Heat and humidity can make for a dangerous — even deadly — combination. Today (Thursday) is Heat Awareness Day in Iowa. Jeff Johnson, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service, says Iowans can benefit from a refresher course on the risks of hot weather. “It’s intended to remind folks that in the summertime in Iowa, particularly in late June, July and early August, that we can have periods of extreme heat and humidity,” Johnson says. “That is actually a public health concern.” Johnson has some simple advice for beating the heat.

“Drinking plenty of water, avoid alcohol, slow down during the day in the heat and do your exercise early in the morning or late in the evening, and dress in light-colored clothes,” he says. “If you know of an elderly person or someone in bad health who doesn’t have air conditioning, be sure and check on them, maybe even encourage them to get to somewhere that does have air conditioning.” We’re coming off one of the warmest winters –and springs — in Iowa history, so the summer ahead could be steamy. Johnson says last summer wasn’t too brutal.

“We didn’t hit 100 in Des Moines but I think we did elsewhere in the state,” he says. “We did have some heat events. One week in July of last year, we had heat advisories out every day for a week. We did have kind of a heat wave. It wasn’t extreme like in ’95 or ’88, but we did have some heat last year.” The first day of summer is next Wednesday, June 20th. Learn more about Heat Awareness Day at www.weather.gov/dmx

(Radio Iowa)

Here’s the Freese-Notis (podcast) Skyscan forecast for Atlantic & the KJAN listening area, and weather data for Atlantic….

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342 AM CDT THU JUN 14 2012 – National Weather Service/Des Moines

TODAY…PARTLY SUNNY. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON. BREEZY. HIGH IN THE MID 80S. SOUTH WIND 15 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 30 MPH. CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS 20 PERCENT.

TONIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH MIDNIGHT…THEN THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOW IN THE MID 60S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH. GUSTS UP TO 20 MPH THROUGH MIDNIGHT. CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS 60 PERCENT.

FRIDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH IN THE MID 80S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

FRIDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. LOW IN THE UPPER 60S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

SATURDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH IN THE MID 80S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

SATURDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. LOW IN THE MID 60S.

SUNDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE MID 80S.

SUNDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. LOW AROUND 70.

CRAWFORD-CARROLL-GREENE-BOONE-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-CASS COUNTIES
 537 AM CDT WED JUN 13 2012
  
 DAY ONE…TODAY AND TONIGHT
 
 SHOWERS AND ISOLATED NON SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE
 OVER THE NORTHWEST PORTION OF THE OUTLOOK AREA THIS MORNING
 GENERALLY NORTHWEST OF A CARROLL TO MASON CITY LINE. ADDITIONAL
 NON SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE TONIGHT ACROSS THE ENTIRE
 OUTLOOK AREA.

DALLAS-ADAIR-MADISON-ADAMS-UNION-TAYLOR-RINGGOLD COUNTIES

DAY ONE…TODAY AND TONIGHT
 
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. 
 
DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN…THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY
 
 CHANCES FOR PERIODIC THUNDERSTORMS WILL RETURN THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH
 TUESDAY…WITH MORE REGION WIDE ACTIVITY FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY.
 CHANCES FOR SOME SEVERE WEATHER WILL INCREASE OVER THE WEEKEND
 AND EARLY NEXT WEEK. IT IS TOO EARLY TO DETERMINE THE LOCATION AND
 MODE OF SEVERE WEATHER.

FREMONT -HARRISON-MILLS-MONONA-MONTGOMERY-PAGE-POTTAWATTAMIE & SHELBY COUNTIES
 425 AM CDT WED JUN 13 2012

DAY ONE…TODAY AND TONIGHT
 
 THERE IS A SMALL CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHEAST NEBRASKA
 LATER TONIGHT.
 
DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN…THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY
 
 A MEANDERING BOUNDARY OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS WILL BRING THUNDERSTORM
 CHANCES TO THE OUTLOOK AREA THROUGH THE MAJORITY OF THE FORECAST
 PERIOD.
 
 AT THIS POINT…IT APPEARS THAT THE BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE STORM
 DEVELOPMENT DURING THE PERIOD WILL COME LATE THURSDAY AFTERNOON
 ACROSS AREAS GENERALLY NORTH OF I-80.

Here’s the (Podcast) Freese-Notis forecast for Atlantic and the KJAN listening area and weather stats for Atlantic….

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INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…ATLANTIC

339 AM CDT WED JUN 13 2012

TODAY…PARTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE LOWER 80S. SOUTH WIND 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 MPH.

TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. LOW IN THE MID 60S. SOUTH WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.

THURSDAY...PARTLY SUNNY. A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON. BREEZY. HIGH IN THE MID 80S. SOUTH WIND 15 TO 20 MPH.

THURSDAY NIGHT…THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY. LOW IN THE UPPER 60S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 15 MPH. CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS 60 PERCENT.

FRIDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH IN THE LOWER 80S. SOUTH WIND AROUND 10 MPH.

FRIDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. LOW IN THE UPPER 60S.

SATURDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH IN THE UPPER 80S.

Here’s the (podcast) Freese-Notis forecast for Atlantic & the KJAN listening area, and the weather data for Atlantic…

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422 AM CDT TUE JUN 12 2012 (National Weather Service/Des Moines)

TODAY…SUNNY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 70S. NORTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

TONIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY THROUGH MIDNIGHT THEN BECOMING MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE MID 50S. SOUTHEAST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

WEDNESDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. BREEZY. HIGH IN THE LOWER 80S. SOUTH WIND 10 TO 20 MPH.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. LOW IN THE MID 60S. SOUTH WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.

THURSDAY…PARTLY SUNNY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH IN THE MID 80S. SOUTH WIND AROUND 15 MPH.

THURSDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. LOW IN THE UPPER 60S.

FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH IN THE MID 80S. LOW AROUND 70.

AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-CASS-ADAIR-ADAMS-
 INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…AUDUBON…GUTHRIE CENTER…ATLANTIC…
 GREENFIELD…CORNING
 751 AM CDT MON JUN 11 2012
 
 …PATCHY DENSE FOG THIS MORNING IN SOUTHWEST IOWA…
 
 AREAS OF DENSE FOG HAVE DEVELOPED ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST IOWA THIS MORNING DUE TO THE RAIN THAT FELL LAST NIGHT. VISIBILITIES IN THIS FOG MAY BE REDUCED TO A QUARTER MILE OR LESS  AT TIMES. THE FOG SHOULD BURN OFF IN THE NEXT FEW HOURS AS DAYTIME  HEATING COMMENCES. IF DRIVING THROUGH THE FOG…LEAVE ADDITIONAL  SPACE BETWEEN YOU AND THE CAR AHEAD OF YOU AND DRIVE AT A SAFE  SPEED.

Severe thunderstorms Sunday evening and overnight, brought strong winds, some hail and much needed rain. Here in Atlantic, we received Nine-tenths of an inch of rain at the KJAN studios. Other areas of town reported 1.4-inches. Up at “The Valley,” (Highway 71/I-80), our spotter says she received .8″ of rain. An unofficial rainfall report from Walnut indicated 1.9-inches.

Harlan reports .91-inch, and Massena 1.53-inches. In Shenandoah, 1.84-inches of rain fell. Anywhere from 2-to 4-inches of rain fell over portions of western and northwestern Pottawattamie County last night, as storms continued to train and reform over an area stretching from the Interstate 80/680 split, southwest to Council Bluffs.

The storms also brought some unwanted hail. The National Weather Service says nickel-sized hail fell at around 10:30-p.m. in Council Bluffs. Strong winds toppled a power pole north of Atlantic along Olive Street, near Chicago Road, just after 8-p.m., Sunday. The pole fell across Olive Street, blocking the road for about 30-to 40-minutes.