(Radio Iowa) – Iowa is back in the “Drought Watch” category on the system put together last year to keep tabs on the situation. D-N-R Hydrology coordinator, Tim Hall, works with other state agencies in assessing the issue. “We take a number of factors and look at them together. And we we decide whether a region of the state is normal, drought watch, drought warning, or drought emergency,” Hall says. He says the drought watch is similar to a thunderstorm or tornado watch.
“Which is really just a call for people to be very careful and pay attention. Because things are looking on the dry side,” he says, “and right now they’re getting a little bit worse all the time. So we’re just trying to keep an eye out and work with folks to make sure everybody has the information they need.” Hall says the state is also seeing the start of what could be a “flash drought,” or rapid increase in drought conditions in some areas. “Particularly in the eastern part of the state where things just got really dry really fast. We saw the U-S Drought Monitor pop up with severe drought in in parts of northeast Iowa and southeast Iowa. So you know, we were kind of on the mend there for a while and then March and particularly April and May have just turned dry on us and they have not done us any favors,” Hall says.
He says there are some indications the conditions might change and bring more rain, and June is normally the wettest month in the state. Hall says until we see more rain, everyone should do what they can to stop water waste by fixing any leaky fixtures. “Which is which is about as pure and simple wasting water as you can get. If you’re just dribbling it down the drain, you’re using resources to pump the water, to treat the water to get it to your house. And if you’re just letting it go down the drain, that’s an absolute waste of resources,” Hall says. “So figure out how to get those leaking faucets fixed and leaking toilets fixed.”
Hall says the situation may soon call for other measures as well. “Unfortunately, it looks like we’re getting into a situation where we’re going to have to start to remind people that water conservation is a necessary thing,” he says. “And we’re going to have to try to work on that a little bit in the state as we get through these dry, these dry weeks here.”
Hall says the best case scenario would be for normal June rainfall to return and turn the drought conditions around. But he says we have to be prepared if that does not happen.
Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. South wind 6 to 10 mph.
Tonight: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. South southeast wind around 8 mph. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 10am. Partly sunny, with a high near 78. Southeast wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Saturday Night: Showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 1am. Low around 58. East wind 8 to 11 mph becoming north northeast after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Sunday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 72. Breezy. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 76.
Thursday’s High in Atlantic was 76. The Low was 54. We received .3” rain at the KJAN studios, Thursday. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 77 and the Low was 57. The Record High on this date was 101 in 1985. The Record Low was 38 in 1915. Sunrise is at 5:46. Sunset at 8:52.
(Washington, D-C) – The expected El Nino has emerged, according to scientists at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service. In the monthly outlook released today, forecasters issued an El Nino Advisory, noting that El Nino conditions are present and are expected to gradually strengthen into the winter.
El Nino is a natural climate phenomenon marked by warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator, which occurs on average every 2-7 years. El Nino’s impacts on the climate extend far beyond the Pacific Ocean.
”Depending on its strength, El Nino can cause a range of impacts, such as increasing the risk of heavy rainfall and droughts in certain locations around the world,” said Michelle L’Heureux, climate scientist at the Climate Prediction Center. “Climate change can exacerbate or mitigate certain impacts related to El Nino. For example, El Nino could lead to new records for temperatures, particularly in areas that already experience above-average temperatures during El Nino.”
El Nino’s influence on the U.S. is weak during the summer and more pronounced starting in the late fall through spring. By winter, there is an 84% chance of greater than a moderate strength El Nino, and a 56% chance of a strong El Nino developing. Typically, moderate to strong El Nino conditions during the fall and winter result in wetter-than-average conditions from southern California to along the Gulf Coast and drier-than-average conditions in the Pacific Northwest and Ohio Valley. El Nino winters also bring better chances for warmer-than-average temperatures across the northern tier of the country.
A single El Nino event will not result in all of these impacts, but El Nino increases the odds of them occurring.
The anticipated persistence of El Nino also contributed to the 2023 Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Hurricane Outlooks issued by NOAA last month. El Nino conditions usually help to suppress Atlantic Hurricane activity, while the presence of El Nino typically favors strong hurricane activity in the central and eastern Pacific Basins.
The Climate Prediction Center’s seasonal temperature and precipitation outlooks will continue to take into account current and forecasted El Nino conditions. These seasonal outlooks are updated monthly, with the next update on June 15. The Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook will be updated in early August.
Scientists have been forecasting the development of El Nino for the last few months and issued the first El Nino Watch on April 13.
Today: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 7am. Partly sunny, with a high near 80. East southeast wind 8 to 10 mph. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 57. East southeast wind around 9 mph.
Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. South wind around 9 mph.
Friday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. South southeast wind 6 to 8 mph. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday: Showers and thunderstorms. High near 79. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Sunday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 74. Breezy.
Wednesday’s high in Atlantic was 85 and the low was 65. This day last year the high was 78 and the low was 52. The all-time record high was 102 set in 1985 and the low was 38 in 1930. Sunrise today was at 5:46 a.m. and sunset will be at 8:52 p.m.
Today: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 84. West wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east in the afternoon. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 59. East wind around 9 mph.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. East southeast wind 8 to 10 mph.
Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 82.
Saturday: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Partly sunny, with a high near 81. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Tuesday’s high in Atantic was 90 and the low was 62. This day last year the high was 82 and the low was 60. The all-time record high was 98 set in 1934 & 2011, and the low was 36 in 1894. Sunrise today was at 5:46 a.m., sunset at 8:51 p.m.
(Radio Iowa) – After a few weeks of modest improvements, drought conditions are again worsening in many parts of Iowa as the hottest, driest season of summer is about to begin. Despite a few recent rain showers that soaked some areas of Iowa, state climatologist Justin Glisan says many other areas remain bone-dry, and June is already starting out quite warm.
“We’re about eight degrees above average for the first five days,” Glisan says. “We have had some spotty rainfall, pop-up thunderstorms, on several days last week. If we look at the outlooks in the short term, so getting out into the middle of June, we are seeing a near-normal to slightly elevated signal for somewhat warmer temperatures through the middle of the month.”
Computer models also indicate we may be trending toward near-normal precipitation to perhaps wetter-than-average conditions. Looking back at spring, which is traditionally March, April and May, it was the opposite. “We started spring on the wetter side and we started May on the wetter side as well,” Glisan says, “but overall we had about 6.2 inches across the state over those three months, when we expect about 11 inches, so almost four inches below average.”
Glisan says it’s shaping up to be the 20th driest spring on record for Iowa, and rainfall during May was scarce. “Overall, you look at the statewide average, May being the second-wettest month climatologically, we’re right around 2.7 inches,” Glisan says, “and that’s a little over two inches below average. If we look at rankings going back 151 years, this is nearing the 25th the driest May on record.” The just-concluded month was also warmer than normal.
“We were above average by about two degrees, so warmer than average for May,” he says, “but we also had lower dew point temperatures, so we were able to cool off at night, so it didn’t feel like a particularly warm month until the end of the month.” A few counties in far eastern and northeastern Iowa are considered “normal” on the latest U-S Drought Monitor map, while roughly 53 counties are considered abnormally dry, and around 40 counties are in moderate to exceptional drought.
Today: Sunny, with a high near 89. Calm wind becoming west southwest around 6 mph in the morning.
Tonight: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 4am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 66. West southwest wind around 6 mph becoming east southeast in the evening.
Wednesday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 86. East wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 82.
Friday: A 30 percent chance of showers after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 85.
Monday’s high was 90 and the low was 60. This day last year the high was 78 and the low was 57. The all-time record high was 103 set in 1933 and the low was 32 in 1894. Sunrise today was at 5:46 a.m. and sunset will be at 8:50 p.m.
Today: Increasing clouds, with a high near 87. East wind around 6 mph.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 62. East southeast wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable after midnight.
Tuesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 4pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. Light and variable wind becoming west southwest around 6 mph in the morning.
Tuesday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 7pm, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. North wind around 6 mph becoming south after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Wednesday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 85. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 81.
Sunday’s high was 91 and the low was 62. This day last year the high was 83 and the low was 61. The all-time record high was 104 set in 1933 and the low was 40 in 1897 & 1935. Sunrise today was at 5:47 a.m. and sunset will be at 8:50 p.m.
Today: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 3pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. East northeast wind 5 to 10 mph. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 9pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 60. East northeast wind 6 to 8 mph. 
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. East wind around 6 mph.
Tuesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. Calm wind becoming west around 6 mph in the morning.
Wednesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 84.
Saturday’s high was 89 and the low was 60. This day last year the high was 75 and the low was 58. The all-time record high was 96 set in 1914 and the low was 31 in 1945. Sunrise today was at 5:47 a.m. and sunset will be at 8:49 p.m.
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