A podcast of the 7:19-a.m. Sports report with Ric Hanson….
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.6MB)
Subscribe: RSS
A podcast of the 7:19-a.m. Sports report with Ric Hanson….
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.6MB)
Subscribe: RSS
The Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors, Thursday, approved a $3.1-million bid for improvements to the Lincoln Highway, from Council Bluffs to the HarrisonCounty line. According to the Omaha World-Herald, the road work comes just as the highway celebrates its centennial this summer. Work on the project is expected to begin in a couple of weeks, and will likely take most of the summer to complete. It includes patching, widening in some areas, and overlaying the entire stretch of road.
The project has been in the works since the Missouri River flooded in 2011, causing damage to the Lincoln Highway and other roads in the area. The federal government is paying 80-percent of the cost for repairs and improvements.
Officials say because travel on the road will be difficult and congested once construction begins, motorists may want to use alternate routes such as Interstate 29. The Lincoln Highway is the nation’s first transcontinental highway. Officials with the Lincoln Highway Association say as much as 85-percent of the road is still drivable in Iowa, though some of it is gravel.
The National Weather Service says low pressure over eastern Nebraska will lift northeast as a trailing cold front moves through the state this (Saturday) afternoon and tonight. Strong to severe thunderstorms are expected ahead of the cold front this afternoon and evening. Heavy rainfall is again possible with these storms and could lead to flash flooding. Drier weather will move in for Sunday, however there is a chance for rain again later Sunday night and Monday.
Storms that passed through western Iowa Friday and Friday night dumped more than 5-inches of rain in some areas, in less than a couple of hours. Those same storms also brought straight-line winds in excess of 65-miles per hour, and some pea-to ping-pong ball-sized hail.
Law enforcement and trained storm spotters reported to the National Weather Service hail the size of quarters fell in Carroll and Guthrie Counties, near the communities of Carroll, Bayard and Coon Rapids. Ping-pong ball-sized hail (1.5″ diameter) was reported by Emergency Management officials 12-miles south of Stanton, in Page County, at around 7-p.m., Friday.
Winds gusted up to 60-miles per hour near Crescent, in Pottawattamie County, and Little Sioux, in Harrison County. One gust of up to 67-miles per hour was reported at the Carroll Airport at around 9:35-p.m., Friday, and a garage roof was blown-off and 2-to 6-inch diameter tree limbs were reported broken in the Carroll County town of Halbur, at around 9:40-p.m. Thunderstorm wind damage was also reported just west/northwest of Stuart, where 6-to 8-inch diameter tree limbs were broken.
Flash flooding was reported late Friday night in Bayard and near Coon Rapids, with anywhere from 6-to-8-inches of water flowing over the roads in Bayard at around 10:15-p.m., as well as on Highway 25 in that same area. The Weather Service says 5.2-inches of rain fell just west of Coon Rapids.
The latest (podcast) National Weather Service forecast for the KJAN listening area, and weather information for Atlantic, including rainfall.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (1.2MB)
Subscribe: RSS
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest early this (Saturday) morning, of a Red Oak man. 29-year old Zachariah Michael Holland was taken into custody at around 3:30-a.m., on charges of Theft in the 5th degree, unlawful possession of a prescription drug, and a drug tax stamp violation. His arrest took place following a report of a suspected shoplifter at the Cubby’s convenience store on the north side of Red Oak. Holland was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $5,000 bond.
And, late Friday night, authorities in Montgomery County arrested 38-year old Jonathan Russell Terry, of Shenandoah, on a warrant out of Page County, for driving while suspended. Terry was arrested following a traffic stop a little after 10-p.m., in Red Oak. Terry was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and then released to the Page County Sheriff’s Office.
Officers with the Red Oak Police Department assisted the sheriff’s department in handling both arrests.
An assistant professor of economics at Iowa State University is trying to use what he’s learned through statistical analysis to give sports fans a better breakdown of games and make projections on future matchups. Gray Calhoun created a website he calls VisualScoreboard.com. The website has statistical graphs to visually represent scoring at points during a game. “So that way you can see if one team makes a big run and gets a big lead, and you can if the other team comes right back, or if they chip away for 15 minutes. So, you can see a lot more about what’s going on during the game,” Calhoun says. He started with calculations for N-F-L games as well as N-H-L at the request of a friend. Calhoun says his graphs use a number of variables.
“For different leagues instead of looking at win-loss percentage…just use statistics to keep track of what their opponents were. And so adjust the win loss percentage to kind of account for all the records of all the other teams that they’ve played,” he explains. While the website can give you an idea of the team that is statistically likely to win, there’s one factor that Calhoun says you can’t factor in. “If you follow sports then you kind of know this already — there’s a lot of luck,” Calhoun says. He cites the Baltimore Ravens which were a top 10 team, but not many people had them picked to win the N-F-L championship. Calhoun says the Ravens played well and they won. He says using statistics gets even tougher in the playoffs because most of the teams are usually pretty evenly matched. But Calhoun says the stats do give you an idea of past performance of teams and that can be an indicator of what they might do.
“So they tell you that about the stock market, past performance doesn’t predict the future, but if a fund has been doing badly, then you probably don’t want to invest in it. But you can still learn something,” Calhoun says. He says the website is something that’s a work in progress and he hopes to be able to do more with it in the future. Calhoun says the website for now is just a hobby, as the data collection and processing is very time consuming.
(Radio Iowa)
333 AM CDT SAT JUN 15 2013
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A FLOOD WARNING FOR… CARROLL COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL IOWA… NORTHERN GUTHRIE COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL IOWA… SOUTHWESTERN GREENE COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL IOWA…UNTIL 930 AM CDT
AT 332 AM CDT…LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED FLOODING ACROSS THE WARNED AREA FROM HEAVY RAINS LAST NIGHT. THE WATERS HAVE BEGUN TO RECEDE…HOWEVER MANY AREAS AND SOME ROADS ARE STILL BEING AFFECTED.
SOME LOCATIONS THAT WILL EXPERIENCE FLOODING INCLUDE…CARROLL… COON RAPIDS…GLIDDEN AND MANNING.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS… DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY. TURN AROUND…DONT DROWN.
403 AM CDT SAT JUN 15 2013
A COUPLE AREAS OF THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE OUTLOOK AREA TODAY. THE MOST LIKELY TIMEFRAME FOR SEVERE STORMS IS THIS AFTERNOON…GENERALLY SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80. LARGE HAIL AND STRONG WINDS WILL BE THE PRIMARY HAZARDS.
SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY: PERIODS OF THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT AS A FRONT SLOWLY MOVES SOUTHEAST. THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER PERSISTS THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATER NEXT WEEK AS WARMTH AND INSTABILITY RETURN TO THE PLAINS AHEAD OF A LARGE WEST COAST UPPER LOW THAT WILL BE MOVING INLAND.
.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT…
STORM SPOTTERS MAY BE NEEDED ACROSS FAR SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA THIS AFTERNOON.
**FLASH FLOOD WATCH in effect through Saturday evening** (forecast updated 3:57-a.m./NWS – Des Moines)
Today: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 3pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Partly sunny, with a high near 83. South wind 5 to 8 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. West southwest wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 4pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 84. Light and variable wind becoming east southeast 5 to 7 mph in the morning.
Sunday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 7pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63. Light south southeast wind. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. Light west wind becoming north northwest 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.
Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 60.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 79.