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Dry February hasn’t improved the drought situation

News, Weather

February 23rd, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Hopes raised in January for a turnaround in the state drought situation went away as February turned dry. Iowa D-N-R Hydrologist, Tim Hall says the latest Drought Monitor Report shows that. “There’s a significant chunk of the state of Iowa right, now about almost 20 percent of the state that’s rated by the drought monitor as extreme drought in northeast Iowa,” Hall says. He says that runs from Linn and Benton County north all the way up to the Minnesota border. And 56 percent of the state is rated in severe drought.

“In the wintertime when nothing’s growing and we don’t think about water use, it’s kind of easy to stop remembering where we are. But we still have more than half of the state rated in severe drought. And that’s a problem moving into the spring months and the growing season,” Hall says. He says the January snow was good, but when it melted in February, it illustrated how dry things are. “We had two feet of snow in the state over large parts of the state, and it all melted fairly quickly, and we saw zero instances of flooding,” Hall says. “And that just tells me that the soils are so incredibly dry.”

Hall says the dry soil sucked up most of the snow melt and there was not a lot left to refill empty streams and rivers. “To have that amount of snow melt off and have no even localized flooding is a very surprising thing,” he says. The snow came in January which was one inch above normal for precipitation. But Hall says all that surplus has gone away in what may end up being the driest February on record. “So the pattern of wet month, dry month, wet month, dry month, that doesn’t help us much. We need wet month, wet month, wet month, wet month,” Hall says.

He says we typically get a lot more rain in the spring months, and we’ll need that to work toward getting rid of the drought.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Friday, Feb.23, 2024

Weather

February 23rd, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Today: Partly cloudy to cloudy, & windy. High near 53. West winds @ 10-20 mph w/gusts to near 30.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy early, then gradually becoming clear. Low around 23. N/NW @ 10-20.
Tomorrow: Sunny & breezy. High near 58. S/SW @ 10-20.
Tom. Night: Clear, with a low around 32.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 63.
Monday: Sunny & breezy, with a high near 73.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny & windy, with a high near 62.

Thursday’s High in Atlantic was 66. The Low was 24. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 19 and the Low was 1. The Record High for Feb. 23rd was 65 degrees, set in 2022. The Record Low was -22, in 1989.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024

Weather

February 22nd, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Todday: Mostly cloudy & breezy through mid morning, then gradual clearing. High near 60. N/NW winds @ 10-20 w/gusts to around 25 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear. Low around 32. NW winds @ 10-20 mph.
Friday: Mostly sunny & breezy. High near 50. NW @ 10-25 mph.
Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 23.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 56. Breezy.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 63.

Wednesday’s High in Atlantic was 68, which broke the record of 66 set in 2017. Our Low was 29. Last year on this date (2/22), the High in Atlantic was 32 and the Low was 9. The Record High was 71 in 2017, and the Record Low was -14 in 1894. Sunrise is at 7:06-a.m. Sunset will be at 6:02-p.m.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024

Weather

February 21st, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 64. E winds @ 5-10 mph.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40. N/NW wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tomorrow: Mostly sunny & breezy. High near 56. N @ 10-20 mph.
Tom.Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 29.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 49.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 58.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 64.

Tuesday’s High in Atlantic was 65, which tied the record for Feb. 20th set in 1925. Our Low was 18. Last year on this date (2/21), the High in Atlantic was 44 and the Low was 21. The Record High was 66 in 2017, and the Record Low was -19 in 1894. Sunrise is at 7:07-a.m.  Sunset will be at 6-p.m.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Tue., Feb. 20, 2024

Weather

February 20th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Today: Sunny, with a high near 61. S/SW winds 10-20 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 31. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west after midnight.
Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 61. Light and variable wind becoming east 5 to 10 mph in the morning.
Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 38. E/NE @ 5-10 becoming north after midnight.
Thursday: Mostly sunny & breezy, with a high near 53.
Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 30.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 52. Breezy.

Monday’s High in Atlantic was 58. The Low was 17. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 49 and the Low was 21. The Record High for Feb. 20th in Atlantic, was 65 in 1925. The Record Low was -19, in 1978. Sunrise today: 7:08. Sunset: 5:59.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Monday, Feb. 19, 2024

Weather

February 19th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Today (President’s Day): Sunny & breezy. High near 53. S @ 10-20. Wind chill values as low as 10 early.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 23.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 58. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 59.
Thursday: Mostly sunny & breezy, with a high near 53.

Sunday’s High in Atlantic was 48. The Low was 16. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 46 and the Low was 24. The Record High for Feb. 19th in Atlantic, was 71 in 2017. The Record Low was -22, in 1936. Sunrise today: 7:09. Sunset: 5:58.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Sunday, Feb 18, 2024

Weather

February 18th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Today: Sunny, with a high near 43. Winds NW @ 5-10 mph. Wind chill values as low as 10.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 24.
Monday (Washington’s Birthday): Mostly sunny, with a high near 51. S/SE winds @ 10-20 becoming westerly in the afternoon.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 55. W/NW @ 5-10 becoming southerly in the afternoon.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 61.
Thursday: Partly sunny & breezy, with a high near 53.

Saturday’s High in Atlantic was 34. The Low was 8. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 46 and the Low was 24. The Record High for Feb. 18th in Atlantic, was 67 in 2017. The Record Low was -25, in 1978. Sunrise today: 7:12. Sunset: 5:56.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the Nishna Valley: Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024

Weather

February 17th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Today: Sunny & breezy. High near 34. West winds @ 10-25 mph. Wind chill values as low as -5.
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 21. W/SW @ 10-20 mph.
Tomorrow: Sunny, with a high near 46. West wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tom. Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 23. W/SW @ 5-10 becoming S/SE.
Monday (Washington’s Birthday): Mostly sunny, with a high near 51.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 24.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 54.

Friday’s High in Atlantic was 30. The Low was 4. We received a Trace of snowfall between 7-a.m. Friday and 7-a.m. today, at KJAN. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 32 and the Low was -9. The Record High for Feb. 17th in Atlantic, was 71 in 2017. The Record Low was -34, in 1958. Sunrise today: 7:13. Sunset: 5:56.

State on pace for all time warmest February

News, Weather

February 16th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – State Climatologist, Justin Glisan, says Iowa is on pace to have the warmest February on record. “It’s the warmest February to the 16th on record with 152 years of records we’re about 17 degrees above average,” Glisan says. He says the colder temperatures today (Friday) and tomorrow will have some impact, but temperatures are going to warm back up. Glisan says we have two weeks to go before the end of the climatological winter, which he says has been drier than normal.

“Coming off of the third snowiest January on record we’ve really been dry, only three one hundredths of an inch reported statewide as an average so far,” he says. Glisan doesn’t see a lot of change through the end of the month. “This is a function of the strong El Nino that we have set up in the eastern Pacific. warmer ocean waters fire more thunderstorms. Those thunderstorms impact where the jet streams set up over the United States,” Glisan says. So the polar jet is further north. subtropical jet states flatter towards the south metro. We see a lot of precipitation along the Gulf states, and we’re stuck in between so warmer weather and a less active storm track.”

Glisan said early indications is that the warm weather will continue into the first few weeks of March. March 1st begins the three month climatological spring for the northern hemisphere.

Snowfall amounts range from 2-to 4 inches in parts of Iowa over the past 24-hours (2/15-16/24)

Weather

February 16th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

Iowa MesoNet image (11-a.m., 2/16/24)