AREA COUNTIES:  SAC-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS-CASS-ADAIR-MADISON-ADAMS-UNION-TAYLOR-RINGGOLD
603 AM CDT SUN MAR 30 2014

    …ELEVATED FIRE DANGER THIS AFTERNOON…

STRONG SOUTH WINDS OF 25 TO 30 MPH…WITH GUSTS NEAR 40 MPH AT
TIMES…WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA LATE THIS MORNING AND
AFTERNOON. THE GUSTY WINDS WILL PERSIST THROUGH EARLY EVENING. IN
ADDITION…RATHER DRY AIR IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE AREA WITH
RELATIVE HUMIDITY FALLING TO AROUND 30 TO 35 PERCENT AT TIMES
TODAY FROM NOON THROUGH EARLY EVENING. THIS WILL LEAD TO AN
ENHANCED FIRE DANGER…WITH ANY FIRES THAT START EXPECTED TO
SPREAD RAPIDLY. BURNING IS HIGHLY DISCOURAGED TODAY.

SIMILAR CONDITIONS WILL RETURN TO SOUTHWEST AREAS MONDAY WITH
GUSTY WEST TO SOUTHWEST WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY.

AREA COUNTIES: SAC-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS-CASS-ADAIR-MADISON-ADAMS-UNION-TAYLOR-RINGGOLD…
343 PM CDT SAT MAR 29 2014

GUSTY WINDS SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS OF 20 TO 35 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS
ARE POSSIBLE SUNDAY ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA. HUMIDITY WILL FALL TO
30 TO 40 PERCENT. THE COMBINATION OF THE WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITY
WILL PRODUCE AN ENHANCED FIRE DANGER OVER THE STATE…ESPECIALLY
THE SOUTHWEST HALF.

THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ON MONDAY. A FEW STORMS COULD
    BE SEVERE…WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL THE PRIMARY THREATS.
    HOWEVER AN ISOLATED TORNADO CANNOT BE RULED OUT.

ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL IMPACT THE AREA MID WEEK WITH A CHANCE
FOR AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. IT IS
TOO EARLY TO DETERMINE ANY SEVERE THREATS WITH THIS SYSTEM.

    .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT…

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED MONDAY.

The National Weather Service forecast for the KJAN listening area and weather data for Atlantic.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (913.8KB)

Subscribe: RSS

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Friday, released their latest precipitation information and drought report. Officials say the past two weeks have been unusually dry across most of Iowa. The statewide average precipitation was 0.19 inches, while normal for the period is 1.01 inches. Salem in Henry County in southeast Iowa was one exception, receiving over an inch during this period. Precipitation in Cass and surrounding Counties is 10-percent below normal for the period covering March 12th through the 26th.

About seven percent of the state remains in severe drought, while about half of the state is rated in moderate drought, including most of western and southern Iowa, with the exception of Adair, Guthrie and Dallas Counties, which are “Abnormally Dry.” This is reflected in the drop of average stream flow in Iowa. Recent rains are reflected in the stream flow index upturn for the past few days.

South of Interstate 80, ice is almost completely gone from rivers. Iowa DNR fisheries biologists continue to monitor oxygen levels in many waters and have seen some slight improvements in some places. Considerable areas of ice remain in northern Iowa.

For a more thorough review of Iowa’s water resource trends March 12th through March 26th, go to http://www.iowadnr.gov/watersummaryupdate.

Iowa’s first tornado of 2014 touched down Thursday afternoon (March 27th) in rural Clarke County, south of Osceola. No injuries are reported but the strong winds did damage, tearing down tree limbs, knocking down power lines and causing some structural damage to a homestead. Jeff Johnson, the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service, says it may’ve been small, but it was a twister. “Based on the radar data and some eyewitness accounts and then some damage that was reported, we did have a brief tornado,” Johnson says. “The eyewitness report said it lasted roughly a minute.”

The funnel cloud touched down in south-central Iowa and became a tornado around 4:30 P-M, though its duration and scope was limited. “Basically, we had a Morton building that was damaged and damage to someone’s home and the winds were consistent in the range of EF-0 or EF-1 on the enhanced Fujita scale,” Johnson says. “That would put us around 90 miles an hour for wind speeds.”

This is the first confirmed report of a tornado in Iowa this year and the first in nearly six months. “The last time we had tornadoes in Iowa was last fall,” Johnson says. “We had a very active fall actually and on October 4th in northwest Iowa, we had several tornadoes.”

This is Severe Weather Awareness Week in Iowa, an event that’s highlighted by a statewide tornado drill that was held on Wednesday. It’s a time when Iowans are reminded about the sometimes-violent weather that comes with the arrival of spring. “It’s not a coincidence that we have it during this time of year,” Johnson says, “although we usually like to have the week out of the way before we actually get the weather, but Mother Nature seldom cooperates. The irony there is that the tornado came a day after the tornado drill.”

(Radio Iowa)

With Freese-Notis Meteorologist Joshua Senechal, and weather information for Atlantic from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (1.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 46. North wind 5 to 8 mph.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27. North northeast wind 5 to 7 mph.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 59. Northeast wind 5 to 14 mph becoming south in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 18 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 41. South wind 13 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 72. Windy.

Sunday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 50. Windy.

Monday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 55. Windy.

These pictures are courtesy of Irwin Fire Chief Lynn Gaskill. (See separate post for details on the fire)

Shelby County Emergency Management officials say light rain and drizzle this (Thursday) morning will give way to sunshine and strong winds this weekend. Rapid drying of the dead vegetation will occur returning, causing a higher threat for fires to spread. Therefore the Fire Danger placards in area businesses will remain in the “High” category, through Monday morning.

A fire Wednesday evening burned over 300 acres. The flames were fanned by winds in excess of 30-mph. The Shelby County EMA asks residents to please call ahead and report your burning plans to the EMA office at 712-755-2124.

Despite the explosive fire growth conditions in the area over the past few days, Atlantic Fire Chief Mark McNees doesn’t see the need for a County-wide ban on opening burning. McNees told KJAN News the fire that started east of Atlantic Wednesday afternoon was accidental, and not open burning-related. It was one of several fires in western Iowa that burned quickly and intensely, Wednesday. McNees said it’s not as bad in Cass County as in other counties which have instituted bans on open burning.

He says things are “greening-up,” slowly and people are being smart. He says residents are heeding advice given earlier this week to know when you are going to burn, check the weather, call your local fire chief and the Cass County Communications Center.

McNees still cautions residents of Cass County to be careful, and try to give Mother Nature a little more time to green-up the grasses, which will reduce the danger of fires spreading, as opposed to the dry conditions we are currently experiencing. He says if there were crops standing in the fields, he would be more concerned about fires spreading. Wednesday was just an “extreme day,” according to McNees, where all of the elements necessary for the eruption of rapidly expanding fires, were present.