(Updated 11-a.m.) The Winter Weather Advisory for snow that was in effect until Noon today (Wed.), for Monona, Harrison, Shelby, Audubon, Crawford, Carroll, Cass and Pottawattamie Counties, has been cancelled. The Advisory remains in effect until Noon for Guthrie, Adair and Dallas Counties.

The foggy days we saw in January could be an indication of the type of weather farmers ace this spring. Iowa State University Extension Climatologist Elwynn Taylor says it may be folklore, but there is some reasonable evidence to think it will be a wet one. “The folklore message is ‘if you have fog in January, you are going to have a wet planting season.’ Or some people say, 90 or 100 days later it’s going to be awfully wet,” Taylor says. “There is some fact behind that because — why would the fog come in — we’ve started to get the flow from the Gulf of Mexico, which is what brings us our moisture.”

He says this year fits the pattern that can give us a wet spring. “It doesn’t mean we always will, but that was the first point we looked at. Be ready for it to be on the wet side of usual at planting time,” he says. While a wet spring is a possibility, Taylor says another better than average yield is also a possibility.

“That is a distinct possibility — now of course everyone who has farmed in the Midwest knows for many years knows that it’s rare to go more than two or three years with above trend-line yield,” Taylor says. “This would be the fourth year. But it does happen. IN fact, five isn’t an unheard of number of years for staying above trend before it dips back below.”

(Radio Iowa)

The U-S Army Corps of Engineers predicts several waterways in Iowa and elsewhere will flood this spring, based on current snowpack conditions in the Missouri River basin. Hydrologist Kevin Low, in the Corps’ Omaha office, says the upper basin snowpack varies. “The Upper Missouri above Fort Peck is below average, the Yellowstone is above average and both North and South Platte headwaters have above-average snowpack,” Low says. “By this point in the winter, we’d normally have went through a bit over 60% of the seasonal peak snow-water accumulation period, so being over halfway, we still could see significant changes with this mountain snowpack.”

Low says with the condition of the current snowpack, rivers in the region will go over their banks this spring in Iowa, Nebraska, Montana and the Dakotas, and the list includes: “The Floyd, Big Sioux and Little Sioux basins in Iowa,” he says.

There has already been some flooding of tributaries due to ice jams. “No significant impacts have been reported to date in connection with these ice jams,” Low says. “Ice jamming is not uncommon in the Missouri basin and we will continue to monitor the rivers for its continued occurrence as we move later into the winter and early spring.”

The Corps’ forecast includes above-average run-off into the Missouri River basin for February, March and April.

(Radio Iowa)

Snowfall amounts from the NWS (will be updated)

KJAN/Atlantic, 4.6″ (as of 9:45-a.m.)

Underwood, 3.8″

Audubon (1 mile S/SE), 1.5″

Carroll, 1.0″ (as of 8-a.m.)

Castana (Monona County), 3.8″

Guthrie Center, 2.5″ (8-a.m.)

Logan, 4.5″

Lorimor, 3.5″ (9:45-a.m.) – Union County

Mapleton (Monona County), 4.0″

Oakland, 2.1″

Denison, 3.0″ (as of 7-a.m.)

Shelby, 3.5″ (as of 7:30-a.m.)

Winterset, 2.0″

Today: Cloudy w/light snow this morning (1-2” more); Flurries this afternoon. High 22. N @ 15-25.

Tonight: P/Cldy. Low 0. W/NW @ 5-10.

Tomorrow: P/Cloudy.  High 26. Variable winds @5-10.

Friday: P/Cldy & windy. High 52

Saturday: Cldy. High around 45.

Tuesday’s High in Atlantic was 34. Our 24-hour Low (ending at 7-a.m. today) was 13. We received 2.5” of snow overnight until 7-a.m. today, which melted into .11” of precipitation. Last year on this date, our High in Atlantic was 23 and the low was 7. The Record High in Atlantic on this date was 62 in 1954. The Record Low was -34 in 1971.

A Winter Weather Advisory for snow, remains in effect until Noon today for part of the KJAN listening area. The Advisory covers Monona, Harrison, Shelby, Pottawattamie, Cass, Audubon, Adair, Guthrie, Dallas, Madison, Crawford and Carroll Counties.

Light snow accumulations are expected up through noon. An additional 1 to 2 inches of snow will be possible along and north of I-80.

Periods of snow may cause travel difficulties with snow covered roads and limited visibilities. A Winter Weather Advisory for snow means that periods of snow will cause primarily travel difficulties. Be prepared for snow covered roads and limited visibilities… and use caution while driving.

***A Winter Weather Advisory for snow continues until Noon today for Cass, Adair, Audubon, Dallas, Guthrie, Crawford, Carroll, Madison, Monona, Harrison, Shelby and Pottawattamie Counties, where anywhere from 2-to 5-inches of snow are possible through this morning. Travel difficulties and limited visibility are likely.***

Early this morning: Cloudy with light snow likely. Colder. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches. Low around 15. North wind 10 to 15 mph with gusts to around 25 mph. Chance of snow 70 percent.
Today: Mostly cloudy. Light snow in the morning, then a chance of light snow early in the afternoon. Colder. Snow accumulation up to 1 inch. High in the lower 20s. North wind 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 80 percent.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy through midnight then becoming partly cloudy. Low 5 to 10 above. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph.
Thursday: Partly sunny. High in the mid 20s. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph shifting to the south in the afternoon.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy. Not as cold. Low in the lower 20s. South wind 10 to 15 mph.
Friday: Partly sunny. Much warmer. High in the mid 50s.
Friday Night: Mostly cloudy. Not as cold. Low in the mid 30s.
Saturday: Mostly cloudy. High around 50.

Area Counties: Crawford-Carroll-Audubon-Guthrie-Dallas-Cass-Adair-Madison–

The National Weather Service in Des Moines has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for snow, which is in effect from midnight tonight to noon CST Wednesday.

* TIMING…Snow will begin in western Iowa around midnight and spread east across the remainder of central and southern Iowa by Wednesday morning.

* STORM TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS…2 to 4 inches.

* WINDS/VISIBILITY…Winds from the northwest averaging around 10 mph will cause isolated areas of reduced visibility.

* IMPACTS…Travel difficulties may result from snow covered roads.

Area Counties: Monona-Harrison-Shelby-Pottawattamie…

A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect from 10-p.m. today through Noon Wednesday.  2-to 5 inches of snow is possible.

* TIMING…Snow will spread east across the area beginning around 10 pm with the heaviest snow falling from around 11 pm to 5 am.

Light snow will continue through the mid morning hours.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A Winter Weather Advisory for snow means that periods of snow will cause primarily travel difficulties. Be prepared for snow covered roads and limited visibilities, and use caution while driving.

1156 AM CST Tue Feb 7 2017

…Fast moving band of snow to impact area tonight…

.Snow will spread east tonight and continue into early Wednesday morning. The heaviest band will likely fall near a line from Albion to Norfolk to Tekamah and Logan, Iowa.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 10 PM THIS EVENING TO
NOON CST WEDNESDAY..

* TIMING…Snow will spread east across the area beginning around
10 pm with the heaviest snow falling from around 10 pm to 4 am.
Light snow will continue through the early morning hours
Wednesday.

* SNOWFALL AMOUNTS…2 to 5 inches of storm total accumulation is
expected by Wednesday morning with the heavier snow band across
northeast Nebraska.

* IMPACTS…Periods of snow may cause travel difficulties with
snow covered roads and limited visibilities.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A Winter Weather Advisory for snow means that periods of snow
will cause primarily travel difficulties. Be prepared for snow
covered roads and limited visibilities, and use caution while
driving.

Today: Cloudy w/fog & drizzle this morning; P/Cldy to Cldy this afternoon. Nearly steady temps in the 30’s. NW @ 15-25.

Tonight: Light snow. Low 18. N @ 10-20.

Tomorrow: Cloudy w/light snow in the morning (1-2” total possible). High 23. N @15-25.

Thursday: P/Cldy. High 28

Friday: P/Cldy, windy & warmer. High around 50.

Monday’s High in Atlantic was 48. Our 24-hour Low (ending at 7-a.m. today) was 30. Last year on this date, our High in Atlantic was 41 and the low was 19. The Record High in Atlantic on this date was 64 in 1987. The Record Low was -30 in 1905.