U.S.D.A. meteorologist Brad Rippey says abnormally dry conditions are likely to persist in Iowa through the summer. "As we move each day with this dry weather and suddenly warm weather, we're seeing short term dryness just exploding across the Midwest," Rippey told Radio Iowa. The most recent … [Read more...]
Drought conditions finally caught up with Southwest Iowa water system
Residents of five counties in southwest Iowa will have to continue boiling and conserving water this week as work continues to get their water system back up. Avoca Rural Water Plant general manager Tom Kallman, says the ongoing drought caused the problem that led to the system running out of … [Read more...]
Wildfire smoke is temporarily making Iowa’s air ‘unhealthy’ to breathe
It's not fog but smoke making the air hazy in parts of central Iowa this morning -- and you can smell the smoke from the Canadian wildfires. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the Air Quality Index for the Des Moines metro is "unhealthy," and it's considered "unhealthy for sensitive … [Read more...]
Smoke from distant fires creates colorful sunrise in Iowa
Iowans who happened to be up for sunrise today got a rare treat. Smoke from wildfires in Alberta, Canada, is filtering high over Iowa and it's making the sun appear as a golden-reddish-orange ball. Meteorologist Brooke Hagenhoff, at the National Weather Service, says the phenomenon should be … [Read more...]
Davenport flood barriers coming down after doing their job
Workers in Davenport have been removing the sand-filled HESCO barriers this week that kept back a surge of water on the Mississippi River. The river is receding fast after nearing record flood stage from snowmelt that came down from Minnesota. Tim Baldwin was around in 2019 when the flood waters … [Read more...]
Rain causing poor planting conditions this week
More rain today is making for muddy fields and poor conditions for planting in many parts of Iowa. Farmers made exceptional progress a week ago, as corn plantings shot from 29 to 70% statewide, and soybean plantings bounded from 16 to 49-percent. This week likely won't be so good, with more rain … [Read more...]
Corn planting zooms ahead with a dry week in the fields
Farmers had dry planting weather most of last week and they made the most of it. The corn harvest shot to 70% planted compared to 29% in the previous week. Corn planting had been one day behind the five-year average, and is now one week ahead. The U.S.D.A. also reports that six percent of the … [Read more...]
Hail, high winds and one twister bring scattered damage across much of Iowa
Reports say a woman in eastern Iowa survived a lightning strike in Sunday afternoon's severe thunderstorms, while a tornado touched down in southwest Iowa's Fremont County near Hamburg about 8 o'clock last night. That twister was relatively weak and there are no reports of significant … [Read more...]
El Nino watch issued for Iowa
Areas of Iowa that have suffered through months of drought may see some relief soon with the development of an El Nino weather pattern, as the Climate Prediction Center has issued an El Nino Watch for this summer. Doug Kluck, the Central Region climate service director for the National Weather … [Read more...]
May blizzard hit Iowa 10 years ago
Iowans may've seen on the news how Michigan's Upper Peninsula was hit on Monday with a foot-and-a-half of snow. Ten years ago this week, Iowans were the ones who were stunned with heavy snow in the first days of May, well over a month into spring. Meteorologist Rod Donavon, at the National … [Read more...]