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One photo is shown on the 5 pm newscast and one on the 10 pm newscast.

Posted under Hot Shots, Photo

Tonight: Mostly clear. Low: 52-56. Wind: SE 5 mph.

Thursday: Mostly sunny. High: 78-82. Wind: S 5-10 mph.

Thursday Night: Mostly clear. Low: 57-59. Wind: S 5-10 mph.

Friday: Partly cloudy and breezy (S 10-20 mph). High: low-mid 80s

Saturday: Mostly sunny, breezy (S 10-20 mph), hot and humid. High: upper 80s.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, windy (S 15-25 mph), hot and humid. High: near 90.

Monday: Partly cloudy with a 30% chance of showers/storms. High: low 80s.

Tuesday: Partly cloudy. High: upper 70s.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy. High: upper 70s.

 

More of the same weather we have had recently can be expected tonight and Thursday.
The sky will mostly clear tonight giving us the opportunity to view the International Space Station as it will pass over Iowa two times. Here is the viewing information:

 

Time: 9:47 pm
Duration: 5 min
Location: SSW to ENE
——————–
Time: 11:23 pm
Duration: 6 min
Location: W to NE

Friday the wind picks up a bit and with that it will be warmer and more humid. The increasing temperature and humidity trend will continue through the weekend. Let’s compare the dewpoint temperatures for this afternoon (map below left) and Sunday afternoon (map below right).

There is some relief from the heat and humidity next week. A cold front is forecast to cross the area Sunday night and Monday morning. Well needed showers/storms are expected with the front. Here is the map for Monday morning.

Once the front moves east, some cooler and less humid conditions are forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Posted under Forecast Discussion

This is Eileen, hijacking Mark’s blog for the morning….

Most humans don’t have to go to bed as early as I do, so most had a chance to see a rare astronomical event.  All of North America got to see Venus pass in front of the sun.

This image is from NASA Goddard Photo and Video

Other photos that NASA put together can be found here.

It took about 6 hours for Venus to pass the “front” of the sun, but the following movie shows it in less than forty seconds..

The transit occurs twice about 8 years apart with more than a century between cycles… the last time it happened was in 2004 and portions of the US, including Iowa, could see it.  The next time the series will occur will be in another 105 years… in December 2117.

Posted under Astronomy

From NWS
1980: Several rounds of severe weather pummeled northern, central, and western Iowa throughout the day. The first storms moved from Pottawattamie County eastward to Madison County in the morning producing very large hail up to the size of softballs and wind gusts as high as 80 mph. The hail shredded crops, broke windows, and damaged cars and buildings and the strong winds injured 7 people in Lake Anita State Park when several campers were blown over. The second round of storms moved from Dallas County through Polk County and southeast to Mahaska County around midday and into early afternoon, producing a weak tornado that touched down just east of the Drake University campus in Des Moines and moved east northeast for about a mile, crossing the Des Moines River near the 2nd Avenue bridge. These storms also dropped golf ball sized hail in Dallas Center, Grimes, and northern Des Moines. A third cluster of severe thunderstorms moved from Pocahontas County east to Grundy County in the mid to late afternoon, producing a wide swath of large hail up to baseball size that destroyed crops, damaged cars and buildings, and stripped trees.

This Day in National/World Weather History …

6 June 1968 → Thirty-five meteorologists from across Canada went to tour the new Alberta Hail Studies Center in Penhold, Alberta. Later that day, hail pelted the building and produced winterlike scenes in fields west of the area. 6 June 1979 → Eight hundred people were killed in Bihar, India in the world’s worst train disaster when cyclone blew a train from a railroad track and into a river.

Posted under Weather History