The record high in Iowa in 2013 was 106 degrees — back in May — and the record low a minus 27 just last week. State Climatologist Harry Hillaker says temperatures in Iowa for 2013 have averaged out to slightly below normal. “Rainfall wise, almost right at normal, but as usual, that doesn’t tell the whole story,” Hillaker says. This past spring was very wet and the late summer and early fall were dry, which means precipitation levels for 2013 in Iowa average out to be average, according to Hillaker.

“Overall, though, this year was quite a bit wetter than 2012, thanks to that wet spring,” Hillaker says. “…Going into winter this year with more soil moisture in the ground than we had at this point last year and actually even at this point two years ago as well, so we’re in a little bit better shape in soil moisture now than the last couple of years, but still quite a bit drier than what would be usual going into the winter season.” The months of May and April were the wettest ever recorded in Iowa, while August and September were very dry, but don’t rank as some of the driest ever.

Hillaker says there were pockets of southeast Iowa that were exceptionally dry this summer. “The Burlington area, for example, had just a trace of rainfall for the full month of August which was easily a record low for that area of the state,” Hillaker says, “and there were, you know, scattered areas of the state that set some records as far as low totals in July and August and maybe in a few cases in September, but nothing where the state average was quite that low.” Hillaker uses the phrase “consistently cool” to describe the temperatures recorded in Iowa this past year.

“Got off to a January-February period that was a little bit milder than unusual for mid-winter, but still nothing really out of the ordinary, but then a really cold spring season — especially March and April — and a relatively mild summer as well ’til we got rather late into August where the summer heat finally returned and had a rather warm end to the summer into the early fall,” Hillaker says. “More recently, November and December, of course quite a bit colder than usual once again.” The temperature dropped to 27 degrees below zero on Christmas Eve in Osceola.

“That was easily our lowest temperature of the calendar year and actually, our lowest temperature anywhere in Iowa in almost three years,” Hillaker says. The year’s record high — of 106 degrees — was recorded in Sioux City on May 14th. “Which is about two weeks earlier than we’ve ever seen a temperature that high in the state, but that ended up being the highest reading of the whole year, actually by quite a ways,” Hillaker says. “Most of the state didn’t see triple-digit temperatures.” Hillaker says that 133-degree variation between highs and lows is unique on the planet.

The only other place besides the upper Midwest that sees such wide temperature swings is in Russia. Hillacer says the climates in these two areas are “so contrasting” because they in the middle of a large land mass, without the “moderating” influence of oceans or large lakes. Russia actually straddles two continents and Hillaker says South America isn’t as large as North America, so that’s why temperatures in the southern hemisphere don’t vary that much.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

GRINNELL, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa college known for liberal activism is welcoming an unlikely neighbor: one of the nation’s largest suppliers of high-capacity ammunition magazines and accessories for assault rifles. With demand for gun products booming, Brownells Incorporated is building a large distribution and retail center along Interstate 80 in Grinnell. One downtown business owner says the development will bring jobs, income and visitors to Grinnell.

GRINNELL, Iowa (AP) — A Georgia man has been accused of stabbing another man multiple times in Grinnell. Local police say 28-year-old Braxton Alan Hoover was arrested following a report of a stabbing Saturday afternoon at an apartment complex. Authorities tell the Des Moines Register Hoover and a 31-year-old man were fighting prior to the stabbing and it escalated in the complex’s parking lot.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A woman in Des Moines is in custody accused of attacking police officers as she and another man tried to flee from them. Des Moines police say Patricia Howe kicked and punched officers as she and Gabriel Boettger were being chased Saturday. Des Moines television station KCCI reports Howe is accused of stealing credit cards and cash from an apartment and Boettger is accused of trying to flee with her.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines man has been accused of attacking six people inside an apartment. Police tell the Register they found 21-year-old Demarco Moore bloody and distraught early Sunday at an apartment complex. They say he was at an apartment hanging out with friends when he began attacking the people there with him.

Firefighters from Cumberland and Massena were called to a reported grain bin drier fire at the 21-st Century Co-Op elevator, in Cumberland, Sunday. The call went out at 11:27-a.m.  According to reports, about 1,000 bushels of corn was lost in the blaze, the cause of which remains under investigation. A bad drier motor and/or grain dust particulates may be to blame, according to officials.

Photo’s by Doug Evans/KJAN

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports an arrest early this (Sunday) morning. 24-year old Katherine L. Coleman, of Corning, was arrested at around 12:45-a.m., on charges of Theft of a Motor Vehicle, OWI, Assault on Persons engaged in certain occupations and Interference with Official Acts.

Coleman was arrested following a traffic stop on Highway 34, after authorities received word a possibly stolen vehicle was traveling west on Highway 34 towards Corning. Deputies located the vehicle and stopped it at 306 6th Street, in Corning.

Upon investigation, it was determined Coleman allegedly took the vehicle without the owner’s permission, and that she was under the influence. She was brought to the Adams County Jail and held pending an appearance before the Magistrate.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials say a state website that people can use to apply for health insurance is working again. The state Department of Human Services says a website for Medicaid eligibility became available again Saturday night. The agency tells The Des Moines Register the website was down earlier because it was undergoing scheduled maintenance.

DUNKERTON, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a two-vehicle crash in Black Hawk County sent several people to the hospital, but their injuries are not life-threatening. The Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office says the crash happened Friday night at an intersection near Dunkerton. Authorities say 28-year-old Steven Michael Chidester Junior has been cited for failure to obey a traffic control device.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Dubuque city officials say a plugged sanitary sewer pipe has caused untreated wastewater to flow down a street and into a storm sewer intake. The City of Dubuque Public Works Department says it received a report about the incident in the 500 block of Samuel Street yesterday morning. Crews were able to remove the blockage a short time later.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Seth Tuttle scored seven of his 11 points in the final 4:28 to help Northern Iowa hold off Iona 90-78 last night. Tuttle also grabbed 15 rebounds. UNI’s Deon Mitchell scored 20 points, Nate Buss added 19 and Chip Rank finished with 14 points in Cedar Falls.

The Iowa chapter of the American Red Cross is wrapping up a busy 2013. It was a year of deadly tornadoes, fierce wildfires, and destructive floods around the United States. The regional communication officer for the Red Cross, Kara Kelly, says nearly 1,600 Iowans volunteered to help recovery efforts. “We sent a pretty large number of people, 21 volunteers, to the flooding in Colorado in the fall and we sent about 16 people to central and southern Illinois to assist with the tornadoes that happened in October,” Kelly says. However, most of the volunteer efforts take place within Iowa assisting people displaced by house fires.

“Normally what we do is attend to immediate needs, so generally it’s lodging, food, and clothing right away, then we’ll have a Red Cross caseworker meet with the family in the next couple of days and go over what a recovery plan would be,” Kelly says. The Red Cross responded to more than 400 house fires in the state during 2013.

(Radio Iowa)

w/ Chris Parks

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The Council Bluffs Police Department reports an attempted robbery and subsequent arrest on Friday (12/27/13).

At approximately 1:12pm 33-year old Kelton E Houts of Carter Lake entered the Union Pharmacy at 235 West Broadway in Council Bluffs and demanded that the clerk give him all of the Oxycotin they had and claimed he had a gun but never displayed it.  Houts was given a bottle of the drug and as he attempted to exit the store he was pursued by employees that were able to catch him and hold him on the ground until officers arrived.

Houts was arrested and a BB pistol with CO2 cartridges were found on him and the pills were recovered.  Officers also located Houts’ vehicle a short distance away and it has been secured pending processing.

Houts was first taken to Mercy Hospital for treatment of minor injuries he received during the scuffle with store employees.  He was later taken to the Criminal Investigation Division where he provided detectives with a statement that led officers to believe he is linked to several other Robbery’s in the metro area.  Houts was booked into the Pottawattamie County Jail on one count of 1st Degree Robbery with additional charges pending.

One person was killed and another injured during a head-on collision Friday afternoon, in Union County. The Iowa State Patrol reports 22-year old Samantha Neely, of Creston, died from injuries she suffered in a collision between her car and a pickup driven by 24-year old Brittany Marshall, of Clearfield. The accident happened just before 3-p.m. Friday on Highway 34, about 2-miles north of Kent, or about a mile east of the Adams/Union County line.

Officials say Marshall was driving a 2007 Dodge Ram pickup westbound on Highway 34, when she reached into the back seat.The truck crossed the center line of the road and hit an eastbound 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix driven by Neely. Following the collision, the pickup came to rest in the south ditch, while the car stopped on the shoulder of the road. Both women were wearing their seat belts.

Marshall suffered serious injuries and was transported by Union County Rescue to the hospital in Creston. Neely died at the scene. A passenger in the pickup was not injured.

The period of “extended” unemployment benefits for nearly four-thousand Iowans will soon end. The budget deal passed earlier this month by congress does not continue the program into 2014. Iowa Workforce Development spokeswoman Kerry Koonce says the extension began almost five years ago. “This has been the longest period in time that congress has ever authorized extended unemployment compensation for those individuals who’ve exhausted their regular benefits during a time of economic downturn,” Koonce says. “There wasn’t even this large of a number of extensions during the ’80s farm crisis.”

State officials have notified the 3,952 Iowans who are currently eligible for “Emergency Unemployment Compensation” that this is the last week they can file claims. Their final unemployment check will come next week. “At one point in time in Iowa, individuals could have been eligible for up to 73 weeks of benefits,” Koonce says. “Keep in mind that regular benefits are for 26 weeks, so that’s a pretty lengthy time period added on.”

According to federal officials, almost 229-thousand Iowans got extended unemployment benefits at some point between January of 2008 and September of this year. Nationally, about one-point-three million Americans who’ve qualified for extended unemployment benefits will be cut off at the turn of the year. The benefit averages about three-hundred dollars per week. The Obama Administration has asked congress to renew the program, saying those benefits are a “critical lifeline for struggling Americans.”

A bill pending in the senate would continue the extended unemployment benefits for three more months. Republicans in congress have said there’d have to be cuts elsewhere in the federal budget if the program were to continue.

(Radio Iowa)