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NWS Forecast for Cass & area Counties in IA: 5-2-12

Weather

May 2nd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

341 AM CDT WED MAY 2 2012

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

TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH MIDNIGHT…THEN THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY AFTER MIDNIGHT. SOME THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE SEVERE AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOW IN THE MID 60S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 15 MPH. GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH THROUGH MIDNIGHT. CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS 70 PERCENT.

THURSDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MORNING…THEN A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGH IN THE LOWER 80S. SOUTHWEST WIND NEAR 10 MPH. CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS 50 PERCENT.

THURSDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH MIDNIGHT…THEN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOW IN THE LOWER 60S. NORTHWEST WIND NEAR 5 MPH SHIFTING TO THE NORTHEAST AFTER MIDNIGHT. CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS 50 PERCENT.

FRIDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH IN THE MID 80S. SOUTHEAST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 20 PERCENT.

FRIDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. LOW IN THE MID 60S.

SATURDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE LOWER 80S.

Illinois Adding Former Drake Guard Rayvonte Rice

Sports

May 2nd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Illinois basketball coach John Groce says sophomore guard and Champaign native Rayvonte Rice will transfer to Illinois from Drake at the end of the semester. Rice led Drake with 16.8 points a game last season and averaged 5.8 rebounds. Under NCAA rules for transfers he will have to sit out next season. Groce called Rice an impact player and a natural scorer. The first-year Illinois coach also praised Rice’s aggressiveness for the Bulldogs (18-6, 9-9 Missouri Valley). While Rice won’t be able to help for a year, the Illini lacked shooters and ball-handlers during the 17-15 season that cost Bruce Weber his job and brought Groce from Ohio. Illinois this week also added another guard. Mike LaTulip of Prospect High School in Mt. Prospect will be a preferred walk-on.

Iowa early News Headlines: Wed., May 2nd 2012

News

May 2nd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

AMES — Strong storms rumbling across Iowa this morning brought strong winds and heavy rain to some locations. The National Weather Service says at around 1:50-a.m., a tree fell on house and car in Ames. The tree also damaged a gas line to the house. No injuries have been reported.

DES MOINES (AP) — School districts in Iowa would get a 4 percent increase in funding under provisions of legislation that has cleared the state Senate. The bill also includes $3 million for the Malcolm Price Laboratory School at the University of Northern Iowa, among other things. The legislation is usually the last to move before the Legislature adjourns. It was approved yesterday while budget, property tax, and school reform bills remained stuck in negotiations between Republican and Democratic leaders.

DES MOINES (AP) — Motorists in rural Polk County beware: speed cameras could soon be coming to an intersection near you. The Des Moines Register says county supervisors approved a plan yesterday to let administrators begin drawing up a contract with a company that supplies cameras at no charge to the city of Des Moines.

DES MOINES (AP) — Memorial services are in the works for 85-year-old Dr. Earl Rose, who was the medical examiner in Dallas when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Rose has died in Iowa City. His wife says he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and dementia.

Significant Weather Statement for Shelby County

Weather

May 2nd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

310 AM CDT WED MAY 2 2012

AT 308 AM CDT…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS  TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 7 MILES WEST OF HARLAN…MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.  
HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH WILL BE  POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.

LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE… HARLAN…ELK HORN…EARLING…IRWIN… PORTSMOUTH…PANAMA… WESTPHALIA…KIRKMAN AND TENNANT.  THIS INCLUDES HIGHWAY 59 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 73 AND 85.

Pride of Iowa Conference Track Meet Results

Sports

May 2nd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

At Martensdale-St. Mary’s High School, May 1st 2012

Team Score:

  1. Mt. Ayr  109
  2. Martensdale-St.Marys  84
  3. Wayne  80
  4. Nodaway Valley  61
  5. I-35  48
  6. Bedford  46
  7. Pleasantville  38
  8. Central Decatur  33
  9. SE Warren  24
  10. Corning  19
  11. East Union  15

First third of 2012 warmest on record

News, Weather

May 2nd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

State Climatologist Harry Hillaker says the just completed month of April helped push the state to a new weather record. “For the first third of the year temperature wise, running about seven-point-four degrees above normal ,for the first four months of 2012. Preliminarily that would be the warmest first third of the year on record — about three-tenths of a degree above 1878 — which had been the previous warmest January through April period in Iowa,” Hillaker explains.

April was the seventh straight month were we’ve seen the average temperature end above the norm.Hillaker says April averaged about three degrees above normal, which made it end up just under one degree above the average temperature in March. “So if it seems like this month was not much warmer than the previous (month), that would be correct, they are both very similar,” Hillaker says. There was some April fooling going on by Mother Nature when it came to the temperatures, as Hillaker says the month started warmer than it finished. 

“The first half of the month was averaging about six degrees warmer than usual. The second half of April was slightly cooler than normal, so overall not really much trend as we went through the month, usually you kind of expect things to be the other way around,” the climatologist says. Hillaker says April provided another possible record when you compare the temperatures from the eastern cities to the temperatures in March.

“One interesting little tidbit for what it’s worth, most of eastern Iowa actually averaged warmer temperatures for the month of March than it did for the month of April,” Hillaker says. “Places like Waterloo, Dubuque, Cedar Rapids, the Quad Cities, were slightly warmer in March than they were in April. Most likely that’s the first time that’s ever happened.” The numbers show April was wetter than average. Hillaker says the statewide average was three-point-nine-nine inches of precipitation in April, which is about one-half inch more than the average for April. He says that ranks it as the 31st wettest April in 140 years of records, and it is very similar to the April totals the last three years. Hillaker says the first third of the year saw about two-thirds of an inch more rainfall than we usually see, but he says it’s about what we’ve seen over the same period the last few years. It ranks as the 29th wettest first four months of the year on the state record books. There is a possibility that we also saw the first snowless April since 1890. Hillaker says there was a report of sleet on April 28th, which is technically considered snow.

In Atlantic, the average high for the month of April was 67.7-degrees. The average low was 40.2. Rainfall for the month amounted to 4.18-inches. The normal average high for the month is 62.6, while the normal monthly low is 37. Rainfall in April normally averages 3.01-inches.

(Dar Danielson/Radio Iowa, & Ric Hanson/KJAN)

Severe Thunderstorm Watch Cancelled

Weather

May 2nd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch that had been extended until 4-a.m. for Cass and surrounding Counties has instead been cancelled. Storms passing through early this morning no longer fall under the level needed for a Watch status. Some storms may produce occasional, brief heavy rain and gusty winds, though.

Wainwright Wins 1st, Cardinals Beat Pirates 10-7

Sports

May 2nd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Adam Wainwright worked seven solid innings for his first win since September 2010, and the St. Louis Cardinals got big nights at the plate from David Freese and Matt Holliday to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-7 on Tuesday. Freese’s sixth home run and third in five games was a tiebreaking, three-run shot off Charlie Morton (1-2) in the fifth. Holliday homered in the sixth off Jared Hughes to cap a three-hit night with two RBIs.  Allen Craig had two hits and an RBI in his season debut after rehabbing from knee surgery performed last fall shortly after he belted three homers in the World Series. Rafael Furcal had two hits, including his first homer, a two-run shot off Tony Watson in the seventh that made it 10-4.

The Cards and the Pirates face-off again tonight (Wednesday). You can catch the action beginning with the pre-game show at 6:20-p.m., on KJAN.

Severe Thunderstorm Warning in effect until 1:45-a.m.

Weather

May 2nd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

120 AM CDT WED MAY 2 2012
 
 …A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR AUDUBON AND
 GUTHRIE COUNTIES UNTIL 145 AM CDT…
 
 AT 117 AM CDT…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
 SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING QUARTER SIZE HAIL…AND
 DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH.  THIS STORM WAS LOCATED 9 MILES
 EAST OF AUDUBON…OR 24 MILES NORTHEAST OF ATLANTIC…MOVING EAST AT
 40 MPH.
 
 LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE…
   GUTHRIE CENTER…PANORA…BAYARD…CASEY…BAGLEY…MENLO…YALE
   AND JAMAICA.
 
 PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
 
 PREPARE FOR LARGE HAIL AND DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. PEOPLE
 OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A REINFORCED BUILDING AND AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
 
 PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WINDS…FALLING TREES AND FLYING DEBRIS. MOVE
 INDOORS AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF YOU ARE IN A MOBILE HOME…GET
 OUT NOW…AND SEEK SHELTER IN A REINFORCED BUILDING.

Red Oak man arrested on warrant for probation violation

News

May 2nd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest Tuesday afternoon, of 55-year old James Anthony Piunti, of Red Oak. Piunti was taken into custody on a warrant for Violation of his Probation, on an original charge of Indecent Contact with a Child. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail awaiting transportation to Pottawattamie County.