With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson….
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After a rainy June and a cool July, Iowa’s starting August almost entirely drought-free. A new report from the National Drought Mitigation Center finds only parts of three counties in far southwest Iowa are still in the very lowest level of drought. Center climatologist Brian Fuchs says all of those heavy downpours in June were a big benefit to Iowa, though they came at a cost. “Not only did we get the rain across the state but associated with that was the severe weather with a lot of wind, a lot of hail, even some tornadoes,” Fuchs says.
Iowa Drought map
“The recovery was influenced by these storms which also brought another form of destruction. Yeah, we put a dent in the drought but we had some suffering in other areas as well.” Governor Branstad is asking President Obama to declare 22 more Iowa counties federal disaster areas from damage sustained in storms from June 26th through July 7th. Thirty-five counties statewide have already been designated federal disaster areas for earlier storms, flooding and tornadoes. While 96 of Iowa’s 99 counties are now drought-free, the latest national picture shows drought is still very much a problem for wide sections of the country.
Fuchs says, “There has been some improvement but much of that improvement has been in the Midwest and Central Plains, the area from Nebraska and Kansas and Iowa and Missouri and Illinois where we have had the abundance of moisture but in that same period, we have seen that drought developing and expanding out in the western U.S.” Drought still plagues a large portion of the country, especially the southwestern and western United States, from California and Nevada to Texas and Oklahoma.
Fuchs says, “A little over a third of the country still is seeing some drought and a little over 10% of the country is seeing extreme drought right now.” The latest survey shows parts of three southwest Iowa counties are “abnormally dry,” the lowest category on the drought monitor: Pottawattamie, Mills and Fremont.
The Freese-Notis weather forecast and 24-hour weather data, along with a July summary for Atlantic.
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400 AM CDT FRI AUG 1 2014
EARLY THIS MORNING…PARTLY CLOUDY. SOUTHWEST WIND NEAR 5 MPH.
TODAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS LATE IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGH IN THE LOWER 80S. EAST WIND NEAR 5 MPH. CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS 20 PERCENT.
TONIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE UPPER 50S. EAST WIND NEAR 5 MPH.
SATURDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE LOWER 80S. SOUTHEAST WIND NEAR 5 MPH.
SATURDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOW IN THE LOWER 60S. SOUTHEAST WIND AROUND 5 MPH.
SUNDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE MID 80S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.
SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE MID 60S. HIGH IN THE MID 80S.
CLASS 2-A Semifinals
North Polk 6, Roland-Story 2
Beckman Catholic 8, Van Meter 5
Saturday, August 2: Championship
2 p.m. — North Polk (31-5) vs. Beckman Catholic (29-13)
CLASS 1-A Semifinals
Newman Catholic 5, Don Bosco 4
Twin Cedars 11, Gehlen Catholic 0 (5 innings)
Saturday, August 2: Championship
Noon — Newman Catholic (36-3) vs. Twin Cedars (35-0)
CLASS 4-A Semifinals
Friday, Aug. 1
6 p.m. — Johnston (23-16) vs. Iowa City West (33-9)
8 p.m. — Dubuque Hempstead (37-5) vs. Southeast Polk (30-13)
Saturday, Aug 2.: Championship
8 p.m. — Semifinal winners
CLASS 3-A Semifinals
Friday, Aug. 1
Noon. — Waverly-Shell Rock (36-2) vs. Assumption (24-15)
2 p.m. — Sergeant Bluff-Luton (25-11) vs. Dallas Center-Grimes (23-14)
Saturday, Aug. 2: Championship
6 p.m. — Semifinal winners
The Atlantic Fire Department responded to a reported residential fire Thursday, at around 8:40-p.m. Crews were called to 1307 1/2 Locust Street, and when they arrived, determined a mattress in one of the apartments at that location, was on fire. They quickly extinguished the flames, pulled the mattress outside and began to ventilate the house. Medivac Ambulance also responded to the scene, but there were no injuries reported.
Not long after crews left the scene at around 9:06-p.m., they were called back, because the smoldering mattress rekindled, and began to start the dry grass on fire. The fire trucks were back in station by around 9:20-p.m.
Picture of the burned mattress courtesy Loretta Haskins.
According to Atlantic Fire Chief Mark McNees, the fire began with a carelessly discarded cigarette. A woman who was sleeping in the apartment was awoken by a neighbor and was able to escape. Damage to the apartment was described as minimal.
State Climatologist Harry Hillaker says the month of July was unusually cool. “Not all the numbers are in yet, but it looks like it will probably finish up the fifth coolest July on record in Iowa and that’s among the last 142 years of data,” Hillaker says. “So fifth out of 142 is obviously pretty unusual.” In Atlantic, the Average High for the month was 78, which was eight-degrees cooler than normal. Average temperatures in July have been about four-and-a-half degrees cooler than normal.
“Which isn’t really a lot, I’d guess you’d say when you first look at it, but during the summer months we just typically don’t really have that much variability from year to year as far as summer temperatures go, so that’s pretty unusual,” Hillaker says. “Oddly enough, though, 2009 ranks as our coolest July on record, so you only have to go back five years to find a cooler one than this one.” The Average Low in Atlantic in July, was 59, which was 4 degrees below normal. Hillaker says so far, the summer of 2014 has been a “rather mild” one.
“There’s still quite a number of places over in northern and eastern Iowa that have yet to reach 90 degrees this year,” Hillaker says. “Still plenty of time for that to happen, but it hasn’t occurred yet in places like Burlington and Cedar Rapids, Mason City, Dubuque and probably a number of other places as well.” After a fairly wet June, rainfall has been sporadic and Hillaker says it’s been relatively dry for the past three to four weeks.
“Crops, for the most part, are progressing pretty well as far as seasonality, not really behind in development, so not any big negatives, I guess, on the cooler temperatures,” Hillaker says. “…We’d just like to see some more rainfall than what we’ve been getting.” In Atlantic, we received just over three-quarters of an inch of rain in July (.77”), which was slightly more than 3.9-inches below normal. Far northern Iowa is “quite a bit dry” according to Hillaker, who says the statewide average for rainfall is more than an inch below what’s normal for July.
(Radio Iowa)
Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Organizers of the annual Iowa by the Sea Picnic in California say they have stepped up their organizing efforts and expect a bigger crowd this year. The Sioux City Journal reports the picnic began in 1900 in Pasadena and at one time drew more than 100,000 transplanted Iowans and their families. Retired Navy and Cedar Rapids native Commander Don Swenson estimates 200 people will attend the picnic Saturday near the battleship USS Iowa in San Pedro.
MISSOURI VALLEY, Iowa (AP) — A western Iowa state park has reopened after three years of work to repair and improve the park after devastating flooding in 2011. The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reports the Wilson Island State Recreation Area near Missouri Valley reopens Monday morning.
LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — An Akron man has been charged with first-degree murder after Plymouth County officials say he told them he caused the death of his mother. The Le Mars Daily Sentinel reports 44-year-old Jonathon Neunaber is jailed on $100,000 bond.
LECLAIRE, Iowa (AP) — Some LeClaire residents are expressing surprise at a police sergeant’s decision to shoot and kill a pelican they had named Wilbur. The Quad-City Times reports the sergeant killed the bird July 17th after the Department of Natural Resources asked that LeClaire police check out reports the bird was diseased and aggressive. On Wednesday, LeClaire Police Chief Shane Themas said police had no choice but to kill the bird.
SHERRI SUE (Winther) DENNEY, 55, of Anita, died Thu., July 31st, at home. Memorial services for SHERRI DENNEY will be held 10:30-a.m. Sat., Aug. 9th, at the Hockenberry Family Care Funeral Home in Anita.
Visitation with the family will be from 6-to 8-pm Fri., Aug. 8th, at the funeral home. Online condolences may be left at www.hockenberryfamilycare.com
Burial will be in the Evergreen Cemetery in Anita, with a luncheon at the Anita American Legion to follow.
Memorials may be directed to the family for later designation.
SHERRI DENNEY is survived by:
Her husband – Cecil Denney, Sr., of Anita.
Her son – Cecil (Amanda) Denny, Jr., of Anita.
Her sisters – Marcia (Dick) Larsen, of Afton; Juliana (David) Krauth, of Massena; Cindy (Delmar) Gries, of Elk Horn; Sondra (Vance) Griffith of Atlantic.
Her brothers – David (Jane) Winther, and Dan (Dana) Winther, all of Anita.
Brothers-in-law: Norman “Red” (Ramona) Larsen of Atlantic and Raymond (Doris) Larsen of Lake View.
and 2 grandchildren.
A double celebration is happening in Hancock this weekend. The city is hosting the annual Old Settler’s Picnic while Botna Bend Park celebrates their 50th anniversary. The party begins Friday night with a free teen dance on the streets of Hancock from 7pm to 10pm with soda for sale on site. Saturday begins with a Men’s softball tournament at the ball diamond at 10am and poker run registration in the beer garden. Vince Guyer, President of the Hancock Old Settler’s Association, says he gets a kick out of the kid’s games.
“The Kid’s races are something we have done for years. There are foot races. They have a shoe kick and several other small events like that. The kids get something whether they win or not. The children really enjoy it. The shoe kick is always my favorite to watch with the kids. It is funny to watch them try and kick their shoes as far as they can.”
The kids faces are held north of the white shelter in Hancock. A dance in the beer garden with live music from ‘Mr. Hand’ finishes off Saturday’s events. On Sunday, the Old Settler’s Picnic serves a pancake breakfast in the Hancock Fire Station at 8am with church service at 10 followed by a parade, a tug of war event and more live music. The picnic finishes with a benefit auction.
If you are more of an outdoor enthusiast Botna Bend Park outside of Hancock is digging in for their 50th anniversary in conjunction with the Saturday fun during the Old Settler’s Picnic. Jon Fenner, Park Ranger at Botna Bend, says activities start at 1-pm “We’re going to have the rededication of Botna Bend Park. It will be a short presentation. We’ll have some things to look at. We’re going to offer some refreshments of root beer floats and soft pretzels, kind of a nice treat on a summer day.”
Following the rededication, visitors will be able to learn all about Botna Bend Park.
“We have Jim Pease with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is going to come out and do a river critter program at 2pm. We will have some guided walks with park staff and talk about the park and bison and elk. It will give people an idea why we exist and what we do around here and why the (Pottawattamie County) Conservation Board exists and why Botna Bend exists. We will have those on going for a couple of hours. Our environmental education staff will do some tree identification programs. They will also have some ongoing activities for kids. They are going to do a beak matching program and there is a nature quest, it’s kind of like a scavenger hunt around the park.”
All activities are free at the park. You also can access the Nishnabotna River to canoe, kayaking, raft or tube down the river or fish at the park. There are only a few openings to go down the river. If you are interested or need more information, contact the Botna Bend Park Office at 712-741-5465.
(Joel McCall/KNOD)
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