Service, says Lamoni had the state’s hot spot with a record high temperature of 62-degrees on Thursday, one of many. “We did have several record highs, including Waterloo at 57, Mason City at 55, Ottumwa at 61,” Donavon says. “In addition, we had basically this entire area was in the upper 50s to low 60s, so a very mild day and well above normal.”

Today’s (Friday) forecast calls for cooler weather than yesterday, but still very comfortable for this time of year. “We are having a few more clouds passing across the state today,” Donavon says, “so it’s still going to be pretty mild high temperatures in the 50s, which is still within that 10- to 15-degree above-normal range.”

Much colder weather will move in tonight and overnight, bringing the chance of scattered rain or light snow across various parts of the state on Saturday. Highs for the weekend will be back around normal, in the 30s and 40s.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Friday, Dec. 8, 2023

Weather

December 8th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

Today: Increasing clouds, with a high near 54. West wind 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight: Cloudy to partly cloudy, with a low around 31. W/NW  wind 10-20 mph.

Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy & windy. High near 38. W/NW @ 15-25 mph.

Tom. Night: Partly cloudy & blustery, with a low around 19. NW @ 10-20 w/gusts to around 25 mph.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 38.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 20.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 44.

Thursday’s High in Atlantic was 61 (3 degrees shy of tying the record High). The Low was 37. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 38 and the Low was 25. The Record High on December 8th in Atlantic, was 67 in 1946. The Record Low was -18 in 1917 & 1976. Sunrise is at 7:33. Sunset at 4:50.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023

Weather

December 7th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

Today: Sunny, with a high near 60. South wind 8 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 34. South wind 7 to 11 mph becoming west after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 18 mph.
Friday: Increasing clouds, with a high near 54. West wind 6 to 9 mph becoming north in the afternoon.
Friday Night: A chance of rain before midnight, then a slight chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 29. West northwest wind 7 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 39. Breezy.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 19. Blustery.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 38.

Wednesday’s High in Atlantic was 53. The Low was 29. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 44 and the Low was 14. The Record High on December 7th in Atlantic, was 64 in 1894. The Record Low was -15 in 2005. Sunrise is at 7:32. Sunset at 4:50.

Dreaming of a white Christmas? New Iowa map shows your chances

News, Weather

December 6th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – To some Iowans, it just isn’t the holiday season if there isn’t snow on the ground. If a white Christmas is on your wish list, you’ll have the best shot of finding flakes across Iowa’s northern-most counties. National Weather Service meteorologist Brad Small says they’ve studied the data spanning back decades and have compiled a map showing the probabilities of having snow on the ground on December 25th.

“Iowa can probably be generally weighted into four different tiers actually, with about a 60-plus-percent chance toward the Minnesota border, and then it steps down, Highway 20 corridor 50-percent, then 40, and then it gets down into the 30s as you get closer to the Missouri border,” Small says. “So it kind of behaves as you’d expect, with better chances the farther north you go.”

National Weather Service graphic

Since Christmas is still 19 days away, Small says it’s difficult to predict whether we’ll have a significant snowfall in Iowa by then. “It’s a little too far out to put too much on the end of the month,” Small says. “Probably the historical probabilities work better than anything else, at this point. There are some snow chances this weekend. Confidence in where that occurs and how much is pretty low, and it doesn’t look like to be a major system, so it’s potential, even if we do get snow this weekend, it could melt before Christmas.”

Near record warm temperatures expected by Thursday

News, Weather

December 6th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The weather is going to cooperate if you still have some outdoor work to do this week. National Weather Service meteorologist, Alexis Jimenez (hih-MEN-ezz), says temperatures are forecast to be double the norm.  “Where our normal high temperatures are usually in the upper 30s around this time of year, we’re going to have temperatures reaching near 60 degrees, especially by Thursday. We can start seeing some records breaking,” she says.

The warmth will spread from the western side of the state. “The warmest will especially be in western Iowa on Wednesday, and Thursday it’s going to be much of Iowa will be near 60,” Jimenez says. If you are working outside, be prepared for windy conditions. “It’ll be a little bit breezy. The afternoon hours we’re expecting some gusts up to 30 miles per hour at times as we get through the middle part of the week,” she says. “So just be careful with that portion of the weather, but as far as temperatures go it’s gonna be pretty nice out there.”

As is always the case with warm weather in December, enjoy it while you can.  “Those warm temperatures will last up until we get a cold front moving through on Saturday, where our highs will fall back down into the upper 30s,” according to Jimenez.

She says there is a chance for some rain in southeast Iowa on Saturday, and maybe some snow chances on the backside of it there as well.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Wed., Dec. 6, 2023

Weather

December 6th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

Today: Sunny & breezy, with a high near 52. S/SW wind 10-20 mph, with gusts to near 30 mph.

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 33. S/SW @ 10-20 mph.

Tomorrow: Sunny & breezy, with a high near 60. S/SW @ 10-20 mph.

Tom. Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 34. S/SW @ 10 becoming west after midnight.

Friday: Partly sunny, with a high near 54.

Friday Night: Cloudy & windy w/a 40% chance of rain before 3am, then a chance of rain and snow. Low around 30.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy & windy w/a 30% chance of rain and snow, mainly before noon. High near 39.

Tuesday’s High in Atlantic was 41. The Low was 13. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 44 and the Low was 14. The Record High on December 6th in Atlantic, was 69 in 2001. The Record Low was -12 in 2005. Sunrise is at 7:31. Sunset at 4:50.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Tue., Dec. 5, 2023

Weather

December 5th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

Today: Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny. Breezy. High near 39. N/NW winds 5-15 mph w/gusts to 25.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 23.
Tomorrow: Mostly sunny & breezy, with a high near 50. S/SW wind 10-20 w/gusts to around 25 mph.
Tom. Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 34. S/SW wind 10-20 mph.
Thursday: Sunny & breezy, with a high near 60.
Thu. Night: Mostly clear & breezy, with a low around 34.
Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 53.

Monday’s High in Atlantic was 39. The Low was 26. We received a trace of snow Monday morning. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 46 and the Low was 21. The Record High on December 5th in Atlantic, was 66, in 2001. The Record Low was -14 in 2005. Sunrise is at 7:30. Sunset at 4:50.

Early weather outlook shows tornado outbreak unlikely this month

News, Weather

December 4th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – State Climatologist Justin Glisan says the initial, long-term forecast for December indicates warmer temperatures and more precipitation, but there’s nothing to suggest there’s an amped up threat of a tornado outbreak like the one two years ago. “December 15th, 2021, that was an extreme event,” Glisan says. “We had a serial derecho and 63 tornadoes — the largest tornado outbreak for Iowa for any month and the largest December outbreak for the United States in the observational record.”

The latest Drought Monitor nearly all of Iowa has some level of drought, with some areas in extreme drought. Glisan says there is the potential for more precipitation to fall in December, but the old adage that it’s too dry to rain is true in SOME cases when thunderstorms hit dry pockets of air. “We saw this in western Iowa as the drought started in May and June of 2020. You would have thunderstorms approach the state and then just either break up or go around because there was no low level moisture to work with,” Glisan says. “Now in these larger scale low pressure systems they’re able to have more access to large scale moisture pools and hence you do see wider spread snowfalls or rainfalls.”

The seasonal outlook indicates abnormally wetter conditions along the southern coast of the U-S and that may provide the moisture weather systems sweeping across Iowa draw from and generate rain or snow.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Monday, Dec. 4, 2023

Weather

December 4th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

Today: Patchy fog between 9am and 10am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 42. Light and variable wind becoming S/SW @ 10-20 mph.

Tonight: Cloudy to Partly Cloudy. Low around 27. SW winds @ 10-15 becoming northwesterly after midnight & gusting to around 20 mph.

Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing. High near 42. N/NW @ 15-25 mph.

Tom. Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 20.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny & breezy. High near 51. S/SW @ 10-20.

Wed. Night: Mostly clear & breezy, with a low around 35.

Thursday: Sunny & breezy, with a high near 59.

Sunday’s High in Atlantic was 39. The Low was 22. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 46 and the Low was 20. The Record High on December 4th in Atlantic, was 66, in 1998. The Record Low was -8 in 1905. Sunrise is at 7:29. Sunset at 4:50.