338 AM CDT MON APR 2 2012

TODAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. BREEZY. PATCHY FOG THROUGH MID MORNING. HIGH IN THE UPPER 80S. SOUTH WIND 10 TO 20 MPH.

TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. COOLER. LOW IN THE LOWER 50S. NORTHWEST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 MPH.

TUESDAY…PARTLY SUNNY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF SHOWERS. MUCH COOLER. HIGH IN THE MID 60S. NORTH WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.

TUESDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF SHOWERS. LOW IN THE MID 40S. NORTHEAST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.

WEDNESDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF SHOWERS. HIGH AROUND 60. EAST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 MPH.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT…CLOUDY WITH A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF SHOWERS. LOW IN THE MID 40S.

THURSDAY…CLOUDY. HIGH IN THE LOWER 60S.

THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE MID 40S. HIGH IN THE MID 60S.

Today (Monday) marks the beginning of Severe Weather Awareness Week in the state. National Weather Service meteorologist, Jeff Johnson says there weren’t many tornadoes in 2011. “In Iowa, we had what I would call a pretty normal year. We had 51 tornadoes, we average 47, that’s pretty close to normal,” Johnson says. “What was interesting about last year though, was that most of those tornadoes occurred on or before April ninth, so many of those tornadoes were early in the year in 2011.”

Johnson says it is too early to tell what type of year 2012 will bring for severe weather.  “A lot of people have been talking about the recent warm weather and if there is a correlation between that and active severe weather, and there really isn’t much of a correlation between an active severe weather season and the early spring warmth,” Johnson says. He says there’s also not much of a correlation between a warm summer after a warm spring. The National Weather Service has special theme days all week to teach Iowans the dangers of severe weather.

Johnson says the theme for today is flash flooding. “Which is the number one thunderstorm-related killer in the United States from weather, it’s not tornadoes, it’s actual flash flooding,” according to Johnson. He says Tuesday will talk about how to get a warning, Wednesday’s theme centers on tornadoes and there will be a statewide tornado drill, and finally, family preparedness is the theme on Friday.

Johnson describes the tornado drill scheduled for 10 a-m Wednesday morning: He says they will come out with a tornado watch at 10 and that will last for about an hour. “And then at about 10:15, give or take a few minutes, we will issue a tornado warning and it will go off over your weather radios, it will go out over the emergency alert system to the radio stations and many, many communities will be testing their siren systems at the same time,” Johnson says. He says this will be a good time for businesses to test their evacuation plans. You can find out more information on severe weather in Iowa at www.weather.gov.

(Pat Powers & Dar Danielson/Radio Iowa)

746 AM CDT SUN APR 1 2012

...NEAR RECORD HIGHS TODAY…

TODAY…SUNNY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 80S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 15 MPH. GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON.

TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOW IN THE MID 60S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 15 MPH.

MONDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH AROUND 80. SOUTHWEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH SHIFTING TO THE WEST 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON.

MONDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH MIDNIGHT. BREEZY…COOLER. LOW IN THE UPPER 40S. NORTH WIND 15 TO 20 MPH.

TUESDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. COOLER. HIGH IN THE LOWER 60S. NORTHEAST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 MPH.

TUESDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE MID 40S.

WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF SHOWERS. HIGH IN THE LOWER 60S. LOW IN THE MID 40S.

THURSDAY...PARTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE MID 60S.

Atlantic broke a record high temperature set 44-years ago on March 31st (in 1968), when we hit 87-degrees today (Saturday).  The forecast calls for record high temperatures across the area Sunday, as well. In Atlantic, we could hit 90-degrees Sunday, which would break the record of 87, set as recently as 2003. Temps are expected to cool back into the upper 70’s, on Monday.

Here’s the (podcast) forecast for Atlantic and the KJAN listening area…

Friday’s High in Atlantic was 72. We received .02″ rain from 7am-Friday thru 5am Sat.

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359 AM CDT SAT MAR 31 2012 NWS/Des Moines

…NEAR RECORD HIGHS SUNDAY…

EARLY THIS MORNING…PARTLY CLOUDY WITH ISOLATED SHOWERS. PATCHY FOG. SOUTH WIND AROUND 10 MPH. CHANCE OF SHOWERS 20 PERCENT.

TODAY…PARTLY SUNNY. PATCHY FOG THROUGH MID MORNING. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS LATE IN THE AFTERNOON. WARMER. HIGH IN THE LOWER 80S. SOUTH WIND 10 TO 15 MPH. GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS 20 PERCENT.

TONIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE UPPER 50S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

SUNDAY…SUNNY…BREEZY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 80S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 15 MPH INCREASING TO 15 TO 20 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON.

SUNDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE LOWER 60S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 15 MPH.

MONDAY…PARTLY SUNNY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. NOT AS WARM. HIGH IN THE UPPER 70S. SOUTHWEST WIND 5 TO 15 MPH.

MONDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. COOLER. LOW IN THE UPPER 40S.

TUESDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF SHOWERS. COOLER. HIGH IN THE LOWER 60S.

Here’s the (podcast) Skyscan Forecast for the KJAN listening area, and the weather stats for Atlantic…

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335 AM CDT FRI MAR 30 2012

EARLY THIS MORNING…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. PATCHY FOG. NORTHWEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

TODAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY IN THE MORNING THEN BECOMING MOSTLY SUNNY. PATCHY FOG THROUGH MID MORNING. HIGH IN THE LOWER 70S. NORTHWEST WIND NEAR 10 MPH.

TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOW IN THE MID 50S. SOUTH WIND NEAR 5 MPH.

SATURDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. WARMER. HIGH IN THE MID 80S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 15 MPH. GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON.

SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY…MOSTLY CLEAR. BREEZY. LOW IN THE UPPER 50S. HIGH IN THE MID 80S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 30 MPH.

SUNDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE LOWER 60S.

MONDAY…PARTLY SUNNY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. COOLER. HIGH AROUND 70.

MONDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. COOLER. LOW IN THE MID 40S. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 20 PERCENT.

TUESDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE LOWER 60S.

Rainfall in Atlantic= .8”   Some reports of pea-sized hail south and northeast of Atlantic as the storms passed through. Quarter-sized hail reported 3 miles south of Griswold at 8:10-p.m.*;  Golf ball-sized hail reported 4-miles NE of Griswold at 7:54-p.m.*; quarter-sized hail reported 1-mile north of Braddyville in Page County at 8:42-p.m.*.  (* indicates report from trained National Weather Service Spotter) 

Severe Thunderstorm Watch is in effect until 2-a.m. for Cass, Adair, Adams, Madison, Union, Taylor and Ringgold Counties in SW IA.

725 PM CDT THU MAR 29 2012

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEASTERN AUDUBON COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL IOWA...
  NORTHWESTERN CASS COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST IOWA...

* UNTIL 815 PM CDT

* AT 724 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING QUARTER SIZE HAIL.  THIS
  STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR ATLANTIC...AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
  WIOTA...BRAYTON...ANITA AND EXIRA.

THIS INCLUDES INTERSTATE 80 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 50 AND 73.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF YOU ARE IN A
MOBILE HOME...GET OUT NOW...AND SEEK SHELTER IN A REINFORCED
BUILDING.

IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND
LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING CONTINUOUSLY WITH THIS STORM.

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER...CONTACT YOUR NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY. THEY WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
IN DES MOINES.