SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WS 160
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
720 PM CDT FRI APR 29 2022
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 160 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1200 AM CDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS: .IOWA COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE
FREMONT HARRISON MILLS MONTGOMERY PAGE POTTAWATTAMIE SHELBY
* Primary threats include…
Severe Thunderstorm Watch for counties in mauve color
SUMMARY…An organizing complex of thunderstorms is expected to pose predominantly a severe-wind threat as it moves eastward through the watch area this evening. Isolated large hail and a tornado also may occur.
The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 45 statute miles north and south of a line from 15 miles south of Columbus NE to 35 miles north northeast of Shenandoah IA.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
REMEMBER…A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are favorable for severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area. Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening weather conditions and listen for later statements and possible warnings. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce tornadoes.
Today: Mostly cloudy w/showers ending this morning; P/Cldy to Cldy this afternoon, w/scattered shwrs & tstrms. High 70. SE @ 15-25 mph.
Tonight: Mo. Cldy w/shwrs & tstrms. Low 52. S @ 10-15 mph.
Tomorrow: Shwrs & tstrms ending, becoming P/Cldy. High 58. W @ 20-35 mph.
Sunday: P/Cldy to Cldy. High around 60.
Monday: Mo. Cldy w/shwrs & tstrms. High near 62.
Thursday’s High in Atlantic was 74. Our Low was 50. Rainfall overnight through early this morning amounted to .8″ (8/10 of an inch). Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 78 and the Low was 35. The Record High was 93 in 1987, and the Record Low was 22, in 1958.
Today: P/Cldy to Cldy w/scattered afternoon shwrs & tstrms. High 68. SE @ 15-25 mph.
Tonight: Mo. Cldy w/showers & tstrms. Low 52. SE @ 10-15.
Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy w/scattered shwrs & tstrms. High near 70. SE @ 15-25.
Saturday: Mo. Cldy w/showers & tstrms, mainly in the morning. High 62.
Sunday: P/Cldy to Cldy. High near 60.
Wednesday’s High in Atlantic was 77. Our Low this morning was 48. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 68 and the Low was 40. The Record High on this date was 94 in 1910. The Record Low was 26 in 1965.
(Washington, D-C) – Extreme heat kills more Americans than any other weather event, but not everyone’s risk is the same. This summer, NOAA (The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and community scientists will map the hottest parts of 14 U.S. cities (Including Omaha, NE) and counties, and, for the first time, two international cities. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves says “Extreme heat kills more Americans than any other weather event and has the greatest impact on our nation’s most vulnerable communities. Fortunately, our talented and dedicated researchers and scientists at NOAA are working directly with communities across the country to help them take action to manage extreme heat. As climate change worsens heat waves, this critical information will help bring local and equitable solutions for those facing the greatest threats.”
NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D said “Our nation faces a climate crisis that has exacerbated inequities for low-income communities and communities of color. NOAA is helping communities measure their hottest places so that they can use this information to inform strategies to reduce the unhealthy and deadly effects of extreme heat and help us build a Climate-Ready Nation.” 
The NOAA Climate Program Office will work with the interagency National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) and CAPA Strategies, LLC to launch new community-led heat mapping campaigns this summer. Local teams will map what are called urban heat islands, areas that can be up to 20 degrees hotter than nearby neighborhoods. The U.S. communities chosen for the program include Boulder, Colorado; Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas; Columbia, South Carolina; Columbus, Ohio; Jacksonville, Florida; Knoxville and Nashville, Tennessee; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Montgomery County, Maryland; Omaha, Nebraska; Spokane, Washington; Philadelphia; Brooklyn, New York and San Francisco. In addition, NOAA is working with local groups in Africa and Brazil on international campaigns in Freetown, Sierra Leone and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Learn more, HERE. And, to keep up with the summer 2022 campaigns, subscribe to the Heat Beat Newsletter, check out the NIHHIS website, or follow #UrbanHeatMaps2022 on social media.
Today: P/Cldy. High 72. SE @ 15-25 mph.
Tonight: P/Cldy to Cldy w/showers & tstrms late. Low 56. SE @ 10-15.
Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy w/scattered shwrs & tstrms. High 68. SE @ 15-25.
Friday: Mo. Cldy w/showers. High 70.
Saturday: Mo. Cldy w/shwrs & tstrms, especially in the morning, High 65.
Tuesday’s High in Atlantic was 66. Our Low was 24. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 85 and the Low was 47. The Record High on this date was 90 in 1989. The Record Low was 23 in 1950.
(Radio Iowa) – The climate-driving weather system known as La Nina may be sticking around still longer, impacting how Iowa’s weather evolves well past summer. Meteorologist Dennis Todey, director of the U-S-D-A’s Midwest Climate Hub in Ames, says the experts had expected La Nina to fade this spring. “We’ve gone through two years of La Nina, that’s not uncommon,” Todey says. “The initial thoughts were that La Nina was going to weaken this spring and dissipate. It has weakened but it really hasn’t dissipated. It actually has strengthened in certain ways. So, La Nina is still very present and impacting our background issues with the outlooks.”
Todey says the forecasting models for the next several months show a tendency toward above-normal temperatures and a lack of rain. “We did have this area of maybe not being warm in the north central U.S, and in June, July, August, that goes away,” Todey says. “So, much of the western U.S. leans towards above (-normal temperatures) and decreased chances for precipitation — sorry about that — throughout the Plains and even extending into Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri.”
Todey says there is the potential for more heat and expanding drought areas into summer, both in Iowa and across the region. “There were hints this could happen,” he says. “It’s not a guarantee. The probabilities still are not high but it’s definitely something we have to keep an eye on as we go ahead here.” A La Nina event occurs when Pacific Ocean surface temperatures cool, and it influences weather across North America.
Today: **Freeze Warning until 8-a.m.**Mostly sunny. High near 60. NW-SE @ 5-10.
Tonight: Partly cloudy. Low 40. SE @ 5-10.
Tomorrow: P/Cldy. High 68. SE @ 10-15.
Thursday: P/Cldy to Cldy w/scattered showers & thunderstorms. High 68.
Friday: P/Cldy to Cldy w/scattered showers & thunderstorms. High again around 68.
Monday’s High in Atlantic was 51. Our Low this morning (as of 4:55-a.m.), was 24. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 89 and the Low was 63. The Record High on this date was 92 in 1987 and 1989. The Record Low was 15 in 1907.
(Radio Iowa) – Grass and field fires remained a big problem this past weekend in western Iowa and bordering states where things remain very dry. Sergeant Bluff fire chief, Anthony Gaul says his firefighters worked several hours responding to calls Saturday, and every area department was busy:
“There were so many fires going on that departments had to travel 20 and 25 miles to help manage incidents because there was nobody else available,” he says. Gaul says the local area damage total from the weekend fires will be more than seven figures as the burn ban in Woodbury County remains in place.
“One community wants to opt-out of it but the amount of dollars that were lost in Woodbury and Plymouth and then across the river and those counties if you add it up is over one million dollars. I know Plymouth County had a piece of apparatus burn up,” Gaul says. Chief Gaul says the strong winds of up to 60 miles an hour at times contributed to the fires.
“One of the fires in Woodbury County was caused by a downed power line which we can’t control that. But others have mentioned hey, we’ve had some rain and yes, we have had some rain but with that wind, it has dried everything out and there is so much out there that’s just ready and able to burn that. We can’t ask enough to stop, not do it,” Gaul says. He says you need to think twice before starting any kind of fire outdoors when conditions are as windy and dry as they have been. Even if you are using a burn barrel.
“We’ve had quite a few incidents caused by burn barrels which can be legal throughout the burn ban but there are requirements that you can’t have more than a one inch opening with a grating,” according to Gaul. He says there are code requirements for burn barrels on the State Fire Marshal’s website.
There are ten active burn bans in the state as of Monday — with all of them along the western edge of the state.
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