Here’s the forecast for Atlantic, and the KJAN listening area….

Today: Partly Cloudy & windy. High near 50. SW winds @ 15-25 mph.

Tonight: Partly Cloudy. Low around 28. S @ 5-10.

Tomorrow: Partly Cloudy to Cloudy & cooler. High 39. S winds becoming N @ 10-15.

Friday: Partly Cloudy to Cloudy. High 41.        Sat.: Cloudy w/a rain-snow mix. High 34.

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Tuesday’s High in Atlantic was 45. Our low this morning 11. At 5-a.m., it was 13-degrees.

Here’s the forecast for Atlantic and the KJAN listening area…

Today: Sunny. High 42. N @ 10-20 w/gusts to near 30.

Tonight: Clear. Low around 15.

Tomorrow: Sunny. High 45. S @ 15.             Tom. Night: Partly Cloudy. Low around 28.

Thursday: Cloudy. High around 40. W @ 10-20.      Thu. Night: Mostly Cloudy. Low 15.

Friday: Sunny. High 32.         Saturday: Cloudy w/a chance of rain and/or snow. High around 38.

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Monday’s High in Atlantic was 45. Our low through 5-am today was 13 (at 5-a.m. it was 31).

Here’s the forecast for Atlantic & the KJAN listening area, from Freese-Notis Meteorologist Harvey Freese…

Today: Sunny. High 43. Winds N-NW @ 5-15 w/gusts to around 30.

Tonight: Partly Cloudy to Cloudy. Low 24. N @ 20-30.

Tomorrow: Sunny. High around 40. N @ 20-25.             Tom. Night: Clear. Low 15.

Wednesday: Sunny. High 45.                Thursday: A chance of light snow. High around 37.

Friday: Sunny. High around 38.

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Sunday’s High in Atlantic was 38. Our low this morning (as of 5-a.m.), was 12.

A Meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Johnston says there were 50 tornadoes in the state this year, which is just above the 30-year average of 47 tornadoes. Altogether, 16 people were injured by the events, but there were no fatalities. Craig Cogil says the season started-up rapidly in March and early April, but lost steam as the season progressed. Cogil says two significant tornado days occurred early in the season, on March 22nd over southwest to south central Iowa during the late afternoon and evening hours. The event produced 8 tornadoes over a 2-hour period, including an EF-2 in Madison County, which caused property damage to several farms and one home.  EF-2’s produced winds of 111-to 135 miles per hours.

An event on April 9th was the largest outbreak of tornadoes for one day across Iowa since May, 2004, when 20 tornadoes twisted their way across the state. The event started during the mid-evening hours when the first tornado, an EF-3 (with winds of 136-to 165-mph), hit Mapleton, in Monona County. Nearly 100 homes were destroyed and many other severly damaged in a 12-to 15-block area. The event resulted in 14 injuries and 500 residents being displaced. Several other tornadoes formed over the next several hours that day, from west central into north central Iowa, including one that tracked more than 29-miles from northern Sac through southeastern Buena Vista and western Pocahontas Counties.  It had the distinction of being 1.5-miles wide at times, and produced numerous “Satellite” tornadoes, which tracked around the main tornado. One of the satellites was an EF-4 (winds from 166- to 200-mph). It destroyed a farmstead and tossed a combine nearly 300-yards.

Two significant tornado events occurred in May, including two on May 11th that hit the town of Lenox within a span of 5-minutes. Both tornadoes were rated as EF-1’s, producing winds of 86 to 110-miles per hour. Both tornadoes caused extensive roof and tree damage. The other tornado event in May was in eastern Iowa’s Howard County.

The remainder of the season saw 10 more tornadoes occurr on six different days. The most occurred on June 20th, when four twisters were observed. The last tornado of the season was on July 11th. It caused extensive damage in portions of central and eastern Iowa. The fact the last tornado was confirmed on that date marked the earliest cessation of tornadic activity in the state since reliable records started in 1980, beating the previous earliest cessation record set on July 24, 1992.

For more detailed info., surf to www.weather.gov/desmoines.

As  meteorologists had expected, record high temperatures were set across the state this (Thursday) afternoon. Here at KJAN, the OFFICIAL National Weather Service reporting and record-keeping station for Atlantic, a 96-year old record high temperature fell by the wayside when we topped out at 68-degrees.  The old record of 62, was set in 1915.  A record high of 64 in Shenandoah was broken when the community topped out at 70-degrees at around 3:15-p.m..

In Des Moines, the record high was broken just after 3-p.m., when the temperature hit 67-degrees. The old record was 65 set in 1915.

The National Weather Service in Des Moines has released its Fall newsletter, containing a variety of weather data and information, including a forecast for cooler than normal temperatures for much of November and December, and  drier than normal conditions for southern and southwest Iowa. There’s also some interesting information about this Summer’s “Heat Burst” events in southwest Iowa. You can read all about it in “The Weather Whisper,” at http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images/dmx/DMXNewsletter/2011NewsletterWinter.pdf

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say snow totals ranging from 2 to 6 inches have been reported in central Iowa. A National Weather Service winter weather advisory says up to 7 inches is expected in some areas before the storms leave the area by midmorning Wednesday. Service meteorologist Darren Snively says that roads will be slick, so people will have to remember how to drive safely in winter conditions. No weather-related road closures have been reported, although several highways in the north-south middle third of the state were covered with snow or a slushy mixture, and some power outages were reported.

The National Weather Service has dropped portions of the KJAN listening area out of the Winter Weather Advisory it issued Tuesday. The Advisory remains in effect until 9-a.m., otherwise removed, for: Adair, Adams, Guthrie, Dallas, Madison, Union, Taylor and Ringgold Counties.

* TIMING…SNOW IS EXPECTED THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS…MIXED AT TIMES WITH RAIN. EXPECT THE HIGHEST SNOWFALL RATES AND ACCUMULATION FROM THROUGH 6 AM CST…BEFORE TAPERING OFF BY MID MORNING WEDNESDAY MORNING.

* STORM TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS…A BAND OF 3 TO 5 INCHES OF HEAVY WET SNOW IS EXPECTED…WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE IN SOME LOCATIONS…UP TO 6 INCHES. THE HEAVIEST SNOW IS EXPECTED FROM NEAR CRESTON TO NEAR DES MOINES TO NEAR  MARSHALLTOWN IN THE EAST.

* WINDS/VISIBILITY…STRONG NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS OF 15 TO 25  MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS OVER 30 MPH MAY LEAD TO VISIBILITY RESTRICTIONS AT TIMES…MAINLY WHILE SNOW IS FALLING  OVERNIGHT.

* IMPACTS…ROADS WILL BECOME SNOW COVERED AND SLICK IN SPOTS AND WILL LEAD TO HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS. PARTICULAR CAUTION SHOULD BE EXERCISED WITH THIS BEING THE FIRST SNOW OF THE SEASON. THE MORNING COMMUTE MAY BE IMPACTED BY THE  SNOWFALL.

Let it Snow…….on November 2nd!?!

Humidifiers have been running almost non-stop for weeks as one of Iowa’s driest Octobers in more than 20 years is now over. State climatologist Harry Hillaker says the month that just ended saw very little rainfall, though it wasn’t a record-breaker. “The driest one is in a class all by itself, way back in October of 1952,” Hillaker says. “Most of the state had no rain what-so-ever and the statewide average was just 2/100ths of an inch for the month. That’s our driest calendar month of any month for the year, not just for October.”

Here in Atlantic, we received just .21” of rain during the month. The normal average is 2.54-inches. While official State numbers are still being tabulated, this October saw a statewide average between three-quarters of an inch and eight-tenths of an inch of rain, which will rank it around the 10th driest Iowa October on record. It was the driest October since 1988 when we only averaged two-thirds of an inch of rain statewide. Hillaker say the just-ended month was also warmer than usual.

“The month is going to average out about three-degrees warmer than normal,” he says. “We actually got off to a rather cold start. We had an unusually cold September and the first couple of days in October were well below normal as well. A little bit of cold weather was mixed in, especially the last week or two, but most days were above normal.” As for the month ahead, November may follow suit, at least as far as warmth.

“November, historically when we’re in a La Nina weather pattern as we are right now, has quite strong odds of being warmer than normal and just a teeny tendency to be on the dry side of normal as well,” Hillaker says. Based on the forecast though, he says Iowa may see rain showers as soon as tomorrow (Wednesday) with an even-larger storm front possibly moving over the state this weekend.

The average high for October in Atlantic, was 68.5-degrees, which was slightly warmer than the normal average of 65.7. The average low was 35.9, which was slightly cooler than the normal average of 38.1.