Today:  Sunny with a high near 81. East northeast wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Tonight:  Partly cloudy with a low around 47. North northeast wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Friday:  Sunny with a high near 74. East wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Saturday:  Sunny with a high near 89. Windy, with a south southeast wind 10 to 15 mph increasing to 20 to 25 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph.

Sunday:  Sunny with a high near 74.

Monday:  Sunny with a high near 73.

(Radio Iowa) – A top official with the U-S E-P-A says the agency is still reviewing a petition by an environmental group asking for federal authorities to take over enforcement of clean water laws from the Iowa D-N-R. The Sierra Club of Iowa petitioned the E-P-A in July, claiming the state is failing to stop harmful levels of nutrients from reaching waterways. Bruno Pigott, who leads the E-P-A Office of Water, says if the agency agrees enforcement in Iowa is falling short, state authorities would have a chance to change course before federal regulators step in.

Pigott highlighted projects the E-P-A is helping fund in Iowa to improve water quality, including a 348-million dollar upgrade to the Cedar Rapids wastewater system.

He discussed the petition on the Iowa Public Radio program “River to River.”

(Radio Iowa) – State climatologist Justin Glisan confirms September is at the top of the record list after recording just seven-tenths of an inch of precipitation.

He says it was a warm one as well.

Glisan says the early outlook for October doesn’t show much change from September.

He says it doesn’t look like we will make up the lost precipitation from September anytime soon.

The State Fire Marshal’s website shows burn bans in 16 counties due to the dry conditions.

(Radio Iowa) – The deadline is later this month for grocery stores and small food processors in rural Iowa to apply for large state grants to help make themselves more marketable to consumers. Cynthia Farmer, senior policy associate at the Center for Rural Affairs, says the grants are for up to 25-thousand dollars each, which could be especially beneficial for small-town groceries.

Farmer says rural grocery stores are the backbone of many Iowa communities, but they’re facing a host of significant challenges. Those include supply chain troubles, food price inflation, and competition from big box super-stores in nearby towns.

The Rural Innovation Grant Program is being offered by the Iowa Economic Development Authority and applications have to be submitted by October 25th. Farmer says a 50-percent cash match is required to take part, so for a rural grocer to get a 25-thousand dollar grant, they’ll have to put up at least 12-thousand-500.

The program has 200-thousand dollars allotted. To qualify, applicants must be located and incorporated or authorized to do business in Iowa, operate in a community of 20,000 or fewer people, and not be in a community contiguous to a city with a population of 40,000 or greater.

(More info. at iowaeda.com/center-for-rural-revitalization/rural-innovation-grant)

Today:  Sunny with a high near 81. Breezy with a south southwest wind 5 to 10 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph.

Tonight:  Mostly clear with a low around 44.

Thursday:  Sunny with a high near 80.

Friday:  Sunny with a high near 75. East wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Saturday:  Sunny with a high near 92. Windy.

Sunday:  Sunny with a high near 73. Breezy.

(Radio Iowa) – A report shows Iowa made significant strides in advancing renewable energy over the last two decades with wind and solar rising to 64-percent of Iowa’s electricity generation last year. Steve Guyer, the main author of the report for the Iowa Environmental Council, says the state’s utilities need to speed up efforts to transition away from coal to reach national and international targets to help stave off climate change.

Guyer says Iowa relied predominately on coal back in the year 2000, but wind generation started to really pick up around 2008.

Guyer says the reduction in coal production over the last two decades reflects another important trend.

Radio Iowa file photo

Guyer says to reduce emissions further, utilities need to shut down the state’s remaining coal plants. MidAmerican Energy, Iowa’s largest utility, says it plans to do that and reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 by investing more in wind and solar, as well as nuclear. Des Moines-based MidAmerican jointly owns six coal plants in the state, and says it has more wind generation capacity than any other regulated utility in the nation.

(Audubon, Iowa) – Iowa Fire Marshal Dan Wood today (Tuesday), approved a requested Burn Ban for Audubon County, effective immediately, and until further notice. The Ban on open Burning was requested by Tyler Thygesen, representing each fire department district in the county. It was instituted in light of the dry conditions, and whereby open burning would constitute a danger to life or property, and will be in-place until that threat has diminished to an acceptable level.

Violation of the burn ban is a simple misdemeanor, according to the Code of Iowa.

For  more information: https://dps.iowa.gov/divisions-iowa-department-public-safety/iowa-state-fire-marshal-division/state-fire-marshal-division-general-information#burn-ban-information

[Glenwood] – Due to the continued high temperatures, existing dry fuels, limited moisture, and renewed drought conditions, an open burn ban will go into effect Tuesday, October 1, 2024, at 8:00am, for all areas and jurisdictions within Mills County. The ban prohibits all open and controlled burning in Mills County, including all incorporated city limits within the county.

Citizens are reminded to not throw out cigarettes from moving vehicles and to discontinue burning yard waste, piled tree debris, grass/agriculture ground and set asides or other items during this ban. Small recreational campfires are permitted only if they’re conducted in a fireplace of brick, metal, or heavy one-inch wire mesh, however extreme caution should be taken. Any campfire not in an outdoor fireplace is prohibited.

Violation of the open burn ban can subject a person to criminal charges as well as civil liabilities for any damage, losses or injuries resulting from the fire.

The open burn ban will remain in effect until the dangerous fire conditions are no longer present.

For more information contact the State Fire Marshal’s Office at (515) 725-6145 or go to www.dps.state.ia.us. You can also contact Mills County Emergency Management at (712) 527-3643.

(State Newss) – Iowa farmers have harvested 27% of soybean crops in the state after yet another, hot and dry week caused pasture conditions to decline and topsoil and subsoil moisture levels to slip. Precipitation totals for the state were less than 20% of normal totals for this time of year, which State Climatologist Justin Glisan said made this one of the driest Septembers in 152 years.

Corn crops along Interstate 35 in southern Iowa on Sept. 28, 2024. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

The National Weather Service forecasted no precipitation in Iowa over the next week, and above average temperatures. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said in his weekly press release, that “Although suitable for harvest, these warm and dry conditions, paired with low humidity and gusty winds, also produce an environment that can lead to field fires. I encourage everyone to be prepared, have a plan, and keep safety top of mind as you are in the field, on the road and around the farm.”

Monday evening, firefighters from around Cass and Audubon Counties responded to a break-out of grass and field fires in the northern part of the Cass County. The fires erupted about one-mile south of Interstate 80, near the intersection of Olive Street and Boston Road, at around 5:45-p.m.  Separate grass/field fires occurred along Interstate 80 eastbound between mile markers 59 and 60. Crews from Atlantic, Marne, Wiota, Anita and Exira were among the many crews battling the flames. The last crews reported the Olive Street fire was out at around 8-p.m.  It’s not clear how those fires started.

The crop progress and condition report for the week of Sept. 30 through Oct. 6, said some producers have started hauling water to cattle as the majority of pastureland now rates fair or worse condition.  Corn harvest reached 11% this week, up from 5% last week. All but 3% of corn acreage has reached the dent stage or beyond, and 95% of soybeans have colored or begun dropping leaves. Both crops rated 77% good or excellent.

(Information for this report was obtained from the Iowa Capital Dispatch and KJAN News Director Ric Hanson)

(Radio Iowa) – Rainfall in the spring and early summer briefly relieved drought in the Corn Belt but it also contributed to elevated nitrate concentrations in many of the region’s waterways. During dry years, nitrates from soil microbes and farm fertilizers can accumulate in fields until it rains and a lot of it flushes into rivers, lakes and sources of drinking water. America’s Watershed Initiative executive director Kim Lutz works across 31 states.

Steve Kalkhoff is a hydrologist with the U-S Geological Survey, which collects a lot of this data.

Lutz says this pollution is a problem for habitats in and around affected waterways… and it’s hurting industries like fishing and tourism. It’s also costing communities a lot of money to treat drinking water. But Lutz says new federal funding and conservation practices like cover crops can help.