From NWS
1996: Iowa remained in the grip of one of its coldest periods on record as temperatures once again fell into the 20s and 30s below zero across most of the state. The coldest temperatures reported on the morning of the 4th included -33 F at Belle Plaine, -34 F at Cresco and Maquoketa, -35 F at Grinnell and Indianola, -36 F at Decorah, and -39 F at Fayette. Even during the afternoon hours many areas of the state remained below zero, especially across the north and east, but at Des Moines the temperature reached 15 F marking the end of an unprecedented 132 consecutive hours below zero which began on January 30th.

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Tonight: Cloudy with a light rain/snow around Highway 20 and south. A breif perid of freezing rain/drizzle is possible.  Low: 28-32. Wind: NE 10-15 mph.

Saturday: Cloudy with a light rain/snow around Highway 20 and south. High: 34-36. Wind: N/NE 10-20 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy. Low: 24-29. Wind: N 10-15 mph.

Sunday: Mostly sunny. High: upper 30s.

Monday: Mostly sunny. High: upper 30s.

Tuesday: Partly cloudy. High: upper 30s.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy. High: low 30s.

Thursday: Partly cloudy. High: mid 30s.

Friday: Partly cloudy. High: mid 30s.

Early Afternoon Analysis: At noon, the surface temperatures across Iowa range from 30F in NE Iowa to 50F inSE Iowa. The wind is from the E/NE at 5-15 mph. The sky is cloudy across the state with about half of the reporting station indicating fog. The radar shows some light returns across central and SW Iowa but there are no reporting stations showing anything reaching the ground. There have been a few calls though into the weather office of drizzle in a few locations. There is a 1012 mb low over Texas and Oklahoma. A large 1038 mb high is centered over Montana and stretches east into Wisconsin and than southeast into Virginia. At 850 mb, the temperatures are 1C in central and eastern Iowa while the western 1/3 of the state is -1C. The wind at this level is from the east at 10-30 knots. The 700 mb low is located over NW Kansas. The temperatures over Iowa range from -5C in southern Iowa to -9C in NW Iowa. The 500 mb level shows a closed low over Colorado and New Mexico. Temperatures overIowa range from -18 to -21C with a SW wind at 20-40 knots. The jet stream at 300 mb is wrapped around the 500 mb low. The jet does come just northwest of Iowa. Our wind is from the SW at 60-80 knots.

WINTER STORM WARNING (pink) and WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY (tan) is in effect through tomorrow for areas southwest Iowa.

This Evening/Tonight: The sky will be cloudy with patchy fog. The dry air from the high pressure to our north will win the battle with the storm to our south. Light rain or light snow is possible around Highway 20 and south. There is also a chance to have a brief period of freezing drizzle. The map below shows the chances of any freezing rain/drizzle.

The forecast track below shows the low moving across Missouri and toward the east coast.

If the high to our north was not so strong and dry we would get more rain/snow but it is and therefore we will get light amounts if any.

Saturday/Saturday Night: The sky will be cloudy with a chance of light rain or snow around Highway 20 and south. It will be a breezy day with the wind from the NE at 10-20 mph. The map below shows how close we will be to the moisture with the storm. The map is from Friday evening to Sunday Evening.

The map below shows how close the 1”+ snow amount are to our area…that also will not be heading in our direction.

Sunday: The storm will be on the east coast at this time while high pressure settles in from the southwest our sky will be mostly sunny with highs pushing close to 40 degrees.

Extended Forecast (Mon-Fri): Not much to talk about during this time frame. Various high pressure systems will push across the country. There will be a couple of weak fronts to cross the area Tuesday morning (see map below).

Another cold front comes through Thursday. No form of precipitation is anticipated with any of these fronts. Also with no additional snow, and the snow that continues to melt, the temperatures will remain above normal.

Long Range Forecast (Feb 11-17): The Climate Predication Center hasIowa with temperatures near normal and precipitation near normal.

Posted under Forecast Discussion

From NWS
1996: Extremely cold temperatures that began on January 31st persisted into early February with wind chills as low as -79 F at Mason City on the morning of the 2nd and high temperatures of -20 F recorded at Elkader and Oelwein that afternoon. Temperatures finally bottomed out on the 3rd with all-time record lows occurring across the region, including -47 F at the Osborne Conservation Center southwest of Elkader which tied the all-time Iowa low temperature record set in 1912. All-time records were broken on the morning of the 3rd at about 20 percent of the official observing sites around Iowa including Albia with a low of -31 F, Muscatine and Toledo at -34 F, Belle Plaine and Indianola at -35 F, Fayette at -40 F, and Chariton where the reading of -38 F broke their all-time record which was set just three days earlier on January 31st. Over the four days from January 31st through February 3rd the statewide average temperature was -13.5 F making it the second-coldest four day stretch on record in the state. Des Moines reported an unprecedented 132 consecutive hours below zero from January 30th into February 4th.

3 February 1947 → Snag, Yukon recorded North America’s coldest temperature ever: -81.4 degrees. 3 February 1997 → Thames River, England: portions of the river froze over for the first time since World War II.

Posted under Weather History

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Submit your weather Hot Shot by clicking here.
One photo is shown on the 5 pm newscast and one on the 10 pm newscast.

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Tonight: Mostly cloudy with areas fog. Low: 25-30. Wind: E 5-10 mph.

Friday: Mostly cloudy. High: 38-45. Wind: NE 5-15 mph.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy. Along and south of Highway 20: A 40% chance of rain/snow. Low: 26-32. Wind: NE 10-15 mph.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy. Along and south of Highway 20: A 50% chance of rain/snow. High: low-mid 30s.

Sunday: Partly cloudy. High: upper 30s.

Monday: Mostly sunny. High: near 40.

Tuesday: Partly cloudy. High: mid 30s.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny. High: low 30s.

Thursday: Partly cloudy. High: low 30s.

Early Afternoon Analysis: At noon, there is a wide range in temperatures due to the clouds and fog this morning in eastern Iowa. Temperatures in NE Iowa are as cold as 30F while central and western Iowa are in the mid 50s. The wind is generally less than 5 mph from the southeast. There are some areas with clouds and fog in eastern Iowa but there are holes developing.Western Iowa is sunny. See map below.

At the surface, there is a 1026 mb high stretched from Minnesota to Indiana. We are watching closely the 1010 mb low over New Mexico. At 850 mb, the temperatures are between 2-4C with a S/SW wind at 5-15 knots. At 500 mb, there is a ridge just west of Iowa putting in a northwest flow with the wind at 30-40 knots. There is a trough developing over Colorado and Utah. At 300 mb, the jet stream is following along the 500 mb pattern.

This Evening/Tonight: The sky will be mostly cloudy with areas of fog. Some of it can be locally dense. A DENSE FOG ADVISORY is in effect through Friday morning.

Friday/Friday Night: The sky will be mostly cloudy with a stray rain shower south of Iowa City late in the afternoon. Friday evening, as the storm moves east, rain will spread across the southern half of the viewing area (along and south of Highway 20). Late Friday night there will be a rain/snow mix again in the southern half of the viewing area. Northern areas will be mostly cloudy and dry. High pressure in the Dakotas will keep the storm from moving north and spreading the precipitation northward.

Saturday: Again the high across the Dakotas will keep the northern counties dry. The high will move east into Minnesota. The map below is for Saturday morning.

Here is the HPC depiction of the map Saturday morning.

The low will be located over southern Missouri and will move east and weaken through the weekend. Areas along and south of Highway 20 will see a mix of rain/snow change to light snow in the afternoon and evening. Snow accumulation will be 1” or less. The wind will increase from the northeast at 10-20 mph. High temperatures will be in the low-mid 30s. The map below is the amount of liquid out of this storm from Thursday evening to Saturday evening.

The maps below show snow potential of 1”+. This is for Friday evening to Saturday evening.

This is for Saturday evening to Sunday evening.

Here is the forecast track of the storm.

Extended Forecast (Sun-Thu): High pressure will be over Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and Iowa providing lots of sunshine with mild high temperatures in the upper 30s and low 40s. A cold front will cross the state, from north to south, Monday night and the result will be a mix of sun and clouds Tuesday. The map below is for Tuesday morning.

High pressure from Canada will settle south across the Midwest and Great Lakes with dry weather and plenty of sunshine Wednesday. Another cold front is possible for Thursday but no moisture for it to work with…so just a mix of sun and clouds can be expected at this point.

Long Range Forecast (Feb 10-16): The Climate Predication Center hasIowa with near to above normal temperatures and near to below normal precipitation.

Posted under Forecast Discussion

The clouds and fog over eastern Iowa will continue to thin out with more and more sunshine for the afternoon. Highs this afternoon will be warmer than yesterday due to the sunshine.

Posted under Update

Posted under Animals

From NWS
1987: Strong southerly winds ahead of a cold front brought unseasonably warm temperatures to most of Iowa with many stations south of Interstate 80 climbing into the 60s and many breaking daily records, including Des Moines where the temperature peaked at 64 F. Other reported high temperatures included 65 F at Chariton, Indianola, and Winterset and 64 F at Greenfield, Mount Ayr, and Ottumwa.

1905: The first half of February was intensely cold with many stations across Iowa recording high temperatures below zero for days at a time. The 2nd was particularly frigid with only a few stations in far southeastern Iowa climbing above zero during the afternoon and morning low temperatures of -36 F at Atlantic and Sibley, -37 F at Denison and Harlan, -38 F at Little Sioux, and -41 F at Ida Grove where the high temperature was only -14 F. At Des Moines a low temperature of -26 F set the all-time February record at that location which would be tied just 11 days later on the 13th. At Sioux City the low of -30 F remains their third-coldest temperature on record.

2 February 1918 → A storm in Australia produced three tornadoes. At least one of these was an F3 tornado that caused severe damage in Brighton. 2 February 1952 → The only tropical storm to hit the U.S. in February moved out of the Gulf of Mexico and across southern Florida. It produced 60 mph winds and 2-4″ of rain. 2 February 1989 → There was a recorded wind chill of -90 in Tioga, ND.

Posted under Weather History