7 AM Friday – 7 AM Saturday

Posted under Precipitation Totals

From NWS
1986: Heavy rain fell across central portions of Iowa from west to east on June 28-30. The heaviest rain fell from the evening of the 29th into the morning of the 30th with 24 hour amounts including 5.51 inches at Jefferson, 6.25 inches at Lidderdale, 6.50 inches at Glidden, 6.70 inches at Coon Rapids, and nearly 8 inches of rain was reported 5 miles north of Coon Rapids. The heavy rain led to flooding across the area including record and near-record crests on the Raccoon River. Several counties from Audubon and Carroll over to Polk were declared disaster areas with the worst flooding occurring in Greene and Guthrie counties. Some of the thunderstorms also produced severe weather and a tornado was reported in West Des Moines on the 29th.

1863: Large hail produced significant damage in Monticello with most windows of buildings shattered and the marks of falling hail on the fences, buildings, and trees plainly visible for several years afterward.

30 June 1912 → Known popularly as the “Regina Cyclone” this tornado was the worst in Canadian history in term of deaths. Twenty-eight people died, hundreds were injured, and property damage totaled four million dollars with 500 buildings damaged or destroyed. The tornado started 10 miles south of the city and continued for another 8 miles north before dissipating. 30 June 1989 → Heavy rain deluged the Southeast, with parts of Louisiana reporting nearly 2 feet of rain in 3 days. Birmingham set a record with 13.12 inches of rain for the month of June.

Posted under Weather History

The two photos below were taken 2 miles NE of Norway.  The barn is from the 1880s. Two horses were inside and had to be put down.

The photo below was taken in Belle Plaine.

The photo below was taken in Springville byDanny Murphy.

Posted under Photo, Severe Weather

This morning we had some cool looking clouds move through the area. The clouds are called Undulatus Asperatus. Click here for some information about these clouds.

Posted under Clouds

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

Posted under Hot Shots, Photo

Tonight:  Partly cloudy, warm and humid with a 30% chance of showers/storms. Low: 66-72. Wind: light.

Saturday: Partly cloudy, hot and humid with a 20% chance of showers/storms. High: 88-93. Wind: NE 5-10 mph.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, warm and humid with a 20% chance of showers/storms. Low: 68-72. Wind: Light.

Sunday: Partly cloudy, hot and humid with a 20% chance of showers/storms. High: near 90.

Monday: Partly cloudy, hot and humid with a 20% chance of showers/storms. High: near 90.

Tuesday: Partly cloudy, hot and humid with a 20% chance of showers/storms. High: low-mid 90s.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy, hot and humid. High: mid 90s.

Thursday: Partly cloudy, hot and humid. High: mid 90s.

Friday: Partly cloudy, hot and humid. High: mid 90s.

I am tracking a cluster of thunderstorms in central Iowa, around Des Moines, and they are tracking east. At the time I captured the image below there was a severe storm.

The storms are isolated with just a few showers scattered around the cluster of storms. A few more storms will develop and move into an unstable atmosphere in southeast Iowa. There is a SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM. The main threat will be damaging wind and large hail.

Here is severe weather outlook for tonight from the SPC.

The stationary front will linger across Iowa through early next week and this will give us a chance of showers/storms through Tuesday. Here is the position of the front Saturday evening.

Highs during this time will be near 90 degrees. A large upper level high will build across the middle of the country during the second half of next week with dry, hot and humid conditions. Here is the upper level ridge Thursday.

Under ridge it will be hot and humid. Take a look at the forecast heat index for eastern Iowa…100-110 degrees.

Posted under Forecast Discussion

From NWS
1998: An incredible complex of severe thunderstorms produced widespread extreme straight-line wind damage across much of Iowa, particularly areas from just northwest of Des Moines through the metro and east southeast to the Mississippi River before moving on through Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. This complex of storms originated in northern Nebraska during the early morning hours then moved east southeast into central Iowa where it interacted with changing atmospheric conditions and intensified further. A tornado cut an 11 mile path across Crawford County damaging dozens of residences and numerous outbuildings. Several other more brief tornado touchdowns were reported as the storms cut a path across Iowa, along with occasional large hail ranging in size up to 2.5 inches in diameter at Des Moines, but the majority of the damage was produced by very severe straight-line winds. The line of storms produced winds of 70 to 90 mph along its entire length, with embedded swaths of even stronger winds in some areas. In the Des Moines metro area one such swath extended from around Granger through Johnston and northeastern Des Moines, with post-storm damage surveys indicating wind gusts of around 120 mph. Trucks and heavy construction equipment were blown over on the interstates and hundreds of homes and other buildings were unroofed or otherwise severely damaged in the metro with countless reports of trees falling on homes. Further east the storms produced more extreme wind damage near and south of Iowa City, with an observer at Muscatine recording a wind gust of 104 mph and an unofficial instrument in Washington measuring an incredible 123 mph gust, which is the highest unofficial wind gust ever measured in Iowa. In Iowa City several cars of a freight train were blown off a railroad bridge over the Iowa River and plunged into the water below. At the height of the storm approximately 500,000 people in Iowa were without power and in some areas electricity was not restored for nearly a week. Thousands of homes and buildings were damaged across the state and at least 125 people were injured by flying debris but fortunately there were no fatalities.

1993: Severe weather struck northern Iowa producing several tornadoes as well as large hail, strong winds, and very heavy rain. Hail as large as 3.5 inches in diameter fell around Ringsted and baseball sized hail covered the ground just north of Estherville. Strong wind gusts peaked at 81 mph at Spencer and 83 mph at the Waterloo airport. Some storms also produced very heavy rain with 6 to 7 inches falling in parts of Dickinson and Emmet counties causing the Des Moines River to rise several feet in just a few hours. At Ocheyedan 3 inches of rain fell in only 45 minutes and Allendorf received 2.80 inches of rain in just 30 minutes.

1983: Severe thunderstorms produced at least half a dozen tornadoes across eastern Iowa including one that injured 27 people as it touched down in Burlington and moved northward through the city.

29 June 1994 → The lowest temperature ever recorded in Australia was -9.4 degrees at Charlotte Pass, New South Wales. 29 June 2006 → Thick fog ruled out any play on the first day of the U.S. Women’s Open at Newport Country Club in Rhode Island. With visibility of less than 100 yards on parts of the course, officials had little choice but to reschedule the entire first round.

Posted under Weather History

The Drought Monitor map was released this morning and it is not good for Iowa. The conditions are getting worse. We are starting to see more D1-Drought Moderate conditions.

Here are the rain totals for the month of June compared to normal on this day.

The map below shows the departure from normal precipitation for the last 30 days. The only part of Iowa with a rain surplus is in the southwest.

Posted under Drought

The visible satellite image below shows a large smoke plume from a fire in southwest Wyoming.

Click here to see an animation of the above image.

The image above comes from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Posted under Fire

I love looking at visible satellite images. They can show so many details.

Posted under Miscellaneous