(updated) 423 AM CST SUN FEB 10 2013

A WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 PM CST THIS EVENING FOR  MONONA-HARRISON-SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MILLS-MONTGOMERY-FREMONT & PAGE COUNTIES.

BRISK SOUTHEAST TO SOUTH WINDS THIS MORNING WILL SHIFT TO WEST AND NORTHWEST AND INCREASE LATER IN THE AFTERNOON…AND CONTINUE STRONG INTO THE EVENING. WIND SPEEDS OF 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 30 MPH IN THE MORNING ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO 25 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 40 MPH DURING THE AFTERNOON INTO EARLY EVENING HOURS.

THESE STRONG WINDS WILL MAKE DRIVING POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING…ESPECIALLY FOR LIGHT WEIGHT OR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. A WIND ADVISORY MEANS THAT SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS BETWEEN 30 TO 39 MPH OR GUSTS BETWEEN 45 TO 57 MPH ARE EXPECTED. WINDS THIS STRONG CAN MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT…ESPECIALLY FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. USE EXTRA CAUTION.

412 AM CST SAT FEB 9 2013

TODAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY. BREEZY…WARMER. HIGH IN THE UPPER 40S. SOUTH WIND 15 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 30 MPH.

TONIGHT…CLOUDY…BREEZY. A CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS THROUGH MIDNIGHT. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE NIGHT. RAIN SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOW IN THE MID 30S. SOUTHEAST WIND 15 TO 20 MPH. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 90 PERCENT.

SUNDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY. LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS LIKELY THROUGH MID MORNING…THEN A CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN IN THE LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON. BREEZY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 40S. TEMPERATURE STEADY OR SLOWLY FALLING IN THE AFTERNOON. SOUTH WIND 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 35 MPH. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 60 PERCENT.

SUNDAY NIGHT…CLOUDY. A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN AND SNOW THROUGH MIDNIGHT. BREEZY. LOW IN THE MID 20S. WEST WIND 20 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 40 MPH.

MONDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. BREEZY…COLDER. HIGH IN THE MID 30S. WEST WIND 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 35 MPH.

MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE LOWER 20S. HIGH IN THE UPPER 30S.

The Freese-Notis (podcast) forecast for Atlantic & the KJAN listening area and weather data for Atlantic…

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410 AM CST FRI FEB 8 2013

TODAY…CLOUDY UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON THEN BECOMING PARTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 30S. NORTHEAST WIND AROUND 5 MPH SHIFTING TO THE SOUTHEAST IN THE AFTERNOON.

TONIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE UPPER 20S. SOUTHEAST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.

SATURDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. BREEZY…WARMER. HIGH AROUND 50. SOUTH WIND 15 TO 20 MPH.

SATURDAY NIGHT…RAIN…BREEZY. LOW IN THE MID 30S. SOUTHEAST WIND 15 TO 20 MPH. CHANCE OF RAIN 90 PERCENT.

SUNDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY. RAIN SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MORNING…THEN A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON. BREEZY. HIGH IN THE MID 40S. SOUTH WIND 15 TO 25 MPH. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 80 PERCENT.

SUNDAY NIGHT…CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW. BREEZY…COLDER. LOW IN THE MID 20S.

MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. BREEZY. HIGH IN THE MID 30S. LOW IN THE LOWER 20S.

The (podcast) forecast for Atlantic & the KJAN listening area from Freese-Notis, and weather data for Atlantic from KJAN News Director, Ric Hanson….

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355 AM CST THU FEB 7 2013

TODAY…CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN THROUGH MID MORNING…THEN PARTLY SUNNY IN THE LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON. HIGH IN THE LOWER 40S. NORTH WIND 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 MPH.

TONIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. COLDER. LOW IN THE LOWER 20S. NORTH WIND 5 TO 15 MPH.

FRIDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE LOWER 40S. NORTHEAST WIND AROUND 5 MPH SHIFTING TO THE SOUTHEAST IN THE AFTERNOON.

FRIDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE UPPER 20S. SOUTHEAST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.

SATURDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. BREEZY. HIGH IN THE MID 40S. SOUTHEAST WIND 10 TO 20 MPH.

SATURDAY NIGHT…CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF RAIN THROUGH MIDNIGHT…THEN RAIN AFTER MIDNIGHT. BREEZY. LOW IN THE MID 30S. CHANCE OF RAIN 80 PERCENT.

SUNDAY…RAIN SHOWERS LIKELY AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MORNING…THEN RAIN LIKELY IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGH IN THE MID 40S. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 70 PERCENT.

SUNDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW THROUGH MIDNIGHT…THEN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. BREEZY…COLDER. LOW IN THE MID 20S. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 20 PERCENT.

Iowa Climatologist Harry Hillaker paid a visit to Atlantic, Tuesday, speaking to a group at the Cass County Community Center. He also sat down with KJAN’s Jim Field, to discuss the drought, and chances for rain this year. Hillaker says last Summer, Atlantic made the record books for the least amount of precipitation in one month. The trace of rain we received at KJAN…the official National Weather Service reporting site for Atlantic…tied the record for the lowest rainfall in July.

He says following a good start to the growing season, with above normal precipitation in June, July was a terrible time for the crops. Still, he says overall Iowa’s crops weathered the hot dry Summer without much difficulty. He said “It wasn’t a great year by any means, but not as bad as, in most cases, what people would have guessed.” Hillaker says the concern now is with what this year has in store. He said “Iowa is kind of blessed, in that it has such good soils,” with a high-capacity to hold any moisture it receives. Eastern Iowa he says, fared better than the southwest part of the state precipitation-wise over the Fall and Winter, but the picture doesn’t look all that bad for us for now, anyway.

He said things were in the “ballpark of normal” last Fall…dry, but not extremely dry…certainly not as bad as 2011. Hillaker says any moisture we did get made its way into the ground. And, there’s still the months of March and April ahead of us, as well as parts of May, before the soil starts to use up the moisture it has stored. He says there’s a 50-50 chance we’ll be in “pretty good shape” locally, for soil moisture to start off the season. Hillaker says far northwest Iowa, northwest of a Sioux City to Mason City line, has had an extremely dry fall, and it would be a stretch for even a “normal” amount of precipitation to turn that situation around this Spring.

He says looking back at the drought records, they’ve found 20 other occasions where there was an unusually strong combination of heat and dryness. The records also indicated a pattern. And it’s not a very nice pattern, according to Hillaker, in that the season following a drought in Iowa, has also been on the “dry side of normal.” He says the rainfall may not be as low as in the previous year, and the temperature may not be as hot, but we can still expect it to be warmer than normal, and drier than normal.

He says people need to be prepared for a possible water shortage this Summer.

The Freese-Notis (podcast) forecast for Atlantic & the KJAN listening area and weather data for Atlantic…

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401 AM CST WED FEB 6 2013

TODAY…PARTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 40S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 MPH.

TONIGHT…RAIN LIKELY. LOW IN THE LOWER 30S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH SHIFTING TO THE NORTHWEST AFTER MIDNIGHT. CHANCE OF RAIN 70 PERCENT.

THURSDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE LOWER 40S. NORTHWEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

THURSDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. COLDER. LOW IN THE LOWER 20S. NORTHEAST WIND NEAR 10 MPH.

FRIDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE LOWER 40S. SOUTHEAST WIND NEAR 10 MPH.

FRIDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE UPPER 20S.

SATURDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGH IN THE MID 40S.

SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY…RAIN LIKELY. LOW IN THE MID 30S. HIGH IN THE LOWER 40S. CHANCE OF RAIN 60 PERCENT.

SUNDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF SNOW POSSIBLY MIXED WITH RAIN THROUGH MIDNIGHT…THEN A CHANCE OF SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. COLDER. LOW IN THE MID 20S. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 40 PERCENT.

Montgomery County Emergency Management Coordinator Brian Hamman say that Montgomery and Page County Emergency Management Agencies are (EMA)  sponsoring the annual Storm Spotter training class in Red Oak this year. Hamman says due to cuts at the National Weather Service, the two EMA’s have grouped together to assist them and will switch between Montgomery and Page counties to host the class yearly. Montgomery in odd years and Page in even years. The class is open to the public and free of charge.
The Storm Spotter Training Class will take place Tuesday, Feb. 26th,  from 7- to 9-pm at the Montgomery Co Historical Center in Red Oak. If you have any questions contact Brian Hamman at 712-623-3749.