Schnack's Weather Blog

Sweater Contest

Schnack — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:33:42 +0000

I had the chance to judge, with Melody Judge from Mix 96.1, a sweater contest for part of Sartori’s Festival of Trees. Here are a few of the entries. If you would like join in the festivites click here to find out what is going on.

Great Western Fireball

Schnack — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:05:35 +0000

From Spaceweather.com
Yesterday, Nov. 18th, something exploded in the atmosphere above the western United States. Witnesses in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Idaho say the fireball “turned night into day” and issued shock waves that “shook the ground” when it exploded just after midnight Mountain Standard Time. Although the fireball appeared during the Leonid meteor shower, it was not a Leonid. Infrasound recordings of the blast suggest a small asteroid hitting Earth’s atmosphere and exploding with an energy of 0.5 to 1 kiloton of TNT. Experts liken the event to the Park Forest fireball of 2003, which scattered dozens of meteorites across a suburb of Chicago. Meteorites are likely from this fireball as well. Stay tuned for developing information about the possible fall zone. Click here for more information on the fireball.

Here is some infomration from KSLA-TV. Click here.

A Ray of Sunshine

Schnack — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:31:53 +0000

The upper level/surface low pressure is finally moving north east. There have been a few breaks in the cloud cover today to see blue sky. Even though it was only for a few minutes…it was nice to see. A little sunshine and no rain lets the temperatures warm a little more. Temperatures this afternoon will be in the mid-upper 40s. The wind will remain light. A light wind is always important this time of year because a gusty wind ALWAYS makes it feel colder.

FIRST 1″ OF SNOW?

Schnack — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:21:39 +0000

Still no winner yet but our snow will come in time.

What date will the Dubuque Regional Airport see the first 1″ of snow? I will use the official report from the National Weather Service. Keep in mind this is not in town…this is at the airport. Here the report from which the amount would come from. If it snows .5″ on one day and .5″ on the next it does not count. It has to snow 1″ from midnight to midnight. Put your name and guess in the comment section below. I will make a list and see who has the best guess. Your guess needs to be in by the October 15. This is just for bragging rights…there is no prize.

Below is the list of names and the dates you sent in. Good Luck. It will be interesting to see how this pans out.

DATE	NAME
October 11	Gabesmom
October 11	David Stentiford
October 12	Josh
October 21	Ann
October 23	Jonathan
October 23	Carla Staton
October 25	Jamie Grey
October 27	Eileen Loan
October 27	Jason Hicok
October 28	James
October 28	Matt Thompson
October 29	Amanda
October 31	Jack
November 3	J. Sharp
November 6	Jason Epner
November 8	Mike Hawk
November 10	Lee Bartholomew
November 13	Ryan Goodwin
November 16	Brian
November 17	Jennifer Hildreth
November 19	Gerald Tauke
November 19	Schnack
November 25	Steve
November 27	Tara Thomas
November 30	John Wilmer
December 5	Bob Waters
December 14	Ron Steele
December 17	Rick Coleman
December 18	Jeff Smith
December 26	Marsha
December 28	Alisha

Not Much Sunshine

Schnack — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:34:28 +0000

This slow moving low is not going give up soon. Clouds will continue through the night and even into Friday. I think late Friday we will start to see some clearing. The sunshine for Saturday will warm temperatures into the low 50s before a big cool down for the middle of next week. Below is an easy way at looking at the GFS model for the next few days. Notice along the top of the image…not much sunshine.

A Look at Thanksgiving

Schnack — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:46:59 +0000

Thanksgiving is one week from tomorrow. A storm system will develop south of us early in the week and it will pull cold air south from Canada through the middle of the country. The GFS model below shows the back edge of some light moisture hanging around for Thanksgiving. Temperatures will be cold enough for this moisture to fall as a few flurries. High pressure south and west of Iowa will push east and make for a nice but cold start to the busy shopping day following Thanksgiving. This is subject to change but this is how it looks right now.

: Thanksgiving AM

Thanksgiving Eve

Goodbye Sun

Schnack — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:01:58 +0000

Livestock and Climate Change

Schnack — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:01:17 +0000

From World Watch:
The environmental impact of the lifecycle and supply chain of animals raised for food has been vastly underestimated, and in fact accounts for at least half of all human-caused greenhouse gases (GHGs), according to Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang, co-authors of “Livestock and Climate Change”.

A widely cited 2006 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Livestock’s Long Shadow, estimates that 18 percent of annual worldwide GHG emissions are attributable to cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, camels, pigs, and poultry. But recent analysis by Goodland and Anhang finds that livestock and their byproducts actually account for at least 32.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, or 51 percent of annual worldwide GHG emissions.

Click here for the complete story. (pdf)

Rainfall Totals

Eileen Loan — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:10:22 +0000

As of 10 AM:

TOWN	24 HR RAIN TOTAL Tue AM-Wed AM

Anamosa 2.5 mi SSW	0.02
Ainsworth 7.4 mi N	0.52
Belle Plaine	0.07
Cascade	0.05
Cedar Falls	Trace
Cedar Falls 1.4 mi SSE	Trace
Cedar Rapids (Airport)	0.02
Cedar Rapids 2.0 mi ENE	0.04
Cedar Rapids 3.4 mi NW	0.02
Central City 6.7 mi W	0.01
Clutier	0.02
Coggon	0.03
Dubuque (Airport)	0.03
Ely	0.00
Grinnell	0.08
Iowa City (Airport)	0.08
Lowden	0.11
Maquoketa 3 S	0.06
North English	0.16
Norway	0.03
Quasqueton 1.8 mi S	Trace
Solon	0.09
Toledo	Trace
Toledo 3 mi N	Trace
Urbana	Trace
Vinton	0.02
Washington	0.50
Waterloo 1.8 mi SSE	Trace
Wellman	2.00
West Branch	0.02
Williamsburg	0.09
Wilton 6 mi N	0.10

Storm 1 and Storm 2

Schnack — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:51:10 +0000

First lets start with “storm 1″. The area of surface low pressure has sat over southeast Missouri for the last 24-36 hours.

Current Surface Map

The upper level low has slowly been drifting east and now on top of the surface low. When the upper low is directly above the surface low we call this vertically stacked. The low has been cut off from the main jet stream so the low has been pretty stationary.

Upper Level Low...Red Line is Forecast Path

There is an upper level low over southern California and this will move east and act as a “kicker” and help push this low along. But in the mean time we will have clouds and a few light showers as the low tracks north over Iowa and than turns northeast towards the Great Lakes. High temperatures Wednesday and Thursday will be in the mid 40s.

Now lets take a look at the next chance of rain…”storm 2″: Low pressure is forecast to develop Sunday night and bring a chance of rain Sunday night through Tuesday morning. It might be cold enough Monday night and Tuesday morning a few snow showers may be possible. This is something we will be tracking for the next few days. Below is the GFS model for Monday evening and Tuesday morning.