(Radio Iowa) -Many Iowans were awakened by unfamiliar noises this (Wednesday) morning, claps of thunder and raindrops on the rooftop. Some communities that have seen precious little precipitation in weeks — even months — were hit with a deluge. Hydrologist Jeff Zogg, at the National Weather Service, says multiple flash flood warnings were issued early today as rainfall totals reached seven and eight inches in a few locations. “That’s a combination of some radar estimates as well as some rainfall reports that we received,” Zogg says. “The heaviest rainfall fell in a stripe from southwest into south-central Iowa and amounts there were as high as four to six inches with some locally higher amounts.”
Traffic was slowed on many roadways, including Interstate 29 in western Iowa, due to a combination of standing water and a lack of visibility during the downpour. “We’re not hearing a whole lot in terms of major damage from the rainfall,” Zogg says, “mainly just some road closures, maybe some basements with water in them, but in most places, the rainfall was pretty welcome.” The old adage of “When it rains, it pours,” had dual significance today, as drought-stricken areas badly needed the rain, just not quite so much of it over such a short period of time.”The rainfall fell pretty intensely in some locations,” Zogg says, “so while the rainfall was welcome, in some cases it fell a little too fast for it to soak in, and it ran off and caused some of the problems that we were seeing.”
Wide sections of Iowa have been in drought for a few years now, and this precipitation is coming at a crucial time for farmers. “The rainfall that we’ve received will definitely help,” Zogg says. “It won’t end the drought conditions, but as far as for the rest of the day, the chances for showers and storms will be greatest pretty much across the southern half of the state, basically south of Highway 30. It’s kind of winding down in some areas but better chances as you go further south.”
The long-range forecast calls for at least a chance of rain every day through Sunday.
Today: **FLASH FLOOD WARNING for central Cass County (IA) until 11:30-a.m**.; Showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 9am. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. High near 80. SE wind 10-15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Tonight: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after midnight. Low around 69.
Tomorrow: A chance of morning showers and thunderstorms; Partly sunny, with a high near 84. E/NE @ 5-10 mph.
Friday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. High near 84.
Saturday: Showers & possibly a thunderstorm. High near 80.
Tuesday’s High in Atlantic was 86. Our Low was 68. 24-hour rainfall in Atlantic, ending at 7-a.m. today, amounted to 1.71.” Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 95, and the Low was 75. The All-time Record High on August 1st in Atlantic was 103 in 1930. The Record Low was 42 in 1907. Sunrise is at 6:14. Sunset is 8:36.
(Radio Iowa) – The National Weather Service has confirmed a tornado with wind speeds around 75 miles an hour touched down near Clinton Friday night. According to the National Weather Service office in the Quad Cities, the tornado in Clinton County was on the ground for nearly one and a half miles. Another, slightly stronger tornado was reported near the small Jackson County town of Andrew Friday, causing damage to some farmsteads and knocking down some power lines.
The National Weather Service office in Des Moines has been gathering information about a tornado near the Franklin-Hardin County line on Friday. Meteorologists have determined that tornado reached speeds of 90 miles an hour, but they’re still assessing how long it stayed on the ground.
(Radio Iowa) – Weather records show July is the warmest month of the year in Iowa, but state climatologist Justin Glisan says the month that just ended went against the norm. “The average temperature was about 72 degrees and that’s about one and a half degrees below average. So we’re looking at 151 years of records for the state, most likely in the top 30 coolest July’s on record,” Glisan says. Glisan says it wasn’t glove and jacket weather in July.
“Not exceedingly cold but definitely given that it’s the warmest month in expectation — noteworthy that it’s below average — especially the north western half of the state,” he says. “We did have a few days at the end of the month in which we saw 90 degree temperatures we had a one reading in 101 degrees in Keokuk, so we did get some ones at the end, but overall a cooler month.” July did continue the overall dry conditions we saw in May and June, but some areas did get a good dose of rain.
“If you look at the eastern and western borders of the state, we did see some stations with above average rainfall, but overall across the rest of the state departures in the driest part of the state, north central Iowa anywhere from two to three inches below average,” Glisan says. “So you look at the overall statewide average, about three-point-one (3.1) inches preliminarily, and that’s about an inch, inch point, one below average, so 78 percent of normal.” The storms that rolled through with rain made an impact.
“We have seen some widespread precipitation events in July that actually helped improve drought conditions especially in western Iowa and then portions of …northeastern Iowa,” he says. Glisan says the early outlook for August shows some potential for above average rainfall.
(Atlantic, Iowa/KJAN) – The month of July in Atlantic, was slightly cooler than normal. The average High of 84 was just two-degrees below the norm. The Low was also two-degrees below the norm, coming in at 61 degrees.
Rainfall in July typically measures around 4.62, but we came up short by 2.9-inches, at 1.72 for the month.
Here’s what we might expect weather-wise, during the month of Augst, in Atlantic: An average High of 83 and an average Low of 61. Precipitation typically amounts to 3.88-inches.
KJAN is the OFFICIAL National Weather Service reporting site for Atlantic data.
Today: Mostly cloudy. Patchy fog before 8am. High near 84. Southeast wind 5 to 19 mph.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy w/a 60% chance of showers and thunderstorms. Low around 68.
Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy w/a 60% chance of showers and thunderstorms. High near 81. E/SE @ 5-10
Thursday: Partly sunny w/a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. High near 85. E/NE @ 10.
Friday: Mo. Cldy w/a chance of showers/thunderstorms. High near 84.
Monday’s High in Atlantic was 86. Our Low was 65. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 94, and the Low was 63. The All-time Record High on August 1st in Atlantic was 102 in 1897. The Record Low was 42 in 1898. Sunrise is at 6:14. Sunset is 8:37.
Today: Mostly cloudy w/a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms. High near 82. E/SE wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tonight: Partly cloudy w/a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms. Low around 66.
Tuesday: Partly sunny w/a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms. High near 86. SE @ 10 mph.
Wednesday: Mo. Cldy w/a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms. High near 82.
Thursday: Mo. Sunny w/just a slight chance of showers. High near 88.
Sunday’s High in Atlantic was 91. The Low was 61. We received .05″ rain in Atlantic between 7-a.m. Sunday and 7-a.m. today. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 86 and the Low was 63. The Record High was 104 in 1955. The Record Low was 39 in 1971. Sunrise is 6:14. Sunset is 8:39.
Today: Mostly sunny, w/a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms this morning. High near 84. SE wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tonight: Partly cloudy w/a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight. Low 64.
Monday: Mostly cloudy w/a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly during the afternoon. High 82. E/SE @ 5-10.
Monday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after midnight. Low 65.
Tuesday: A 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms through early afternoon. High 84. E/SE @ 10-20 mph.
Tuesday Night: Cloudy & breezy w/a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms. Low 67.
Wednesday: Partly sunny & windy, w/a chance of showers and thunderstorms. High 88.
Saturday’s High in Atlantic was 88. Our Low this morning, 59. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 85 and the Low was 53. The Record High was 102 in 1931 & 1947. The Record Low was 39 in 1971. Sunrise is 6:13. Sunset is 8:40.
(Cedar Rapids, Iowa) – Severe storms rolled through eastern and parts of northeastern Iowa Friday night, bringing large hail and damaging winds. The National Weather Service in Des Moines said there were also reports of funnel clouds in Franklin and Bremer Counties, with one weak twister touching down four-miles north of Iowa Falls in Franklin County, at around 5:45-p.m., Friday. Another tornado was seen 4 miles northeast of Popejoy, in Franklin County. Spotters reported debris was lofted into the air during the event.
KCRG reports the storms initially leaving thousands without power. City officials in Marion said downed power lines and large tree debris were reported. They were advising people to stay away from downed power lines, and assume they’re charged and dangerous.
Hail ranged in size from Marbles and Quarters to ping-pong balls, with some locations near Eddyville and Iowa Falls being hit by Half-dollar (1.25″ diameter) to golf-ball size (1.75″ diameter) hail. The largest hail was baseball size (2.75″ diameter), reported north of Denver, in Bremer County. Winds during the storms gusted to as high as 93 miles per hour near Albion, in Marshall County.
Crews were expected to conduct a damage assessment today (Saturday). The National Weather Service in Omaha says many locations in the eastern part of the State were hit by hail the size of Quarters to as large as Tennis balls and tea cups. The largest stones (2.5-3″ diameter) fell near Elk Horn, NE., at around 6-p.m., and Fremont, NE, at around 5:20-p.m., Friday.
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