The State Fire Marshals Office and Iowa Department of Public Safety report Burn Bans which had been in place for Carroll and Madison Counties, were lifted this week. The bans on open burning due to the extremely dry summer conditions, were enacted in late July. Recent rains and current climate conditions prompted officials in Carroll and Madison Counties to ask for their burn bans to be rescinded. The ban was lifted in Madison County this (Thursday) morning, while the Carroll County burn ban was lifted Tuesday afternoon. And, as mentioned earlier, a burn ban in Pottawattamie County, was also rescinded, on Wednesday.

Here’s the Freese-Notis (podcast) weather forecast for Atlantic and the KJAN listening area, and weather information for Atlantic….

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (1.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Today: **Wind Advisory in effect from 10-am to 7-pm**

Showers. Very windy. Cooler. High in the mid 40s. West wind 20 to 30 mph increasing to 30 to 35 mph in the afternoon. Gusts up to 45 mph. Chance of showers 90 percent.

Tonight: Cloudy. Showers through midnight…then a chance of showers after midnight. Windy. Low in the lower 40s. Northwest wind 20 to 30 mph with gusts to around 40 mph decreasing to 15 to 20 mph with gusts to around 30 mph after midnight. Chance of showers 80 percent.

Friday: Cloudy until late afternoon then becoming partly sunny. A 20 percent chance of showers in the morning. Breezy. High in the lower 50s. Northwest wind 10 to 20 mph.

Friday Night: Partly cloudy. Low in the mid 30s. Northwest wind near 10 mph.

Saturday: Sunny…warmer. High in the mid 60s. South wind near 10 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear. Not as cool. Low in the upper 40s.

Sunday: Mostly sunny. High in the lower 70s.

Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers. Low in the mid 50s.

AREA COUNTIES ADDED TO ADVISORY:

CRAWFORD-CARROLL-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS-CASS-ADAIR-MADISON-ADAMS-UNION-TAYLOR AND RINGGOLD.

410 AM CDT THU OCT 18 2012

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A WIND ADVISORY…WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING. WINDS WILL INCREASE ACROSS THE AREA AROUND SUNRISE AND REMAIN STRONG AND GUSTY THROUGH THE DAY. THE GUSTY WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DIMINISH SOME BY SUNSET THIS EVENING.

WEST WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS OF 45 TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED. THE STRONG WINDS WILL MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT…ESPECIALLY FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. USE EXTRA CAUTION. IN ADDITION…LOOSE OUTDOOR OBJECTS MAY BE BLOWN AROUND.

COUNTIES IN IA: MONONA-HARRISON-SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MILLS-MONTGOMERY-FREMONT-PAGE

345 AM CDT THU OCT 18 2012 – NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE/VALLEY, NE

A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT TODAY (THURSDAY) FROM 10-AM TO 7-PM.  WINDS WILL INCREASE THIS MORNING AND CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING. NORTHWEST WINDS WILL AVERAGE 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS OF 45 TO 50 MPH EXPECTED.

THE STRONG WINDS WILL MAKING DRIVING DIFFICULT, ESPECIALLY FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. A WIND ADVISORY MEANS THAT SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS BETWEEN 30 TO 39 MPH OR GUSTS BETWEEN 45 TO 57 MPH ARE EXPECTED. WINDS THIS STRONG CAN MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT…ESPECIALLY FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. USE EXTRA CAUTION.

COUNTIES: MONONA-HARRISON-SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MILLS
1019 AM CDT WED OCT 17 2012

A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CDT THIS EVENING

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OMAHA/VALLEY HAS ISSUED A WIND ADVISORY WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CDT THIS EVENING. WINDS WILL INCREASE THIS MORNING AND CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE DAY. NORTHWEST WINDS AVERAGING 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS OVER 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED.

THE STRONG WINDS WILL MAKING DRIVING DIFFICULT,  ESPECIALLY FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. THE WINDS MAY ALSO
CREATE SOME BLOWING DUST AND ELEVATED FIRE DANGER. USE EXTRA CAUTION.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Students in nine states and the nation’s capital are preparing to examine the legacy of the Dust Bowl and the current impact of drought on agriculture and global food security.  The Smithsonian and the National Endowment for the Humanities are holding a national youth summit for middle and high school students Wednesday. It will include a discussion with scholars and experts, along with segments from filmmaker Ken Burns’ upcoming documentary, “The Dust Bowl.”

The summit will be webcast from the National Museum of American History in Washington to nine Smithsonian affiliate museums and the National Steinbeck Center. Regional town halls will be held in Nebraska, Texas, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma, South Dakota and California.  Educators and students can join the webcast online for free.

Most of Iowa got a good soaking last weekend, but it didn’t go far in terms of making up for the drought. State Climatologist Harry Hillaker says far northwest Iowa didn’t receive any rain, while the heaviest downpours were scattered around the state. Areas of northeast Iowa, around New Hampton and Decorah, received three-and-a-half to four inches of rain. Similar rainfall totals were reported around Red Oak, Greenfield and Winterset in southwest Iowa, and near Centerville, Albia and Oskaloosa in southeast Iowa. In Atlantic, we received 1.93-inches of rain over the weekend.

Statewide, on average, the weekend system dumped one-and-a-half inches of rain. It marked the single biggest rainfall event in Iowa since early May. “This one event over the weekend was almost as big as what we had for the whole month of September,” Hillaker said. Despite the downpour, Hillaker notes we’re a long way from bringing an end to the 2012 drought.

“We’re still roughly eight-and-a-half inches below normal for the year to date, as far as statewide average,” Hillaker said. “We did trim about an inch off the deficit we had going before this last rain event. So, it’s not a huge impact as far as reducing our deficit, but it will have quite a positive impact on soil moisture levels.”

(Radio Iowa)

The (podcast) Freese-Notis forecast for the KJAN listening area, and weather data for Atlantic, from Meteorologist Dan Hicks, and KJAN News Director Ric Hanson…..

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (1,017.3KB)

Subscribe: RSS

TODAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS THROUGH MID MORNING… THEN PARTLY SUNNY WITH ISOLATED SHOWERS BEFORE NOON. MOSTLY SUNNY IN THE AFTERNOON. WINDY…COOLER. HIGH IN THE LOWER 60S. TEMPERATURE STEADY OR SLOWLY FALLING IN THE AFTERNOON. NORTHWEST WIND 15 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 40 MPH. CHANCE OF SHOWERS 30 PERCENT.

TONIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY UNTIL EARLY MORNING THEN BECOMING MOSTLY CLOUDY. COLDER. LOW IN THE UPPER 30S. WEST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 30 MPH.

THURSDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF SHOWERS. WINDY…COOLER. HIGH AROUND 50. WEST WIND 20 TO 30 MPH.

THURSDAY NIGHT…CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF SHOWERS. BREEZY. LOW AROUND 40. NORTHWEST WIND 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 35 MPH.

FRIDAY…PARTLY SUNNY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF LIGHT SHOWERS. BREEZY. HIGH IN THE MID 50S. NORTHWEST WIND 15 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 30 MPH.

FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE MID 30S. HIGH IN THE MID 60S.