(Radio Iowa) – Blizzard Warnings and High Wind Warnings are posted for much of western and central Iowa for tonight (Tuesday) through tomorrow afternoon, and forecasters say Iowans should anticipate a significant impact on roads. Meteorologist Jim Lee, at the National Weather Service, says the large and powerful storm system is approaching Iowa from the southwest.  “It’s already spread some thunderstorms into the state early this morning, and we’re going to see more widespread rain filling in this afternoon and evening,” Lee says. “Then tonight, very strong winds are going to surge in from the northwest and change the rain to snow, and then we’ll have blowing snow and blizzard conditions by Wednesday morning.”

Lee predicts wide sections of Iowa could get three to six inches of snow from this system. “It will vary across the area. However, whether a place gets two or four or six inches, when the winds hit, they’ll be so high that it will produce significant blowing snow effects,” Lee says. “So, regardless of the amounts, we expect, widespread travel problems.”

Radio Iowa file photo

Lee says winds may gust up to 65 miles an hour, and with the blowing snow, white-out conditions may be possible. Forecasters are watching another storm system develop which could bring more snow to Iowa Thursday night and into Friday.

(Radio Iowa) – State Climatologist Justin Glisan says this winter is going to end up being in the top five in the weather record book for a lack of snow. “We had about five inches of snowfall on the ground in February, and that’s about two inches below average. But if you look at December, January, February, meteorological winter, only about nine inches of snowfall across the state. That’s about 13 inches below average,” Glisan says.

Glisten says the month of February will be in the record books for lack of snow or rain. “Precipitation for February below average, about three quarters of an inch below average. So near the top 20th driest February is in 153 years of records. Now, if we think back to last February, the warmest and second driest on record,” he says. Glisan says the lack of snow is good if you don’t like to shovel, but it could have some impact later in the spring. “We get a deeper frost depth, because you don’t have that insulation of the snow pack on the ground, and that can lead to some the potential for localized flooding, given this event that we’re going to see Tuesday into Wednesday, with rain fall and possible snowfall,” Glisan says.

State Climatologist Justin Glisan.

Glisan says February had some hot and cold spells that evened out. “About four degrees below normal, not anything record breaking. Of course, we warmed up at the end of the month. Actually pulled up the average slightly,” he says. Glisan says the warmth at the end of the month pulled February out of what had been a very cold run. “If you look at that seven day stretch in the middle of the month, we were running about 21 degrees below average, so very cold conditions,” he says. “February is a transition month, as we transition from winter cold season moving into the growing season in March, April, May. So we do see a lot more meridional activity or more waves and troughs in the jet stream.” He says those troughs give us the up and down temperatures.

“Between the middle of the month towards the end of the month, we had temperatures in the 50s and low 60s, a temperature swing of, you know, 40, 50, 60, degrees. You know, generally we see that type of behavior in the February March time frame,” he says. Glisan says we can expect to see that variability until we move out of spring.

Today: Showers & thunderstorms. Breezy. High near 56. SE winds 10-25 mph this morning becoming N/NE this afternoon. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Tonight: **Blizzard & High Wind Warnings will be in effect beginning at 9-p.m & thru 3-p.m. Wed.**Rain and snow, becoming all snow after midnight. The snow could be heavy at times. Widespread blowing snow after 11pm. Low around 22. Wind chill values as low as 5. N/NW winds 20-to 40 mph w/gusts to near 60 mph. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

Wednesday: Snow ending by around 9-a.m.; Widespread blowing snow, mainly before 10am. Cloudy to partly cloudy.. High near 33. Wind chill values as low as 5. NW winds 35-to 40 mph w/gusts to near 55 decreasing to around 20-30 mph in the afternoon. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear & blustery, with a low around 16. NW winds 15-30 mph.

Thursday: A chance of snow after noon, mixing with rain after 3pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 40.

Thursday Night: Rain and snow, becoming all snow after midnight. Low around 27.

Friday: A chance of snow before noon, then a slight chance of rain and snow. Partly sunny, with a high near 37. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

Monday’s High in Atlantic was 60. Our Low was 38. We received .16″ rain early this morning at KJAN. Last year on this date (3/4), the High in Atlantic was 74 and the Low was 33. The Record High was 79 in 1983 and the Record Low was -11 in 2014. Sunrise: 6:53; Sunset: 6:12.

Atlantic, IA – The Cass County Emergency Management Agency will host a Storm Spotter Training Program Tuesday, March 11th at 6:30pm in the courtroom of the Cass County Courthouse. A meteorologist from the National Weather Service – Des Moines (NWS-DM) will provide participants with information for safely observing and reporting severe weather. This training is open to the general public, requires no registration and is FREE.

Each year, NWS-DM meteorologists travel to counties they serve to provide a comprehensive multi-media spotter training presentation. The course contains information about severe weather climatology, severe thunderstorm types, different severe weather threats and how to identify them, how to report severe weather, spotter safety and severe weather communications. Spotter training classes last between one and two hours, are open to the public and are free of charge.

Mike Kennon, Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator, says that Trained Spotters provide an invaluable service. Real-time observations of severe weather assist the NWS in their warning decisions to help protect life and property. Kennon adds that he expects a large turnout for this training after the devastating tornadoes in Minden and Greenfield last spring.

This Spotter Training class is sponsored by the Cass County Emergency Management Agency and questions concerning this training should be directed to the Cass County EMA Coordinator, Mike Kennon at 712-254-1500.

(Atlantic, Iowa) –  February weather data for Atlantic (Compiled here at KJAN – the official National Weather Service reporting site), shows we were – on average – warmer than normal for the High, and cooler than normal for the Low. We were also lower on the amount of precipitation (rain/melted snow), than what is typical for the month.

In Atlantic last month, the average High was 34. The average Low was 9 degrees. The warmest day was on the 24^th (66-degrees), and our coldest days were on the 20^th and 21^st, when the thermometer bottomed-out at -18 degrees.

Snowfall for the month amounted to 6.5-inches, but that only melted down into just under one-third of an inch of liquid value (.32”). Snow remained on the ground for about 13 days, and quickly melted the last two-weeks of the month.

Looking ahead, we find the High temperature for the month of March in Atlantic, is 48 degrees, while the average Low is 26. Precipitation typically amounts to 2.38-inches.

Check back with us during the first week of April, 2025, to see how our actual weather data compared to the historical averages.

Today: Increasing clouds & windy, with a high near 56. Winds S @ 10-20 w/gusts to near 30 mph.
Tonight: Showers & possibly a thunderstorm. Low around 46. S/SE winds 10-25 mph.
Tomorrow: Showers & possibly a thunderstorm. Breezy. High near 56. SE-NE @ 10-25 mph. New rainfall amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.
Tom. Night: **Winter Storm Watch begins at 9-pm.**Rain will change to snow. Low around 24. N/NW winds 20-40 mph w/gusts as high as 55 mph. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.
Wednesday: **Winter Storm Watch continues until 3-pm.**A 30% chance of snow before noon, otherwise Partly sunny & very windy, with a high near 35.
Wed. Night: Mostly clear & blustery, with a low around 18.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 44.

Sunday’s High in Atlantic was 50. Our Low was 17 Last year on this date (3/3), the High was 69 and the Low was 35. The Record High was 76 in 1992 and the Record Low was -12 in 2014. Sunrise: 6:54; Sunset: 6:11.

Today: Sunny & breezy, with a high near 52. South winds 10 to 20 mph. Areas of very high fire danger are expected this afternoon, with south winds gusting as high as 30 mph in parts of southwest Iowa.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 35. South southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.
Monday: Partly sunny & breezy, with a high near 57. Winds S @ 10-25 mph.
Mon. Night: A 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight. Low around 47. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tuesday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Breezy. High near 57. SE @ 15-25 mph. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Tue. Night: Rain before midnight, then rain and snow. Windy. Low around 25. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Wednesday: A 30% chance of snow before noon, otherwise partly sunny & windy, with a high near 37.

Saturday’s High in Atlantic was 35. Our Low this morning, 15. Last year on this date (3/2), the High was 57 and the Low was 25. The Record High was 77 in 1992 and the Record Low was -32 in 1962. Sunrise: 6:55; Sunset: 6:10.

Today: Sunny, with a high near 38. Wind chill values as low as 10. North wind 5 to 11 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 20. Calm wind becoming south southeast around 5 mph after midnight.
Tomorrow: Sunny, with a high near 53. South wind 6 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.
Tom. Night: A 20% chance of rain after midnight. Increasing clouds, with a low around 37. South southeast wind around 10 mph, with gust as high as 20 mph.
Monday:  Partly sunny, with a high near 58. South southeast wind 9 to 14 mph, with gust as high as 21 mph
Mon. Night: a 40% chance of rain after midnight. Mostly cloudy with a low around 43. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Tuesday: Rain. High near 59. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 41.

(Radio Iowa) – Most of Iowa is under a Red Flag Warning from noon today (Friday) through six o’clock tonight, as open burning is strongly discouraged. National Weather Service meteorologist Brooke Hagenhoff says there’s a critical risk as any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly. “For today, we’ve got warm conditions in the upper 50s to low 60s. We’ve got really dry fuels out there, because it’s so early in the season that nothing’s growing, so all the grasses and things are dry,” Hagenhoff says, “and then on top of that, we’ve got really strong winds gusting 45 to 50-plus miles per hour.” The warning covers 91 of Iowa’s 99 counties, all but the far northeastern corner of the state. Hagenhoff says the warm temperatures, strong winds and dry vegetation will create a serious hazard.

“That combination is going to make it really dangerous for any kind of burning that goes on,” she says, “so we definitely want to take care and delay any burning until later this weekend or next week.” More big dips are coming in the weather rollercoaster Iowans have been riding lately. The forecast calls for high temperatures across much of Iowa’s southern half to be in the 60s today, while highs tomorrow may only be in the 30s. “Those ruthless winds are ushering in that cooler air with this cold front that’s going to be coming across here later on this evening, so that’s really the big push,” Hagenhoff says. “So, if you want to enjoy some of the warmer weather, get out there today and do that. It’ll be a little cooler on Saturday.”

The state Fire Marshal’s office shows active burn bans in only five counties, Mills County in the southwest, and four in eastern Iowa: Clinton, Linn, Muscatine and Scott.

Today: **RED FLAG WARNING from Noon until 6-p.m. for critical fire weather conditions (strong winds & low humidity)** Sunny & windy. High near 61. W/SW winds @ 15-2o this morning, gusting to around 40 this afternoon.
Tonight: Mostly clear & windy with a low around 23. N/NW winds @ 15-30 decreasing after midnight.
Tomorrow: Sunny, with a high near 38. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tom. Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 20.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 51.
Sun. Night: Mostly cloudy w/a 40% chance of rain. Low around 36.
Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 56.
Tuesday: Cloudy & breezy w/rain likely, mainly after noon. High near 55.