More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
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More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.9MB)
Subscribe: RSS
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR FREEZING RAIN AND A WINTERY MIX OF PRECIPITATION, IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 3-P.M. TODAY FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES: AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS-SAC-CRAWFORD-CARROLL AND GREENE, AND UNTIL 10-A.M. TODAY FOR MONONA-HARRISON-SHELBY AND POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTIES.
LOW PRESSURE ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE EAST NORTHEAST THIS MORNING BEFORE EXITING INTO WISCONSIN BY
AFTERNOON. THIS WILL PRODUCE MAINLY RAIN SOUTH…BUT A MIX ACROSS THE ADVISORY AREA FROM FREEZING RAIN TO SLEET AND SNOW SOUTH TO NORTH BEFORE CHANGING TO ALL SNOW AS THE SYSTEM EXITS AND WINDS.
* SHORT TERM TRENDS...FREEZING RAIN CONTINUES TO FALL ACROSS THE AREA WITH MANY ROADS AND SIDEWALKS BECOMING COATED IN ICE. A PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO CHANGE OVER TO ALL SNOW BY LATE
MORNING TO AROUND MIDDAY AND ENDING ALTOGETHER BY 3PM OR 4PM.
* STORM TOTAL SNOW/ICE ACCUMULATIONS…ICE ACCUMULATIONS LESS THAN ONE TENTH OF AN INCH ARE EXPECTED WITH VERY LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS.
* WINDS/VISIBILITY…WINDS WILL SHARPLY INCREASE WEST TO EAST
BETWEEN 10AM AND 2PM. SUSTAINED SPEEDS MAY REACH 25 TO 30 MPH
WITH GUSTS TO 40 MPH. THESE WINDS MAY BRIEFLY COINCIDE WITH
SNOW PRODUCING LOW VISIBILITIES AND DIFFICULT TRAVEL.
* IMPACTS…ALTHOUGH AMOUNTS WILL BE LIGHT…ROAD TEMPERATURES
REMAIN BELOW FREEZING AND LIGHT FREEZING RAIN…SLEET OR SNOW
ACCUMULATIONS MAY LEAD TO HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS. BLOWING SNOW MAY ALSO COMPOUND THE SITUATION WITH LIMITED
VISIBILITIES.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW, SLEET, OR
FREEZING RAIN WILL CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR
SLIPPERY ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES, AND USE CAUTION WHILE
DRIVING.
Iowa landowners have the opportunity to enroll land in the Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) into special targeted areas for wildlife. D-N-R wildlife biologist Todd Bogenschutz says more C-R-P land is now eligible for what’s called the State Acres For wildlife Enhancement or SAFE program. “Basically what they’ve done, nationwide there’s two-point-five million acres coming out — some of them are continuous, most of them are general. They made this announcement that they are going to target 700-thousand of those acres toward the state safe practices,” Bogenschutz says. “That was great for Iowa because we have a couple of safe requests in. They basically gave us acres for all three of them.”
He says the SAFE program is designed to help particular species of wildlife. “It’s basically where there’s threatened and endangered species, a species that is declining significantly, or a species that’s economically important. States can come up with a targeted C-R-P practice to address one of those concerns, or any of those concerns,” Bogenschutz says.
He says Iowa has had success with its SAFE programs. “We have a gaining ground SAFE — which is targeted at grassland birds and pollinators — we have a pheasant recovery SAFE, and we just submitted a new quail SAFE — and they gave us additional acres for all three of those,” Bogenschutz says.
He says until the recent announcement they didn’t know if any new C-R-P acres would be allowed to go into the program. “Because we were at the cap people weren’t sure what was going to happen this coming year. If they were just going to have another sign up. SAFE’s been popular, but we can’t put any more in because the acres are all gone,” Bogenschutz says. “Now with this announcement people have an opportunity to get into SAFE. If you ‘ve got a contract that is expiring this year, you can re-enroll in that, which is going to probably make it better habitat than it was.”
The sign up is underway and Bogenschutz urges you to not delay in getting signed up. “Many people are expecting that these acres could be gone within a couple of weeks. There’s a lot of interest in C-R-P, a lot of people want to be in C-R-P and they can’t now that they’ve lowered the cap. So we expect it’s going to be very competitive, so if folks are interested in C-R-P I recommend they get right into their local U-S-D-A office, or contact one of our private land staff to get more info,” according to Bogenschutz.
The Iowa D-N-R has created a web page for landowners to learn more about federal and state programs available to them. The web page includes a list of D-N-R staff who are experts at connecting landowners with programs and writing land management plans that benefit the landowner, wildlife and improve water quality. There is also a link to F-S-A where landowners can find information about their local F-S-A office. The landowner assistance webpage is at www.iowadnr.gov/crp.
(Radio Iowa)
The Iowa DOT reports Highway 6 in Pottawattamie County is blocked due to numerous crashes, between County Road L52 (near McClelland) and US 59 (near Oakland). The road is blocked due to numerous crashes. Traffic is being detoured down Highway 59 from Oakland, south to Highway 92, and from L52 (Near Quick) to Highway 92.
The Iowa Department of Transportation reports Interstate 29 in Woodbury Coujnty, near Salix, is blocked this morning due to numerous accidents caused by icy roads. The incidents have occurred between Exit 127: IA 141; County Road K42 and Exit 134: County Road K25 (Salix).
The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson
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Area Counties: Audubon-Guthrie-Dallas–
705 AM CST Tue Jan 10 2017
…Roads will remain slick in spots this morning…
Air and most road temperatures were above freezing from the Interstate 80 corridor toward Waterloo, but some roads were slow to warm from the prolonged cold and were struggling to rise above freezing. This may result in some roads remaining slick and icy through 9am or 10am.
Motorists and pedestrians are encouraged to watch for slick spots through the morning commute as road and sidewalk conditions may vary from location to location.
Today: Cloudy w/a chance of light rain or drizzle becoming mixed w/and changing to light snow before diminishing this afternoon. Little or no snow accumulation. High early around 39, w/temps slipping into the upper 20’s this afternoon. NW @ 15-30.
Tonight: Mostly Cloudy. Low 24. W winds becoming SE after midnight at 10-20.
Tomorrow: Mo. Cldy. High 34. S winds becoming N @ 10-20mph.
Thursday: Mo. Cldy & colder, w/flurries possible. High 18.
Friday: Mo. Cldy. High 22.
Our 24-hour High in Atlantic (ending at 7-a.m. today) was 39. We received .03“ of an inch of rain this morning (Through 7-a.m.) Our 24-Hour Low was 14. Last year on this date, our High in Atlantic was 14 and the low was -8. The Record High in Atlantic on this date was 59 in 1928. The Record Low was -27 in 1982.
The head of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau says efforts to reduce fatal crashes in Iowa this year will range for a boost in public awareness campaigns to possible legislation. G-T-S-B chief Patrick Hoye says he was surprised by the 402 traffic deaths recorded in the state in 2016.
“We saw a significant jump from a year ago, about a 26-percent increase,” Hoye says, “2013, ’14, ’15 — we saw some very good progress and we thought Iowa was on the right path. Unfortunately, 2016 turned out to be just a horrific year for traffic safety.”
Two years ago, in 2015, traffic crashes claimed 316 lives, the lowest in 70 years. Hoye says bad weather wasn’t much of a factor in 2016, but the warmer-than-normal year may have had an impact. “Preliminary numbers are showing there were 60 motorcycle fatalities, so the nice weather may have impacted motorcycle fatalities in our state,” Hoye says.
But, Hoye says the primary factors for the spike in traffic fatalities last year include alcohol, speeding, and drivers paying more attention to their cell phone than the road. “We’re looking at about 30-percent of the fatalities being impaired driving related,” Hoye says. “And although the data is tough to collect, we certainly believe that distracted driving is one of the causes driving the number of fatalities up.”
According to Hoye, over 40-percent of the people killed in Iowa traffic crashes last year were NOT wearing seat belts. The last time Iowa’s yearly highway traffic fatalities surpassed 400 was in 2008 (412 deaths).
(Radio Iowa)
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