(Radio Iowa) – A new book from researchers at Iowa State University asserts that hotter weather brought on by climate change can make people more aggressive. Lead author Andreas Miles-Novelo, an I-S-U psychology graduate student, says decades of studies demonstrate how hotter temperatures alter the way people around the globe think and interact with each other. “We have lots of data that shows the hotter parts of the year, hotter years, hotter days of the year, hotter times, you find more reports of violent crime,” Miles-Novelo says, “so I suspect that will hold true. Whether or not it will be noticeable on any sort of level yet here in the United States, I’m not sure.”

In the book “Climate Change and Human Behavior,” the authors show how hotter weather and more frequent and severe weather events can influence individuals and groups, escalating political unrest, civil war and other forms of violence. The research finds people who are uncomfortably hot perceive others as behaving aggressively, which raises the odds of a hostile confrontation. Police officers are sworn to uphold the law but they’re still human and may be swayed by steamy weather.  “There’s a really great study that I talk about in the book where they put cops in different training simulators and in one of the training simulators, they bumped up the temperature in the room,” Miles-Novelo says, ” and they found that the cops were more likely to shoot an innocent suspect than in the condition where the room was more of a comfortable temperature.”

It’s asserted that climate change brings more extreme and frequent droughts, wildfires, floods and hurricanes, and people everywhere will be at higher risk to fall victim to crime, hunger and poverty. Still, he says it appears too much hot weather can actually chill heated aggression levels. “For average temperatures, that’s going to be when it’s lowest,” Miles-Novelo says. “When it starts to get uncomfortably hot, then you start to see those aggressions tick up, but then there’s a certain point where it gets too hot, where you have to conserve so much energy and so many resources because of the threat of overheating that you’re not actually likely to go out and do something because you need to stay somewhere.”

The opposite is also true, he says, as aggression levels rise when it gets uncomfortably cold, but once it gets exceptionally frigid, the focus is on finding shelter. With hot weather and a worsening drought in the forecast, all is not lost. Miles-Novelo says proactively addressing challenges now could help to stave off some of the long-term troubles they predict for the future.

Today: Partly cloudy. High near 16. N @ 10-20. Wind chill values as low as -20.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 2. NE @ 5-10. Wind chill values as low as -10.
Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy w/light snow. High 18.NE @ 10-15.  Wind chill values as low as -10. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.
Friday: P/Cldy. High 21.
Saturday: P/Cldy. High 37.

Tuesday’s High in Atlantic was 19. We received .1″ of snow/snow pellets Tuesday, which amounted to just a Trace of precipitation. Our Low this morning was -1. Last year on this date, the High was 51 and the Low was 24. The Record High was 65 in 2002. The Record Low was -22 in 1989. Sunrise is 7:04-a.m. Sunset is at 6:03-p.m.

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON TODAY for Monona-Harrison-Shelby-Pottawattamie-Mills-Montgomery-Fremont-Page Counties.

* WHAT…Very cold wind chills expected. Wind chills as low as 20 to 30 below zero.

* IMPACTS…The cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes or less.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

Use caution while traveling outside. Wear appropriate clothing, a hat, and gloves.

Crawford-Carroll-Greene-Audubon-Guthrie-Cass-Adair-Adams-Taylor-
...WIND CHILL ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 10 AM
CST WEDNESDAY...

* WHAT...Very cold wind chills expected. Wind chills as low as
  25 below zero.

* WHERE...West central and southwest Iowa.

* WHEN...From midnight tonight to 10 AM CST Wednesday.

* IMPACTS...The cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed
  skin in as little as 30 minutes.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Use caution while traveling outside. Wear appropriate clothing, a
hat, and gloves.

Monona-Harrison-Shelby-Pottawattamie-Mills-Montgomery-Fremont-
Page Counties: A WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO NOON WEDNESDAY…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS CANCELLED.

* WHAT… Very cold wind chills expected. Wind chills as low as 30 below zero. * IMPACTS…The cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

Use caution while traveling outside. Wear appropriate clothing, a hat, and gloves.

(Radio Iowa) – Freezing rain, snow and sleet are making for a challenging day for Iowa drivers — and walkers. Forecasters say it’ll only get colder, with highs tomorrow (Wednesday) in single digits and teens, and more snow likely on Thursday. Meteorologist Alex Krull, at the National Weather Service, says this morning’s wintry mix should end by midday for west-central and southwestern Iowa. “Areas in east-central Iowa and northeastern Iowa will a little bit longer before conditions start to improve,” Krull says. “That won’t likely be until later in the afternoon as we have some more freezing drizzle that’s going to start moving off towards the east. In terms of far northern Iowa, we’re expecting snowfall accumulations of anywhere between two to three inches.”

While parts of Iowa saw unseasonably warm temperatures Monday with highs near 60 degrees, Krull says the state will only be seeing highs in the single digits and teens tomorrow. “For the next couple of days, temperatures will be very cold, especially in northwestern Iowa,” Krull says. “We do anticipate the need to have wind chill headlines at least a wind chill advisory for northern and northwestern portions of Iowa, likely for Wednesday morning and perhaps again on Thursday morning, and there is the potential for more snow to occur across most of Iowa on Thursday.”

For Iowans who are looking forward to the spring thaw, any snow that does fall this week should melt soon. “Next week, we’re looking for a weather pattern change across most of the Midwest that should help to bring in warmer temperatures across most of the region,” he says.

Highs back in the 40s and 50s are in the long-range forecast, starting around next Tuesday.

(Radio Iowa) – Studies find nearly 75-percent of crashes in Iowa happen in less than two inches of snow, and researchers at the University of Iowa are looking into the ideal commute times. Professor Jon Davis, in the U-I Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, says the timing of your drive can make a world of difference.  “The commute is something that we often don’t think about as part of the actual work day in regards to health and safety,” Davis says, “but it really is, for a lot of people, the most dangerous thing they do all day.” More people on the roads means more opportunities for a collision, and when the roads are slick from rain or snow, the risks of a fender-bender rise exponentially — especially during the busy morning commutes.

“In our work, we actually looked at the different commute times and where we saw winter weather really playing a role in crashes began around 6:30 and didn’t start to taper off until 9,” Davis says. “So, if you can wait longer or avoid it all together, you are going to improve the safeness of your drive.” During the height of the pandemic lockdown, 40-percent of Iowans were working remotely, and that number is still 25-to-30-percent. When the weather’s foul, Davis suggests if you can work from home, do, or at least go in later. “If you delay your commute into work, you’re really increasing your safe drive,” Davis says. “It’s a lot less hazardous. Even waiting 30 minutes or an hour to go into work — and for those who can work remotely, you can completely remove that risk. It only takes a small amount of snow to make that drive more hazardous.”

The U-I research found workplaces that adopt policies for flexible work start times or for telecommuting will empower workers to avoid hazardous driving conditions. “We put time and resources into making work-from-home easy. People have set up home offices, learned how to use different software to do virtual meetings, so let’s make use of that infrastructure,” Davis says. “For those people who have that option, it’s great if they can exercise that option when weather is bad.”

If you have to be at work in person and the weather’s foul, remember to dress for the conditions, bring along blankets, snacks, water, have a fully-charged cell phone and a full tank of gas.

Today: Cloudy w/a mix of freezing drizzle-light snow (<.5″ snow expected). High 20. N @ 15-30. **WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY in effect until 9-a.m.**
Tonight: P/Cldy to Cldy. Low -2. N @ 10-20.
Tomorrow: P/Cldy to Cldy. High 16.
Thursday: Cloudy w/light snow. High 18
Friday: P/Cldy. High around 20.

Monday’s High in Atlantic was 63. Our Low this morning was 15. We received a trace of freezing drizzle overnight. Last year on this date, the High was 43 and the Low was 23. The Record High was 71 in 2017. The Record Low was -14 in 1894. Sunrise is 7:06-a.m. Sunset is at 6:02-p.m.

Many roadways in the KJAN listening area are partially covered with a glaze of ice this morning. Please slow down if driving, allow for rapidly changing road conditions, and approach intersections with caution. Sidewalks are treacherous, as well. The latest road conditions are available at 511ia.org, or by calling 5-1-1. Here were the road conditions at 4:45-a.m.:

Roads in blue: partially covered with ice; Green means normal WINTER driving conditions.