Today: Areas of fog between 8am and 11am. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 29. Calm wind becoming northwest around 6 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 20. Calm wind becoming southwest around 6 mph after midnight.
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 38. Southwest wind 6 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 19. Southwest wind 5 to 9 mph becoming light west after midnight.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 40. Calm wind becoming west 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon.
Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 43.
Saturday’s High in Atlantic was 26. Our Low was 21. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 26 and Low 5. The Record High on this date was 59 in 1928. The Record Low was -27, in 1982.
Officials with the National Weather Service report the August, 2020 derecho which heavily impacted Iowa and four other Midwestern states, was only outdone by Hurricane Laura and the collective Western Wildfires in terms of estimated cost.The data compiled by NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), shows the Derecho racked-up $11 Billion in damage. The August 10th event began in southeast South Dakota and swept through to Ohio – a 770 mile trip – in a span of just 14 hours, with widespread wind gusts greater than 100 miles per hour. Four people died as a result of the weather phenomenon.
Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana and Ohio were the states most affected by the event that caused millions of dollars damage to acres of corn and soybeans across central Iowa. There was also severe damage to homes, businesses and vehicles, particularly in Cedar Rapids. In addition, there were 15 tornadoes across northeastern Illinois, affecting the Chicago metropolitan area. Officials say it was the third severe weather event (since 1980) with inflation-adjusted costs over $10-billion, joining the late-April and May 2011 tornado outbreaks across the Southeastern and Central states, respectively.
The number one weather event, in terms of cost, was the August-27th/28th impact of a Category 4 Hurricane named “Laura,” which hit southwest Louisiana with winds of up to 150 mph and a storm surge of more than 15 feet. It was the strongest hurricane to hit Louisiana since 1856, and cost $19-billion.The Weather Service said 46 people died during the event. The second costliest weather event, was the Western Wildfires affecting California, Oregon and Washington State. A total of 46 people died. Colorado also had historic levels of fire damage. The flames raged across more than 10.2-million acres from August 1st through December 30th, costing an estimated $16.5-billion in damage.
Number four on the list, was Hurricane Sally, a CAT 2 hurricane taking place from Sept. 15th to 17th, and which made landfall in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Altogether it caused an estimated $7.3-billion damage, and resulted in five persons dead.
Today: Areas of fog this morning; Partly-to Mostly- cloudy. High 34. NE @ 5-10.
Tonight: P/cldy to cldy w/areas of fog. Low 20.
Tomorrow: P/Cldy to cldy w/morning fog. High 33. N @ 5-10.
Sunday: P/Cldy to Cloudy. High 33.
Monday: P/Cldy. High 38.
Tuesday’s High in Atlantic was 33. Our Low was 20. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 43 and Low 15. The Record High on this date was 65 in 2003. The Record Low was -19, in 1970.
(Updated 4:45-a.m.)
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The risk for flooding along the Missouri River appears lower than normal headed into the year because the ground remains dry across most of the region and snowpack levels are generally below average. Officials with the Corps of Engineers and National Weather Service caution that it is still early in the year and conditions can change.
But currently it appears that 2021 will be somewhat drier and only about 90% of the normal amount of water is expected to flow down the Missouri River. That is welcome news for areas along the river where levees damaged during 2019’s flooding are still waiting to be repaired.
(Radio Iowa) – Parts of Iowa got two sizeable snowstorms last week and now forecasters are saying it could be very snowy in the month ahead. Meteorologist Dennis Todey, director of the U-S-D-A’s Midwest Climate Hub in Ames, says the outlooks show a more active trend developing through mid-January. “Looking ahead at the 6-10 day and the 8-14 day, the pattern suddenly is shifting a bit,” Todey says, “and we’re going to get some more opportunities for precipitation coming through.”
He says the storm track far to the west is filling up and it’ll very likely influence Iowa’s weather in the weeks to come. “There are a few storm systems lined up across the Pacific that will bring some precipitation to California, which will be a good thing for them and the Southwest,” Todey says, “but then it looks like it’s going to increase our chances across the central part of the U.S., too.”
Those weather systems could bring mixed forms of precipitation, not just snow. “Temperatures overall are a little bit more likely to be warmer than average, so we’ll have to see what this follows as,” Todey says. “You’d think, this time of year, it’s going to follow as snow, which is still more likely but it’s possible we might see some more liquid versions of this as these systems come through.”
Todey says the main concern for the region is continued drought and with the ground freezing, any moisture that falls in the next few months won’t be soaking in.
Weather during the month of December, here in Atlantic, was once again warmer and drier than normal. Data compiled at the KJAN studios (The OFFICIAL National Weather Service reporting/record keeping site for Atlantic), show the Average High for the month was 39 (39.4), which was a full nearly 7-degrees above normal.
Our warmest day was Dec. 9th, when the thermometer reached 62. The Average Low was 15 (14.5), which is nearly one-degree above normal.Our coldest morning was Dec. 30th, at -4. Rain and melted snowfall for the month amounted to just .86 inches, which is nearly one-quarter of an inch below average. Snowfall amounted to just 9.6 inches.
During the month of January, in Atlantic, the Average High is 29.4-degrees, the Average Low is 9.3, and rain/melted snow typically amounts to .84-inches.
(Radio Iowa/KJAN) – The heavy snow came into the state as forecast and the amount made it hard for the plows to keep up and left a lot of people stuck in the streets that in many cases have yet been cleared. National Weather Service meteorologist, Kristy Carter, at the Johnston office says there was one total that will go in the books. “There was a record at the Des Moines Airport of nine-point six inches,” she says. Des Moines was the midpoint of the heavy snow band that started one side of the state and went border to border.
Carter says the snow went from the very southwest corner through central Iowa and then east. She says saw snows of nine inches to the south of Des Moines and five to six inches north and then nine to ten inches south and west of Des Moines. Here in Atlantic, at KJAN, we received just under six-inches of snow (5.7″). Other, area snowfall amounts include:
The snow really got heavy as it hit eastern Iowa. “In more of east-central Iowa heading toward the Davenport area, they were more in the ten and 11-inch range,” Carter says. There were reports of 12 inches in Hiawatha and Fairfax in eastern Iowa. Carter says the predictions prior to the storm were accurate. “I think the forecast turned out pretty well for the totals that we saw — some areas may have certainly gotten a little more — but I think the general forecast worked out really well,” according to Carter.
Another storm is expected to move through Friday and Carter says it could bring snow or rain.
(Radio Iowa) – Two-thirds of Iowa counties are considered to be abnormally dry or in some stage of drought, with far northwest Iowa the driest of all. State Climatologist Justin Glisan says that makes this month’s snowfall particularly welcome. “We had precipitation deficits starting to stack up in western Iowa, especially west central Iowa, going back last fall and then drying creeping into much of western Iowa moving into April, May and especially June, where we saw drought conditions expand across western Iowa,” Glisan says.
The lack of adequate subsoil moisture is a remarkable turn-around after recording flooding just a couple of years ago in several areas. “2018 was the second-wettest year on record. 2019 was the 12th wettest year on record,” Glisan says. “You put those two years together — the wettest two-year stretch for the state of Iowa going back 148 years.” Having snow drifts stick around for a while would be a good thing, according to Glisan, because it may help replenish moisture levels. “But of course drier soils freeze faster and they’ll freeze deeper,” Glisan says, “so we don’t want a really deep freeze in the subsoil because that will act like a concrete layer, no water infiltration getting into that deeper soil.”
The National Weather Service forecasts indicate more than half a foot of snow may fall in some areas of the state today (Tuesday).
(Radio Iowa) – Iowans are invited to an online webinar on winter weather tonight (Monday) being hosted by the National Weather Service office in Johnston. Meteorologist Alex Krull says they’re constantly recruiting weather spotters to help be the eyes and ears for forecasters. “We’ll talk about how we forecast different types of winter precipitation and how we officially report that then to the National Weather Service,” Krull says. “That includes how to properly take a snowfall measurement, if you have any ice on trees or power lines, how you can take a picture and officially report that to the National Weather Service and to be able to identify differences between things like snow, sleet and graupel.”
You don’t know what graupel is? Graupel is considered a soft hail or small snow pellets. Spotter training sessions were cancelled earlier this year due to the pandemic and Krull says these webinars are a good alternative for now. “There are plans to host more online virtual severe weather spotter training sessions come this springtime,” Krull says. “At this time, it doesn’t quite look like we’ll be able to have in-person meetings again, come springtime.”
The webinar is free and runs from 7 to 8 PM. Register to take part here: www.weather.gov/dmx
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