Today: Partly cloudy to cloudy skies. Rain ending this morning. Some scattered thunderstorms could redevelop this afternoon. South winds @ 10-20  High 75

Tonight: Partly cloudy to cloudy skies. Scattered thunderstorms.   South winds @10  Low 65

Friday: Partly cloudy to cloudy. Scattered thunderstorms in the morning.  South winds @ 10-20  High 78

Saturday: Partly cloudy to cloudy skies. Chance of thunderstorms. High 82

Sunday: Partly cloudy to cloudy. Chance of thunderstorms. High 82

Skyscan Forecast  Wednesday, May 19, 2021  Dan Hicks

Today: Mostly cloudy. Areas of fog and drizzle early, then a few showers and thunderstorms developing. SSE @ 10-20. High 73.

Tonight: Partly cloudy to cloudy. Scattered showers and thunderstorms. S @ 10. Low 62.

Thursday: Partly cloudy to cloudy. Scattered showers and thunderstorms. S @ 10-20. High 75.

Friday: Partly cloudy to cloudy. Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 80.

Saturday: Partly cloudy to cloudy. Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 80.

Yesterday’s High was 69 and the low was 59. We picked up just a trace of rain at the KJAN studios.

Skyscan Forecast  Tuesday, May 18, 2021  Dan Hicks

Today: Partly cloudy to cloudy. Area of light rain or drizzle this morning, then some showers developing late morning into the afternoon. Variable winds @ 5-10. High 70.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy. SE @ 5. Low 58.

Wednesday: Mostly cloudy. Showers. S @ 10-20. High 75.

Thursday: Partly cloudy to cloudy. Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 75.

Friday: Partly cloudy to cloudy. Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 80.

Yesterday’s high at the KJAN studios was 71 and the low this morning was 58. We picked up .05″ of rainfall in the past 24-hour period.

Skyscan Forecast  Monday. May 17, 2021  Harvey Freese

Today: Cloudy. Patchy fog this morning with showers. E @ 5-15. High 70.

Tonight: Cloudy. Slight chance of showers. E @ 5-10. Low 58.

Tuesday: Cloudy. Chance of showers and thunderstorms. ENE @ 5-10. High 72.

Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers and thunderstorms. ESE @ 5-10. Low 59.

Wednesday: Cloudy. Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. High 76.

Thursday: Mostly cloudy. Moderate chance of showers and thunderstorms. High 77.

Today: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Patchy fog before 10am. High near 68. Southeast wind 5 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 10pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 10pm. Cloudy, with a low around 56. East southeast wind 8 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Monday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 72. East wind 8 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Monday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 57. East wind 8 to 11 mph. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tuesday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 74. Southeast wind 8 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tuesday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 59. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Wednesday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 75. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Saturday’s High in Atlantic was 75. Our Low was 49. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 73 and the Low was 48. The Record High on this date was 93 in 1939. The Record Low was 25 in 1907.

(Radio Iowa) – Not that anyone’s complaining, but tornadoes have been very scarce in Iowa so far in 2021. This weekend marks the half-way point of our severe weather season, as April, May and June are the prime months for thunderstorms and twisters. Meteorologist Craig Cogil, at the National Weather Service, says we’ve only had two tornadoes so far this year, both in eastern Iowa.  “We’d typically see about 12 or 13 by this point, so it’s been really quiet,” Cogil says. “We have been relatively at or below normal temperatures for long stretches here so that certainly has tampered some of the tornadoes that we’d normally see at this time of year.”

(FILE PHOTO) Hope Gettler submitted this photo to the KJAN Facebook page. She said “We watched the rotation that formed a rope like tornado. It bounced up and down for 10 minutes while it was moving northwest towards Guthrie. This was taken 5 miles north of Adair at 320th St and Elm St.”

Rain is back in today’s (Friday) forecast and while Cogil says thunderstorms are possible this weekend in Iowa, the threat of severe weather remains small. “We will see some rain move in but there’s just not much instability with it and even with the chances that we see over the weekend and into early next week, there’s just not a whole lot of instability and sheer that we’d normally like to see for tornadoes,” Cogil says. “Really, the threat for tornadoes remains low for the next several days.” With the arrival of warmer temperatures in the coming weeks, he says we’ll need to remain vigilant for storm development.

“We are seeing at least some signs of a shift as we head into the latter part of next week, maybe into late May where it does become a little more active, which we’d normally anticipate at this time of year anyway,” he says. “There are some signs that it may become more active here in the next week or two.”  Iowa saw a total of 28 tornadoes touch down last year, which is well below the average number of around 50.

(Radio Iowa) – The main source of drinking water for Iowa’s largest city and the surrounding metro area is down about 90-percent from normal due to the extended drought. Des Moines Water Works C-E-O Ted Corrigan says most longtime residents have never seen the river levels this low. “The median flow in the Raccoon River during May is 4,000 CFS (cubic feet per second) and today the river’s flowing at about 400 CFS,” Corrigan says, “so it’s quite a bit lower than it would typically be at this time of year.” While the river is far below its normal level, Corrigan says it’s no reason to panic.

“There’s currently no issue. We have plenty of water to supply all of our customers,” Corrigan says. “Conditions are dry. The grass is green and there’s plenty of water but the river is low and it’s not cause for concern but it’s cause for awareness and communication.” Residents are -not- being warned to stop watering their lawns, filling swimming pools or washing their cars. “We are not recommending that anyone cut back on anything at this point in time,” Corrigan says. “We always ask that people use water wisely. Make sure that as they’re setting up their irrigation systems that they’re not watering the sidewalk and the driveway and those kinds of things, that they’re not wasting water.”

Corrigan was asked if he sees this as a being a short-term situation. “Hard to say, honestly,” Corrigan says. “There’s forecast rain for the next several days. If we get that, that will certainly help. If we don’t, it will be cause for additional awareness.”

The Des Moines Water Works supplies drinking water to about a half million residents in the capitol city area.