(Radio Iowa) – Weather observers are still trying to get a perspective on the intense storm system that blasted across Iowa earlier this month, the second derecho to hit us in as many years — which spun off a record number of tornadoes. State climatologist Justin Glisan says the storm was historic in many ways, like how the “moderate area risk” was issued for Iowa. “Moderate” may sound tame but that’s a Level Four warning out of five. “This was the first ‘moderate area’ put out by the Storm Prediction Center in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin during the month of December in history,” Glisan says. “This tells you how unstable the environment was. We had wind shear available, we had instability available, we had ample low level moisture, and all of the ingredients came together for a large-scale straight line wind and tornadic event.”
About half of the state was declared a disaster by the governor, and Glisan says damage was widespread from the multitude of tornadoes, the severe thunderstorms and the straight line winds, some of which had gusts that reached 80 to 90 miles an hour. “We’d also had multiple reports of 70 mile-per-hour winds based on non-thunderstorm winds,” he says. “These are winds that are produced by the tight pressure gradient that the low pressure system was able to produce, given its proximity to a blocking high pressure system that was able to amp up our temperatures during the day, overnight on the 14th and into the 15th.”
Iowa cities from Sioux City all the way to Burlington reported record high temperatures during the day, most of them springlike upper 60s and lower 70s — unheard of for mid-December. Those temps quickly fell when the storm hit, dropping 30 to 40 degrees, helping to fuel the violent weather. A total of 43 tornadoes were reported in Iowa during this storm, and one death was attributed to the winds — a truck driver whose big rig was flipped into a Benton County ditch. Those 43 twisters set a single-day record for Iowa. At least seven tornadoes were also reported in Nebraska during the storm, and there was an exceptionally rare twister to our north. “We had the first tornado in Minnesota history in December,” Glisan says. “Given the large-scale nature of this outbreak, while one fatality is too much, it is good news that we were able to get the proper warnings up.”
More than 150-thousand Iowa homes lost power during the storm and it took several days to get them all back online. Like the first derecho that hit Iowa back on August 10th of 2020, Glisan says they’ll long be studying this second derecho from December 15th of 2021.
Today: Becoming partly cloudy. High near 35. S/SE @ 10 mph.
Tonight: P/Cldy. Low around 20. SE @ 5 mph.
Tomorrow: P/Cldy to Cldy. High 32. N @ 10-20.
Tom. Night: Cloudy & blustery w/a 30% chance of snow after midnight. Low around -1. N @ 15-25 mph. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
New Year’s Day: **WINTER STORM WATCH**Snow likely, mainly before noon. Patchy blowing snow. High near 13.
Saturday Night: A 20% chance of snow before midnight. Partly cloudy, with a low around -13.
Sunday: P/Cldy. High around 20.
Wednesday’s High in Atlantic was 21. Our Low was 12. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 25 and the Low was -4. The Record High on this date was 64 in 2004. The Record Low was -22 in 1917.
Today: Cloudy w/a chance of light snow/flurries this afternoon. High 28. NE @ 10.
Tonight: P/Cldy to cldy w/light snow/flurries ending (<1” snow expected). Low around 17. E @ 5-10.
Tomorrow: P/Cldy. High 35. S @ 10.
Friday: Mo. Cldy. High 32.
Saturday: Cldy & colder w/snow likely. High around 20.
Tuesday’s High in Atlantic was 46. Our Low this morning was 7. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 31 and the Low was 21. The Record High on this date was 60 in 1984. The Record Low was -22 in 1917.
Today: Cloudy w/a chance of light mixed precip. this morning (rain/snow/freezing rain). Becoming P/Cldy. HIgh 43. SE-NW @ 10-20.
Tonight: Fair to P/Cldy. Low around 14.
Tomorrow: P/Cldy to Cldy w/a chance of afternoon flurries. High 28. NE @ 10-15.
Thursday: P/Cldy. High 37.
Friday: Mo. Cldy. High 32.
Monday’s High in Atlantic was 35 (24-hour high). Our Low was 21. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 28 and the Low was 12. The Record High on this date was 65 in 1984. The Record Low was -25 in 1924.
Today: Areas fog this morning; Becoming Partly cloudy. High 42. NW @ 15-25 mph.
Tonight: Fair to P/Cldy. Low 25. SE @ 5-10.
Tomorrow: P/Cldy to Cldy w/a chance of scattered light rain. High near 38. SE-N @ 10-20 mph.
Wednesday: P/Cldy. High 30.
Thursday: P/Cldy. High around 32.
Sunday’s High in Atlantic was 44. Our Low was 20. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 36 and the Low was 21. The Record High on this date was 65 in 1946. The Record Low was -21 in 1924.
Today: Mostly cloudy & windy, w/a 20% chance of rain between noon and 3pm. High near 47. SE winds at 10-20 w/gusts this afternoon to near 30 mph.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with a low around 30. SE 10-25.
Monday: Sunny & windy, with a high near 40. W/NW @ 10-25 becoming S/SW in the afternoon.
Monday Night: Increasing clouds, with a low around 22.
Tuesday: A 50% chance of rain, snow, and freezing rain before noon, then a slight chance of rain between noon and 5pm, then a slight chance of freezing rain after 5pm. High near 40. East wind 10 to 15 mph becoming N/NW in the afternoon & gusting to around 25 mph. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 5.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 21.
Skyscan Forecast Saturday December 25
Merry Christmas
TODAY: Partly cloudy skies Winds variable @ 5-10 mph High 47
TONIGHT: Partly cloudy skies Winds light and variable Low 23
SUNDAY: Mostly cloudy skies Winds SE 10-20 High 45
MONDAY: Partly cloudy to cloudy skies High 38
TUESDAY: Mostly cloudy skies with a mix of precipitation High 34
Today: Patchy fog before 10am. P/Cldy to Cldy. High 55. SW @ 10-20 mph this morning becoming N/NW this afternoon.
Tonight (Christmas Eve): Mostly cloudy w/a chance of sprinkles or flurries. Little to no snow accumulation is expected. Low around 30. N @ 10-15.
Christmas Day: A chance of morning flurries, otherwise P/Cldy. High near 41. Winds variable @ 5-10 mph w/gusts as high as 20 mph.
Sunday: Mo. cldy & breezy. High 45.
Monday: Mo. Cldy. High near 40.
Thursday’s High in Atlantic was 47. Our Low this morning was 34. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 15 and the Low was 1. The Record High on this date was 55 in 1893/1964. The Record Low was -23 in 1983.
Today: Partly cloudy. High around 55. West/South southwest wind 10-15 mph.
Tonight: P/Cldy. Low around 32. S @ 5-10.
Tomorrow (Christmas Eve Day): P/Cldy. High near 55. S/SW @ 10-15.
Christmas Eve: A 30% chance of rain after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 29. Light and variable wind becoming north northeast 5 to 10 mph in the evening. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Christmas Day: Mostly cloudy. High 38.
Sunday: P/Cldy to Cldy w/a slight chance of mixed precipitation. High near 42.
Tuesday’s High in Atlantic was 47. Our Low was 18. Last year on this date, the High was 52 and the Low was 3. The Record High was 62 in 1964, and the Record Low was -22, in 1983.
The events of Dec. 15 have been categorized as a derecho, which is the first recorded derecho in December in United States history. At least five people died across Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota. One of which was in eastern Iowa where a semitrailer rolled after being struck by high winds. Iowa State Patrol confirmed the driver was killed during the incident.
Reports confirm more than 400,000 homes were without power between Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and Kansas. Officials are still surveying the damage. Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation for residents in 43 counties. Locally, that includes: Audubon, Cass, Guthrie, Harrison, Madison, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, Ringgold, Sac, Shelby, Union, and Worth counties.
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