The experts say our region’s weather patterns will likely be changing for the warmer and wetter in the seasons ahead, but how much they’ll change is still anybody’s guess. Meteorologist Dennis Todey, director of the U-S-D-A’s Midwest Climate Hub — based in Ames, explains: “La Nina is no longer, it’s officially done, so now we are in between phases, which we jokingly call La Nada,” Todey says. “We’ll start watching for how quickly we’ll transition if there are any influences that look El Nino-like as we look towards the fall and winter.”
La Nina patterns often bring cooler temperatures along with more storms in some areas and droughts elsewhere. El Nino patterns typically do the opposite. Todey says the region’s outlook for the month ahead will likely include more rain than normal. “June has wetter chances to the east with decreasing coverage in the summer and we’ll have to keep our eye on that,” Todey says. “Because there’s no specific drying or showing in the outlooks, we’ll need to monitor for changes because convective season precipitation is a very difficult thing to assess.”
A few months ago, there was a lot of grumbling about the long cold winter that stretched well into spring. Todey says there may soon be a complete reversal, with prolonged higher temperatures in the long-range forecast. “Warmer likely for the whole region in June but the edges of the area we deal with have a better chance of being warmer throughout the whole summer,” he says.
Todey says the development of an El Nino pattern later this year could have an impact on the weather from next winter into next spring.
(Radio Iowa)
Today: Variably cloudy skies w/isolated thunderstorms early this morning & later this afternoon. High 92. SE winds @ 10-20mph.
Tonight: Partly-to Mostly cloudy w/scattered shwrs & tstrms. Low 64. SE @ 5-10.
Tomorrow: P/Cldy to Cldy w/scatt. shwrs & tstrms. High 86. W @ 10-20.
Thursday: P/Cldy. High near 90.
Friday: P/Cldy. High around 92.
Yesterday’s High in Atlantic was 97, which broke the old record of 95 set in 1895. Our Low this morning was 66. Last year on this date our High was 75 and the Low was 47. The record High in Atlantic on this date was 104 in 1934. The Record Low was 29, in 1947.
For the third day in a row, Atlantic set a record for a High Temperature. The old record for today (Monday), was 95 in 1895. Today’s High in Atlantic was 97. We also set records Saturday and Sunday, by hitting 100-degrees both days. The old record was 96 in 1926 for Saturday, and 95 in 1895, for Sunday. KJAN is the OFFICIAL National Weather Service reporting and record-keeping site for Atlantic.
It’s been a record-shattering weekend, weather-wise, in much of Iowa. “How quickly we went from a rather wintry April to a very summer-like May.” That’s Cory Martin of the National Weather Service office in Johnston. Heat advisories were issued for central and northwest Iowa on Sunday. “It’s just a strong ridge of high pressure that’s right now pretty much parked over the central tier of the country and that’s brought some unseasonably hot conditions,” Martin said, “a pretty early season heat wave.”
Several locations reported record highs on Sunday, including here in Atlantic, where our High of 100 beat the record of 91 set back in 1931. It was the second day in a row for a record setting temperature in Atlantic. Saturday’s High of 100 broke the record of 96 set in 1926. Carroll and Spencer reached the 100 degree mark, Sunday. The temperature reached 97 in Davenport, Ottumwa and Waterloo. It was 98 in Mason City. Fort Dodge and Des Moines reached 99 degrees. Sioux City was the hottest spot — topping out at 101 degrees. “Definitely an unusual heat event to see this early in the season,” Martin says.
It may be a degree or two cooler today (Monday), but the temperatures are likely to still reach into record high territory, according to Martin. “Through the middle of the week, looks like temperatures are going to fall back a little bit. We’re looking at highs Wednesday maybe in the mid-to-upper 80s,” Martin says. “That’s still a few degrees above normal for this time of year, but as we get back into Thursday and Friday, it looks like we’re going to warm right back up into the 90s and then we’ll be watching another system coming our way this weekend which may bring us some relief, but that’s still a little ways out, so it’s kind of tough to tell what to expect out of that at the moment.”
Temperatures in Iowa are usually in the mid-to-upper 70s this time of year. With all the heat AND humidity in Iowa right now, Martin says there’s plenty of instability in the atmosphere right now to fuel some thunderstorms. “The issue, if you’re looking at tornadoes right now, is the jet stream is pushed well north of the area,” Martin says. “We don’t have any stronger winds aloft that would typically help us with storm organization, to really get some significant severe weather going.”
Some of the record high temperatures for this date in Iowa were set more than a century ago, in 1895.
(Radio Iowa)
Today (Memorial Day): Partly cloudy. High 98. SE @ 10-20mph.
Tonight: P/Cldy. Low 68. SE @ 5-10.
Tomorrow: P/Cldy w/scattered showers & thunderstorms. High 93. SE @ 10-20.
Wednesday: P/Cldy w/scatt. Shwrs & tstrms. High 86.
Thursday: P/Cldy. High 88.
Yesterday’s High in Atlantic was 100, which broke the old record of 91 set in 1931. Our Low this morning was 64. Last year on this date our High was 81 and the Low was 49. The record High in Atlantic on this date was 95 in 1895. The Record Low was 29, in 1984.
Dallas-Polk-Warren-Counties
351 AM CDT Sun May 27 2018
…HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 8 PM CDT
THIS EVENING…
The National Weather Service in Des Moines has issued a Heat
Advisory, which is in effect from 1 PM this afternoon to 8 PM CDT
this evening.
* TEMPERATURE…Temperatures in the upper 90s with heat index
values near to a few degrees above 100 degrees within the Des
Moine metro area.
* IMPACTS…Heat illnesses are possible for those active outdoors
or those susceptible to heat illnesses, such as children and the
elderly.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A Heat Advisory means that a period of hot temperatures is
expected. The combination of hot temperatures and high humidity
will combine to create a situation in which heat illnesses are
possible. Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned
room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and
neighbors.
Take extra precautions, if you work or spend time outside.
When possible, reschedule strenuous activities to early morning
or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and
heat stroke. Wear light weight and loose fitting clothing when
possible and drink plenty of water.
To reduce risk during outdoor work, the occupational safety
and health administration recommends scheduling frequent rest
breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome
by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat
stroke is an emergency, call 9 1 1.
There were several reports of pavement buckling and blowing-up in southwest Iowa, Saturday, due to the combination of extreme heat and humidity. A section of Interstate 80 buckled in Cass County between Exits 64 and 70, forcing traffic to be rerouted for a time. More than a couple of vehicles were damaged by driving over the uplifted section of pavement. In Fremont County, a section of 250th Street blew out near 290th Avenue, west of Riverton. And, there were reports of a road buckling near Treynor. Transportation officials in Minnesota and Wisconsin were warning motorists of similar, dangerous road conditions, Saturday.
Pavement buckles are most common when the weather quickly goes from cool to very hot, causing pavement to expand. This can cause concrete slabs of pavement to push against each other, and if the pressure becomes great enough the pavement can buckle. With weather conditions expected to be extreme again today, be cautious if you plan on traveling, and anticipate the unexpected (Such as a sudden change in pavement conditions). Keep your eyes on the road, scanning ahead for obstructions, and a firm grip on the steering wheel.
Today: Isolated showers and thunderstorms after 3pm. Sunny and hot, with a high near 97. Calm wind becoming west 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight: Isolated showers and thunderstorms before 7pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 68. Southeast wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 10%.
Memorial Day: Sunny, with a high near 93. Calm wind becoming south southeast 5 to 9 mph in the morning.
Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 68. Southeast wind 6 to 8 mph.
Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 88. South southeast wind 6 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.
Tuesday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 86.
Yesterday’s High in Atlantic was 100, which broke the old record of 96 set in 1926. Our Low this morning (as of 6-a.m.) was 61. Last year on this date our High was 70 and the Low was 50. The record High in Atlantic on this date was 91 in 1931. The Record Low was 31, in 1907.
Today: Sunny, hot & humid. High near 95. W/NW breeze @ 5-10mph.
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 67. Light and variable wind.
Sunday: Sunny, hot & humid. High near 95. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 68. South southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Memorial Day: Sunny, with a high near 92. S/SE @ 5-10 in the morning.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 68.
Tuesday: Partly Sunny w/a 30% chance of afternoon showers & thunderstorms. High 85.
Yesterday’s High in Atlantic was 93. Our Low this morning (as of 5-a.m.) was 62. Last year on this date our High was 84 and the Low was 52. The record High in Atlantic on this date was 96 in 1926. The Record Low was 30, in 1901.
Today: Partly cloudy w/isolated showers & thunderstorms possible. High 90. S-W @ 10.
Tonight: P/Cldy. Low 66. Light & variable breeze.
Tomorrow: P/Cldy. W-NW @ 10. High 91.
Sunday: P/Cldy. High 91.
Memorial Day (Monday): P/Cldy. High 91.
Tuesday: P/Cldy w/afternoon showers possible. High 90.
Yesterday’s High in Atlantic was 88. Our Low this morning (as of 4:45-a.m.) was 67. Last year on this date our High was 75 and the Low was 46. The record High in Atlantic on this date was 98 in 1967. The Record Low was 30, in 1925.