Lightning Awareness week is this week. Here are some interesting facts about lightning from the NWS.

• Average people killed each year from lightning in the US = 54.
• Over 80% of lightning victims are male.
• All four victims this year in the US were male; three victims had been fishing.
• The last lightning fatality in Wisconsin was in 2011, in Minnesota there were 2 in 2009, and in Iowa it was 2008.

Posted under Lightning

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: Mostly clear and warm. Low: 61-65. Wind: S 10-15 mph.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, hot and windy. High: 95-97. Wind: S 15-25 mph.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, warm and humid. Low: 74-76. Wind: S 5-10 mph.

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

Friday: Partly cloudy with a 20% chance of showers/storms. High: near 90.

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

Sunday: Partly cloudy, hot and humid. High: near 90.

Monday: Partly cloudy, hot and humid. High: near 90.

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

You can see the International Space Station (ISS) this evening. Here is the viewing information:

Time: 9:27 PM
Duration: 4 min
Travel Path: W to SSE (max elevation 25 deg above horizon)

It has been a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine, temperatures in the 70s and dewpoints near 50…this will all change. A stretch of HOT and HUMID weather is on the way. The hot weather is already showing up to our west. Here are the temperatures at 2 PM.

A large ridge of high pressure is forecast to be located across the middle of the country with hot and humid conditions under it. Here is the 500 mb ridge Wednesday afternoon.

As mentioned above the dewpoints are relatively low (near 50 degrees). Here are the dewpoints as of 2 pm.

Dry air is easier to warm up than humid air and that is going to be the case tomorrow. The dewpoints are forecast to reach the low 60s they will be low enough to allow the temperatures to reach the mid 90s. No records are expected Wednesday or Thursday because the records are 102-105 degrees. A HEAT ADVISORY is in effect for Wednesay afternoon and an EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH for part of the viewing area for Thursday morning to Friday morning. The heat index for Wednesday and Thursday will be 95-110. Take the heat serious it can be life threatening if caution is not used. Here are some heat safety tips.

We are still tracking our drought situation and the heat and sunshine does not help us out. There is a chance of showers/storms Thursday night into early Friday morning and again Friday night into Saturday morning. Here is the rain forecast for Thursday evening to Friday evening from the HPC.

A front is forecast to stall across northern Missouri Thursday night through Saturday. This will give us a chance of overnight and early morning showers/storms. High temperatures will remain be in the upper 80s and low 90s through early next week. Here is the 8-14 day outlook (July 4-10). The CPC is expecting above normal temperatures and near normal precipitation.

Posted under Astronomy, Forecast Discussion, Long Range Outlook

From NWS
1993: Severe thunderstorms produced copious amounts of large hail across western Iowa. A swath about 2 miles wide and 20 miles long in Shelby County received golf ball to softball sized hail, with baseball sized hail completely covering the ground north of Harlan. Just northwest of Little Sioux golf ball sized hail covered the ground several inches deep and drifted in strong winds. Damage to crops, trees, cars and buildings was extensive.

1978: Thunderstorms produced severe straight-line winds across southwestern, central, and eastern Iowa along with a brief tornado in Warren County. At Des Moines winds gusting to as high as 77 mph uprooted and toppled trees onto power lines, houses, and cars and blew out windows in buildings. In Taylor County two people were injured near Athelstan when their mobile home was overturned. In Cedar Rapids winds gusting to as high as 92 mph flipped airplanes and damaged hangars at the airport.

1976: Severe weather struck western and northwestern Iowa with winds of 80 mph and hail up to tennis ball size reported. A tornado injured 6 people and severely damaged or destroyed 80 homes, churches, and businesses in Minden. At Estherville a 100 mph wind gust was recorded and several mobile homes were overturned.

This Day in National/World Weather History …

26 June 1959 → The NWS’s first WSR-57 weather surveillance radar was commissioned at Miami, FL. It would be destroyed on August 24, 1992 by Hurricane Andrew. 26 June 1993 → During the Great Flood of 1993, the Mississippi River at St. Louis exceeded flood stage late on June 26 and briefly dropped below flood stage on September 13, a total duration above flood stage of 80 d

Posted under Weather History