(Radio Iowa) – Looking back on the weather this year — Iowa flirted with some major drought issues before seeing relief. The D-N-R’s Tim Hall tracks hydrological issues — and says some communities did get to a point where their water sources were getting very low. “There was a concern back during the worst conditions in some parts of the state for rural water systems, especially those that rely on shallow groundwater on the edges of streams and rivers. They were concerned about demand outpacing supply,” Hall says.  The concern increased as drought levels continued to get worse.

“We were watching very, very carefully some systems in the state. Some had some voluntary water restrictions in place. It could have gotten a lot worse — except for some timely rains that we had,” he says. Hall says Iowa also was fortunate that when the rain came it wasn’t overwhelming for most areas. “There was one part of the state where we did have some flash flooding up in northeast Iowa. But for the most part, for the majority of the state for this year, the rain came in a gentle enough fashion that we didn’t have flash flooding, we didn’t have dangerous situations,” according to Hall. “So. it’s really nice to see the rain come in a low enough intensity that we don’t have to deal with the flooding side.”

Hall says the rainfall situation is always about location — and one big storm can make a difference. “There was part of northeast Iowa where they were being shown on the drought monitor as being in drought, while at the same time they had some localized short-term flooding situations going on. So, it can flip pretty quickly if the conditions are right,” Hall says.

Hall says the state was able to build back some of the water reserves lost toward the end of the year with fall rains. He says things are not totally back to a perfect situation — but are much better than when the drought was growing.

Today: Partly cloudy. High 46. SW wind @ 10-20 mph.

Tonight: P/Cldy. Low 25. S @ 5-10.

Tomorrow: P/Cldy. High 54.

Friday: P/Cldy. High 54.

Saturday (Christmas Day): Mostly cloudy w/a chance of light rain. High 40.

Tuesday’s High in Atlantic was 43. Our Low was 11. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 55 and the Low was 29. The Record High on this date was 65 in 1933. The Record Low was -27 in 1989.

Area Counties: Sac-Crawford-Carroll
1117 AM CST Tue Dec 21 2021

…Gusty Winds Expected This Afternoon Across the Region…

A strong cold front is moving across northern and central Iowa this afternoon. Winds just behind the boundary are increasing from the northwest with sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph and wind gusts to 50 mph. As the front sweeps southeast today, winds will increase across the area and continue through the mid to late afternoon hours.

If traveling through the region today, high profile vehicles may have difficulty at times. Loose objects will be blown around as well. The wind is expected to diminish after sunset.

Today: Partly cloudy. High 39, SW-W @ 10-20.

Tonight: Mostly clear. Low 13. Winds light & variable.

Tomorrow: Mostly sunny. High 42. S-NW @ 10-20.

Wednesday: P/Cldy. High 45.

Thursday: P/Cldy. High 52.

Sunday’s High in Atlantic was 35. The Low was 11. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 42 and the Low was 33. The Record High was 61 in 1941, and the Record Low was -25 in 1901.

Today: Partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 37. Wind chill values as low as 5. Breezy, with a south wind 5 to 10 mph increasing to 13 to 18 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph.

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 23. South southwest wind 10 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 36. South southwest wind 6 to 14 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 18 mph.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 41. Breezy, with a south southeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southwest 11 to 16 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 24 mph.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 39.

Saturday’s High in Atlantic was 27. Our Low this morning, was 10. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 30 and the Low was 22. The Record High on this date was 58 in 1966. The Record Low was -33 in 1983.

Today: Cloudy to Partly cloudy. High near 30. NW @ 10-20 mph.

Tonight: P/Cldy. Low 10. Winds light & variable.

Tomorrow: Mostly sunny. High around 40. S @ 10-15.

Monday: P/Cldy. High 38.

Tuesday: P/Cldy. High 42.

Friday’s High in Atlantic was 41. Our Low was 25. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 44 and the Low was 27. The Record High on this date was 66 in 1976. The Record Low was -28 in 1983.

(Radio Iowa) – The storm that roared across Iowa Wednesday has been categorized as a derecho. National Weather Service Meteorologist, Brook Hagenhoff, says it’s not exactly the same as the 2020 version. “Technically it would be a serial derecho — which is different than what we saw last year with the August 10th derecho — which is more of what we would call a progressive derecho,” she says. “Kind of the main difference is kind of how it formed.” She says the derecho this week had winds in the upper 80s — but was more spread out across the state. “The derecho that we had last summer in August really had kind of that narrow area that had that very strong 100, 100 plus, 120s even as you got out toward Cedar Rapids. So, that’s kind of the main difference between the two — is that really narrow and very intense band last year — compared to this one which was widespread high-end winds,” according to Hagenhoff.

There were several tornadoes with Wednesday’s storm — and Hagenhoff says the 2020 version also had them. “The one that occurred last August actually did have tornadoes towards the end of the duration of it in the Illinois area. So most of the tornados did not occur in the state of Iowa — they were later on in its lifetime. But, that is something we tend to see in derechos,” she says. Hagenhoff says timing is what makes a storm a derecho when compared to the common thunderstorm. “There’s a requirement for a wind threshold and it has to go for a certain number of miles across the area. Whereas, with a typical thunderstorm that you might have, there’s no requirement for it to last a certain amount of time,” Hagenhoff says.

She says you usually don’t see something like this in December. “This is an extremely rare event — especially for Iowa to have an event of this scale in December,” Hagenhoff says. “We certainly set records as far as temperatures and those temperatures were certainly part of the fuel for the thunderstorms that we had through the evening hours. So, we’re in rare territory with a system like this for sure. The Storm Prediction Center before the event had issued a moderate risk for Iowa — which is a level four out of five. And that was the first time in their history that Iowa had been at a moderate risk.”

(Omaha/Valley, NE.) – Officials with the National Weather Service in Nebraska, late Thursday night, issued a report on their preliminary assessment of damage in Pottawattamie County from Wednesday’s tornado event.

A “narrow but strong tornado” that began at around 4:24-p.m. seven-miles southwest of Underwood, was rated an EF-2. It packed peak winds of 120 mph, was 50 yards wide, and traveled for 2.3 miles before ending five-miles southwest of Underwood.  The twister tracked along L-34 through Sherwood Country Estates before ending near Juniper Road. The maximum damage was sustained to a home in the Sherwood Estates, where a “Narrow tornado removed the majority of homes roof and damaged other nearby homes as well,” according to the Weather Service.

The second tornado was also an EF-2 that began two-miles east of Underwood and last for about five-minutes before ending two-miles north-northeast of Neola. It packed peak winds of 125 mph, was about 75-yards wide, and tracked for 6.7-miles.The narrow twister began producing damage near Mahogany Road and 290th Street at around 4:31-p.m., Wednesday, and tracked north-northeast into the southeast edge of Neola and caused intermittent damage near Railroad Highway, north of Neola.

The most significant damage was to a home along 290th Street, where the roof was removed and walls were blown out. A nearby garage was moved off its foundation, and approximately 10 mature trees and all uprooted behind the home, with substantial damage to hardwood trees in the front yard.

The narrow nature of the tornado, according to the NWS, was evident in the damage in the path, as nearby barns on the east of the track had low end damage, possibly owing to the significant forward speed of the twister. The tornado was seen briefly by the resident before they sought shelter. A business on the southeast side of Neola also had substantial damage to large metal buildings, at least two of which were destroyed.