Skyscan Forecast – Dan Hicks, Tuesday, 1/9/18

Today: Areas of fog this morning; P/Cldy. High 48. S @ 10-20.

Tonight: Partly cloudy. Low 34. S @ 10.

Tomorrow: P/Cldy to Cldy w/a high near 50. S@ 10-20.

Tom Night: Cldy /rain changing to snow overnight. Low 16. N/NW @ 15-30mph.

Thursday: Cldy w/snow thru noon. High around 30 early, falling into the upper teens. Less than 1/2” of snow is expected in the Atlantic area.

Friday: P/Cldy w/flurries. High 18.

Monday’s High in Atlantic was 42. Our Low was 11. Last year on this date our High was 39 and the Low was 14. The all-time record High in Atlantic on this date was 58 in 2002, and the Low was -23 in 1974.

Today: Dense fog possible this morning; Becoming P/Cldy. High 41. W @ 10-15.

Tonight: Partly cloudy. Low 24.

Tomorrow: Areas of morning fog; P/Cldy. High 45. S@ 10-20.

Wednesday: P/Cldy. High 48.

Thursday: Cldy w/rain changing to snow. High around 38.

Sunday’s High in Atlantic was 39. Our Low this morning was 11. Last year on this date our High was 26 and the Low was 8. The all-time record High in Atlantic on this date was 65 in 2003, and the Low was -19 in 1970.

(UPDATED 6:30-A.M.)

Today: A slight chance of snow between 10am and 11am. Cloudy, with a high near 35. South wind 7 to 13 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 20. Northwest wind 5 to 9 mph.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 38. West southwest wind 5 to 7 mph.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 23. South wind 3 to 7 mph.
Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 42. South wind 7 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 32.
Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 47.
Wednesday Night: Rain likely before 1am, then rain and snow likely between 1am and 2am, then snow likely after 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 20. Blustery. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Thursday: A 40 percent chance of snow before noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 20. Windy.

Our 24-hour High in Atlantic (as of 6:30-a.m. today), was 24 (Temps rose overnight). Our 24-hour Low (ending at 7-a.m. today) is 1. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 23 and the Low was -2. The All-time record High in Atlantic for Jan. 7th, was 63 in 2003. The Record Low was -27 in 1912.

Skyscan Forecast  Saturday, January 6, 2018   Richard Garuckas

Today: Mostly cloudy. Cold. High 15. SSE @ 5-10.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy. Early low of 14 followed by rising temperatures. SSE @ 10-15.

Sunday: Mostly cloudy. Scattered freezing drizzle in the morning. High 34. SW @ 5-10.

Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy. Low 19.

Monday: Partly cloudy. High 39.

Tuesday: Partly sunny. High 42.

Wednesday: Cloudy. Chance of rain showers. High 46.

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Today: Mostly cloudy. High 14. NE @ 5-10. WC as low as -5.

Tonight: Partly cloudy to cloudy. Low -2.

Tomorrow: P/Cldy to Cldy. High around 19. SE@ 10-15. WC as low as -15.

Sunday: Mo. Cldy w/light snow mixed at time w/freezing rain or drizzle. High 32.

Monday: P/Cldy. High around 35.

Thursday’s High in Atlantic was 12. Our 24-hour Low (ending today at 7-a.m.) will be/was -9 (at 5-a.m., it was 11 degrees above 0). Last year on this date our High was 10 and the Low was -6. The all-time record High in Atlantic on this date was 62 in 2012, and the Low was -26 in 2010.

DES MOINES — Iowa received a statewide annual precipitation of 33 inches in 2017, more than two inches less than normal, according to the latest Water Summary Update from the Iowa DNR. The year began with a wetter than normal spring, followed by drier than normal summer and fall months, with the exception of a very wet October. “The distribution of rainfall was uneven this year, with some areas of southeastern Iowa ending the year more than 10 inches short on rainfall,” said Tim Hall, the DNR’s Hydrology Resources Coordinator. “Good spring rainfall will help to restore soil moisture and shallow groundwater in those areas.”

Streamflow has been generally normal for the second half of the year. Southeastern Iowa remains an area of concern after two consecutive years of drier than normal conditions.  Meanwhile, 2017 was an unusually warm year with a statewide average temperature of 49.9 degrees Fahrenheit, or 1.8 degrees above normal. This ranks as the eighth warmest year on record.

For a thorough review of Iowa’s water resource trends, go to www.iowadnr.gov/watersummaryupdate.

Today: P/Cldy. High 8. North winds becoming East @ 5-10. WC as low as -15.

Tonight: P/Cldy to Cldy w/light snow or flurries. Low -2. WC as low as -5.

Tomorrow: Mo. Cldy w/flurries or light snow in the morning. High around 13. NE@ 5-10. WC -10.

Saturday: P/Cldy High near 20.

Sunday: Mo. Cldy w/light snow and/or mixed precipitation. High around 32.

Wednesday’s High in Atlantic was 11. Our Low this morning (as of 5-a.m.), was -11. Last year on this date our High was 13 and the Low was 5. The all-time record High in Atlantic on this date was 59 in 1939, and the Low was -29 in 2010.

Iowans are well aware that 2018 is starting out much colder than normal, with wind chills of 30-below and worse, but the final tallies on the last month of 2017 show a wide range of temperatures. State climatologist Harry Hillaker says December covered both extremes, starting out very mild. Hillaker says, “We had a few 70-degree readings early on and then a very, very cold last week or so of the month with the coldest weather coming on New Year’s Eve when it got down to 22-below zero at the Spencer airport.”

That ended up being the lowest temperature anywhere in the state for the calendar year. Here in Atlantic, the temperature at the KJAN Studios got down to -26 on Dec. 31st. That was the coldest day of the month and for the year. It was also a record Low for that date. December concluded just one-half of one-degree warmer than normal statewide, but in Atlantic, it was 3.1 degrees warmer than normal. A dry spell started in late October, carried through all of November, and continued well into December, until the snow began to fall.

“Roughly the last ten days or so in December, snowfall started to become more common,” Hillaker says. “It was about an every-other-day occurrance, at least some light snow in some parts of the state. It still didn’t amount to much as far as overall moisture. Statewide average, we had just 42/100ths of precipitation for the month.” That’s less than the norm and it ended up being Iowa’s 12th driest December in 145 years of records. In Atlantic, we received a total of 5.1 inches of snow, worth a little more than one-third of an inch (.36″) liquid value.

Snowfall statewide averaged 5.8 inches during the month, which was close to average. January is opening up very frigid and the forecast calls for a colder-than-normal month ahead. “It’s a very cold start to the month,” he says. “It’ll take quite a warm-up at some point in the month to get us back above normal.”  We recorded a record High in December of 64 on the 3rd.  on the More moderate temperatures may arrive by this weekend with slightly-above normal temps possible, though Hillaker says we’ll likely be back down into the very cold weather by next week. Precipitation for January, he says, will likely be below normal. In Atlantic, normal precip. for the month is .84″.  The average High is 29, and the average Low is 9.

(Radio Iowa/KJAN Weather records)

The weather pattern known as La Nina may get part of the blame for this bout of exceptionally cold weather. Observers are becoming more concerned with the current La Nina strengthening and what that could mean months from now. Doug Kluck, the climate services director for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Kansas City, says they’re carefully watching precipitation trends. Kluck says, “It’s going to be an interesting winter and early spring to see if and when precipitation materializes and how much.”

A La Nina pattern occurs when Pacific Ocean surface temperatures drop below long-term normals. It can impact the climate across North America, bringing some areas more storms, and droughts elsewhere. Kluck says they’ve seen similar trends with past La Ninas. “It is sort of a worrisome pattern that we’ve been in up to this point,” Kluck says. “We’ve seen these dry and warm falls switch into or become dry springs and summers the next year, especially after a second La Nina and this is two years in a row.”

He notes there was a similar pattern in 2012, which resulted in a long drought for much of the Midwest and Northern Plains.

(Radio Iowa, w/thanks to Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton)

Today: P/Cldy w/flurries this morning. Low dropping to around 10 this morning, but rising to around 14 this afternoon. NW @ 15-30. WC as low as -15.

Tonight: P/Cldy. Low -10.

Tomorrow: P/Cldy. High 10. E@ 10.

Friday: P/Cldy. High 15.

Saturday: Cldy w/light snow late in the day. High 25

Tuesday’s High in Atlantic was 21. The Low of -24 broke the old record for Jan. 2nd of -19 set in 1912, 2001 & 2010. Last year on this date our High was 22 and the Low was 4. The all-time record High in Atlantic on this date was 52 in 1933, and the Low was -30 in 2010.