(Radio Iowa) – Many Iowa home owners are seeing their insurance premiums rise and some companies are refusing to insure some properties altogether. Sonya Sellmeyer, a consumer advocacy officer in the Iowa Insurance Division, says there have been a series of rate increases since the derecho that hit Iowa in August of 2020.

“It just seems like ever since then we’ve just continued to get hit by storms. It costs a lot of money to repair that damage, for many different reasons — inflation, material costs have gone up,” Sellmeyer says. “The reinsurance that the companies themselves have has gone up for them.”

Reinsurance is basically insurance for insurance companies. Sellmeyer says Iowans facing a significant hike in homeowners insurance could consider a higher deductible — if it’s an amount they can afford. Sellmeyer is encouraging Iowans to have a discussion with their licensed insurance agent, to ensure their policy would cover the cost of replacing their home and its contents.

“You don’t want to be paying something, espeically as it becomes more expensive, that’s not going to give you what you really need to replace your home in case something would happen,” Sellmeyer says. “…And understand your riders that you have, too, on your policy or that you may need…Sump pump and sewer riders are very important.”

Flooding is the most common and costly natural disaster in the U-S. There’s been a federal flood insurance program since the 1960s for property in a flood plain and a federal rule change in 2019 encouraged private companies to sell flood insurance policies. Sellmeyer says you can buy private flood insurance in Iowa even if your property is not in a flood plain. “I spent a weekend in Spencer, shortly after the flooding happened, with those survivors there and I strongly suggest all Iowans need to sit down with their insurance agent and see if this is something that they need,” Sellmeyer says.

According to the National Association of Realtors, home insurance premiums in the U-S are expected to rise about six percent by the end of the year.

Today: Isolated showers and thunderstorms before 8am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 75. North wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts to around 20 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 47.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 74. North northwest wind 5 to 10mph, with gusts to near 20 mph.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 77.
Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 78.
Sunday Night: A 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1am. Low around 58.
Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 78.

Wednesday’s High in Atlantic was 83. The Low was 55. We received .03″ rain overnight at KJAN. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 83 and the Low was 63. The Record High here on Aug. 8th, was 111 in 1934. The Record Low was 39 in 1904. Sunrise today: 6:21-a.m.; Sunset: 8:29-p.m.

(Radio Iowa) – It’s been a big year for bad weather in Iowa and state climatologist Justin Glisan says there’s a new record in an undesirable category — most tornadoes in a single year. “We’re about 127 tornadoes across the state, and that beats the record that was set back in 2004 with 121 tornadoes, and our season’s not over yet,” Glisan says. “So it’s been a very active severe weather season, with hail, high winds, we’ve had a derecho, but then all these tornadoes as well.” Tornadoes can strike during any month of the year, even during the wintertime. In 2021, Iowa had a record 63 tornadoes in a single day — in December. That was during the state’s second derecho in as many years, and that December outbreak set another record for most EF-2 tornadoes in one day — at 21.

As for the month ahead, Glisan says August promises to be something of a rollercoaster as far as temperatures. “Look at those short term outlooks that get us six to ten days out, so in the middle of the month, and they are showing a cooler signal, at least initially,” Glisan says, “Then you look at eight- to 14-day highlights, we’re getting into the third week of August, that’s where we see a slightly elevated signal for warmer temperatures coming back in.” Rainfall should be about average for August, though Glisan notes July’s rainfall was nothing close to average. “Particularly in eastern Iowa, we saw rainfall totals 150 to 200% of normal, so you’re two to three inches above average,” Glisan says. “Overall across the state, about five and a half inches, preliminarily, and that’s about 1.3 inches above average.”

The month goes into the books as the 6th wettest July on record for Iowa.

Today: Patchy fog between 7am and 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Winds S/SE @ 5-to 10- mph.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy w/a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight. Low around 62.
Tomorrow: Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 77. Winds North @ 5-15 mph, w/gusts to 20.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 74.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 79.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 83.

Tuesday’s High in Atlantic was 71. Our Low this morning, was 53. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 81 and the Low was 60. The Record High here on Aug. 7th, was 103 in 1937. The Record Low was 45 in 1989. Sunrise today: 6:20-a.m.; Sunset: 8:31-p.m.

Today: Mostly cloudy & breezy. High near 75. North winds 15-25 mph.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 56.
Tomorrow: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. E/SE winds 5-10 mph in the morning.
Tom. Night: A partly cloudy w/a 20% chance of showers & thunderstorms late. Low around 61.
Thursday: Mo. Cldy w/a 20% chance of showers & thunderstorms before 1pm. High near 78.
Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 76.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 77.

Monday’s High in Atlantic was 94. Our Low this morning, 63. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 74 and the Low was 64. The Record High here on Aug. 6th, was 105 in 1930. The Record Low was 46 in 1974 & 1997. Sunrise today: 6:19-a.m.; Sunset: 8:32-p.m.

Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 95. South southwest wind 5-15 mph, with gusts to around 20 mph.
Tonight: Increasing clouds. Low around 66. S winds @ 5-10 becoming N/NW after midnight & gusting to near 20 mph.
Tomorrow: Partly sunny, with a high near 78. N winds @ 15-25 mph.
Tom. Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 57.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 81.
Wed. Night: Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight. Low around 61.
Thursday: Mo. Cldy w/a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm. High near 80.

Sunday’s High in Atlantic was 94. Our Low this morning, 65. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 84 and the Low was 63. The Record High here on Aug. 5th, was 111 in 1918. The Record Low was 42 in 1978. Sunrise today: 6:18-a.m.; Sunset: 8:33-p.m.

Today: Sunny, with a high near 95. Heat index values as high as 102. Southwest wind 5 to 15 mph.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. South wind around 5-10 mph.
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 95. South southwest wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 77. North wind around 15-25 mph.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 82.
Wed. Night: A 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61.
Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 77.

Saturday’s High in Atlantic was 93. The Low was 64. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 82 and the Low was 65. The Record High here on Aug. 4th, was 110 in 1918. The Record Low was 38 in 1978. Sunrise today: 6:17-a.m.; Sunset: 8:35-p.m.

National Weather Service Omaha/Valley NE
312 AM CDT Sun Aug 4 2024

HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 8 PM THIS EVENING.

* WHAT…Heat index values up to 104 expected.

* IMPACTS…Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors.

Today: Patchy fog before 9am; Partly sunny-to-sunny. High near 92. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph this afternoon.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 67. Winds south at around 5 mph after midnight.
Tomorrow: Sunny, with a high near 95. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tom. Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 69. South wind around 10 mph.
Monday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 97.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 84.
Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 84.

Friday’s High in Atlantic was 90. The Low this morning was 63. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 84 and the Low was 66. The Record High here on Aug. 3rd, was 107 in 1930. The Record Low was 42 in 1907. Sunrise today: 6:15-a.m.; Sunset: 8:35-p.m.

(Radio Iowa) – D-N-R Hydrologist Tim Hall says it looks like July will end up slightly wetter than normal once the final numbers are in. He says it continues the string of normal or above normal months that has pulled Iowa out of the drought. “The challenge that we’ve seen in the most recent month is although the rainfall is about average a lot of it came in the last week or ten days of the month,” he says. “And anytime you get a month’s worth of rain in a couple of weeks period of time it can be very, very challenging.” The latest map from the National Drought Monitor shows a clear map with no drought areas. Hall says while the colors indicating drought areas quickly washed off the map, the process was slow and steady. “While we’ve had a pretty rapid turnaround in drought conditions, this trend toward wetter weather and sort of giving us our side of the drought started almost ten months ago in October of last year,” Hall says.

Hall says water flows are back to normal on most waterways. “Last year there was a record number of irrigation permits that were in danger of being cut off because of low flow. If the stream flows too low, we don’t allow irrigators to withdraw water to irrigate under their permits. This year, no irrigation permits are even under any pressure,” he says. The drought had cities putting water use restrictions in place and Osceola has been looking at a plan to recycle wastewater. Hall says we’d be wise to not stop thinking about water use plans. “We would caution and advise any utility that’s sometimes struggling with water supply to think about where they were a year ago and keep working on some proactive solutions,” Hall says, “because droughts gonna come back. Maybe not this year, maybe not next year, maybe not for several years.”

He says the drought will come back sometime and it’s best to be prepared and take steps that can help minimize the impact when it does.