COUNTIES: SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MILLS-MONTGOMERY-FREMONT-PAGE-…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM CDT THIS MORNING…

* TIMING...OCCASIONAL LIGHT SNOW WILL CONTINUE THIS MORNING. * ACCUMULATIONS…ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS LESS THAN INCH IS EXPECTED.

* IMPACTS...ROADS WILL REMAIN SLUSHY AND SLICK.

COUNTIES:GUTHRIE-DALLAS-POLK-CASS-ADAIR-MADISON-ADAMS-UNION-TAYLOR–  …WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON…

* SHORT TERM TRENDS...SNOW OR A MIX OF RAIN SLEET AND SNOW WILL SWITCH TO ALL SNOW IN THE MORNING HOURS AND CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY THURSDAY AFTERNOON.

* STORM TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS…3 TO 5 INCHES WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS. SNOWFALL RATES OF 1 TO NEAR 2 INCHES PER HOUR CAN BE EXPECTED AT TIMES AND SNOW WILL ACCUMULATE QUICKLY. THUNDERSTORMS MAY ALSO OCCUR AND WILL PRODUCE LOCALLY HIGHER SNOWFALL AMOUNTS.

* WINDS/VISIBILITY…A NORTH WIND AT 20 TO 35 MPH WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO LESS THAN A HALF MILE AT TIMES. * IMPACTS…ROADS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME SNOW COVERED AND SLUSHY AS THE SNOW INTENSIFIES THIS MORNING. HEAVY WET SNOW MAY ACCUMULATE ON POWER LINES AND LEAFY TREES…WHICH MAY LEAD TO DAMAGE.

COUNTIES: CRAWFORD-CARROLL-AUDUBON- …WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM CDT THIS MORNING… *

SHORT TERM TRENDS...SNOW OR A MIX OF RAIN SLEET AND SNOW CONTINUE THROUGH MID THURSDAY MORNING.

* STORM TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS…3 TO 5 INCHES WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS. SNOWFALL RATES OF 1 TO NEAR 2 INCHES PER HOUR CAN BE EXPECTED AT TIMES AND SNOW WILL ACCUMULATE QUICKLY. THUNDERSTORMS MAY ALSO OCCUR AND WILL PRODUCE LOCALLY HIGHER SNOWFALL AMOUNTS.

* WINDS/VISIBILITY…A NORTH WIND AT 20 TO 35 MPH WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO LESS THAN A HALF MILE AT TIMES.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS… A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW…SLEET…OR FREEZING RAIN WILL CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR SLIPPERY ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES…AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.

Rain and heavy snow combined for a wet Wednesday evening and Thursday morning here in Atlantic. The 24-hour snow total was 2-inches. But when you combine that heavy, wet snow with the rainfall we received late Wednesday into early this morning, the precipitation value was 3.07-inches here in Atlantic. (as of 8-a.m., we had received 2.3″ at the KJAN Studios, and the snow had stopped)

Estimated snowfall totals across Iowa through 7:40-a.m. Thursday. Courtesy Iowa Environmental MesoNet.

In Massena, Ardell reported 1.75-inches of rain and 1-inch of snow, as of 7-a.m. Other reports include: Irwin, 4-inches of snow & 2.19 liquid moisture; Oakland, 3″ of snow; Villisca, 2″; Clarinda 1.9″; Avoca, 3″ snow/2.05″ liquid value.

The National Weather Service in Des Moines said Jamaica, in Guthrie County, had 3.1-inches of snow through 6-am; Near Earlham, in Dallas County, 2.1-inches of snow was reported at 7-a.m.; Sac City in northwest Iowa’s Sac County had 5-inches of snow as of 7-a.m., and the National Weather Service office in Valley, NE., reported 3-inches of snow as of 7:20-a.m., while Omaha had 3.1 inches.

If you have a snow and/or rainfall total you would like to report. Call us at 1-800-283-5526 or e-mail kjannews@metc.net.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A spring storm has slathered a heavy icing of slushy snow on parts of eastern Nebraska and western and north-central Iowa.  Our 24-hour snowfall total in Atlantic as of 7-a.m. was 2-inches.

In the past 12 hours, more than 6 inches has been recorded in isolated parts of Iowa, including Harrison County near Omaha, Neb., and along the Minnesota border in northern Iowa.  Nebraska totals are generally lower.

National Weather Service meteorologist Josh Boustead called the May storm “really, really unusual.”  He says that in Omaha, for example, measurable snow has fallen only four times since 1884.  The storm is moving east and is expected to lay a wet blanket on Des Moines later Thursday.

The counties highlighted in purple are in a Winter Weather Advisory.Predicted snowfall amounts through Saturday:

48 Hour snowfall forecast

Roads covered with a thick layer of slush are making travel hazardous early this (Thursday) morning, here in western Iowa. The DOT’s 511ia.org website shows most roads along and north of Highway 92 and west of Highway 148 (Anita to Massena), west into Pottawattamie County, are completely covered with snow/ice/slush. Some semi’s were having trouble early this morning. One jacknifed on I-80, while another had trouble making it up the hill on  Olive Street in Cass County, just south of I-80, at around 3:45-a.m.

In Atlantic, snow was falling at 4-a.m. Roads were lightly covered with the heavy, wet snow.

The Glenwood Police Department is searching for a missing 16-year-old.

Crysta Brammer

Crysta Brammer was last seen leaving Glenwood Community High School at 1:30 p.m. on April 29 with a white male from Omaha in a 1990’s red Dodge Dakota pickup with no plates. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Glenwood Police Department at (712) 527-9920.

A report by Iowa State University economics professor, Bruce Babcock, finds government incentives to help farmers pay for crop insurance push them toward the more expensive insurance and increase the costs to taxpayers. Babcock studied the crop insurance payouts for corn and soybeans related to the 2012 drought. “The premium subsidies incentivize farmers to buy Cadillac coverage,” Babcock says. “The Cadillac coverage increases the indemnities paid out. Taxpayers are paying three-quarters of those indemnities, so the subsidies have a direct impact on taxpayer costs because taxpayers are paying for part of that premium — but they inflate the overall indemnities and taxpayers pay the lion share of those in high-loss years.”

Babcock found the payouts for the top insurance coverage, known as revenue protection, were over 12-BILLION dollars in 2012.  “What I wanted to know was, well what if the subsidies hadn’t created such and incentive to drive farmers to the Cadillac insurance product and instead they got a bare bones..or a regular revenue insurance protection. Or what if they just bought regular yield insurance?,” Babcock asked. He says the answer to the question was the cost of the insurance was much lower. “And it turns out that if farmers had replaced revenue protection with a product called ‘Revenue Protection H-P-E’ –which is pure revenue insurance — the amount of loss would have been decreased from more than 12-BILLION dollars to about six-BILLION dollars. That is, the subsidies had basically increased the indemnities paid to farmers, it more than doubled them,” according the Babcock.

Babcock says he is not being critical of the crop insurance program itself as a security net for farmers. “I’m a critic of the subsidies, and those two are two separate items,” Babcock says. “And I just think that you could cut the subsidies a tremendous amount — or restructure them — save tens of BILLIONs of dollars over 10 years and still provide a high-quality assurance safety net. If that’s what Congress wants, you could do it at a far lower cost.” He says if farmers want the protection of the higher end insurance program, then they should have to pay for it and not have the taxpayers picking up 75-percent of the bill. Babcock talked about his findings with reporters in a conference called set up by the Environmental Working Group.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

The City of Atlantic’s enforcement of its Minimum Maintenance Code has resulted in a reduced number of dilapidated houses and community involvement in improving others over the past year, but there are some property owners who are or will be receiving “Not so friendly” notices from the City, to get perceived problems with their properties resolved. That was the word during Wednesday night’s City Council meeting, from Jon Lund, Assistant to City Administrator Doug Harris.

Lund said much of the credit for improving the look of the City, with respect to dilapidated houses, goes to Atlantic residents Pat McCurdy and Jennifer McEntaffer, as well as CADCO (The Cass-Atlantic Development Corporation. Together, they came up with a “Let’s Paint the town” idea, whereby three homes owned by low-income residents were painted. Lund says it’s hoped three more homes in disrepair can be painted this year. Lund said many local businesses and groups stepped forward to donate the paint and time for the effort. Other businesses donated food and beverages for the workers, or discounted supplies. Others businesses donated cash for the project. He says that demonstrates the best solutions to some of the problems facing the City are found in the compassion and generosity of the people, and not the government.

On a darker note, Lund said their were more complaints this past year about nuisance properties. He says more abatement notices and bills mailed to property owners who were not in compliance with the City’s Minimum Maintenance Code. When questioned by Councilman Steve Livengood about a decrease in the number of “friendly warnings” given last year as compared with the previous year, Lund said he’s not messing around with the warnings, after fair notice has been given to some repeat offenders. He said he’s jumping right to abatements.

Lund was praised by the Council for his efforts to make the process fair and logical, when it comes to identifying and warning about nuisance properties. He said “Atlantic is a good place to live. We just need to encourage some people to take a little more pride in their property.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa teenagers who want their intermediate driver’s license will have to wait a little longer under a bill signed into law by Gov. Terry Branstad. Branstad signed 13 bills into law Wednesday, including one that requires minors to have their learners permit for a year instead of the current six months. In Iowa, teenagers can get their intermediate license at age 16, and a full license at 17.

The new law also says minors with an intermediate license are only allowed to drive with one unrelated minor within the first six months of having it. But they could drive more if accompanied by a parent, guardian or driving instructor. Currently they’re allowed to drive as many passengers as there are seatbelts.