HOT Today...Hurricane Irene Update

HOT...HOT...HOT

Orient Macksburg Schools have decided to let their students out early today because the heat and humidity will make it feel like 100+ this afternoon. (must not have AC in the classrooms.)

Coaches need to be watchful of their players during outside practice today. Make sure your players have plenty of water.


Here is the morning update on Hurricane Irene.

The hurricane is a cat. 2 with winds at 101 mph. The track is trending a little more the east...keeping it a bit farther off the Florida coast, but you can see the line is set up for landfall on the Carolina Coast overnight Saturday to Sunday morning.

The forecast is for Irene to be a major hurricane...cat. 4 along the coast of Florida. The Bahamas will be slammed along the way.

If the forecast holds for cat. 3 as it hits the Atlantic coast...we are talking about major destruction.

The long term forecast hints at Irene hitting New England. Over 75 million people could be affected by this storm. It has the potential to be another very costly event in a year of extreme weather.

Severe WX Early This Morning...North Iowa

There is a severe thunderstorm watch for much of northern Iowa until 8 am today.

Several severe thunderstorm warnings have been issued for north-central counties.

These storms are moving to the east and will not be severe for the city of Des Moines.

It will be hot later today with highs in the lower 90s and heat index temperatures between 100 to 105.

Slight Risk Severe Weather North Tonight

There is a slight risk for severe weather tonight into tomorrow morning for NW Iowa. The better chance for big storms is centered over Minnesota.

There is a weak front or low pressure trough that is moving through the Dakota's to Minnesota.

This could fire up some strong storms with larger hail and damaging wind.

Our chance for rain in the metro would not come until Today in Iowa Wednesday.

Hurricane Irene Slows Our Weather Pattern

Hurricane Irene is expected to strengthen and move off the coast of Florida to the Carolinas by Wednesday.

Irene is now forecast to be a Cat. 3 hurricane by Wednesday. That would keep sustained winds over 115 mph. The track puts land-fall at Hilton Head Island.

The hurricane will act like a brick wall for all weather moving to the east. That means our weather pattern will stay very much the same through the end of the week.

It will be hot and humid the next few days with only slight chances for showers and thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow. The best shot at the rain will be in Northeastern Iowa tomorrow.

Warm Overnight / High Heat Index/Storms Late

The temperature at 8am was 78 degrees. In fact...the lows stayed right around 80 all night.

Here is the hour-by-hour observation from the NWS for Des Moines.

a t e	Time (cdt)	Wind (mph)	Vis. (mi.)	Weather	Sky Cond.	Temperature (ºF)				Pressure		Precipitation (in.)
						Air	Dwpt	6 hour		altimeter (in.)	sea level (mb)	1 hr	3 hr	6 hr
								Max.	Min.
27	06:54	SW 8	10.00	Overcast	FEW040 SCT090 BKN140 BKN200 OVC250	79	71	83	79	29.78	1007.2
27	05:54	S 8	10.00	Overcast	FEW160 SCT200 OVC250	79	71			29.76	1006.5
27	04:54	S 6	10.00	Overcast	OVC200	79	72			29.74	1006.0
27	03:54	S 10	10.00	Mostly Cloudy	BKN250	81	73			29.75	1006.1
27	02:54	S 9	10.00	Overcast	OVC250	81	74			29.76	1006.6
27	01:54	SE 6	10.00	Overcast	OVC250	82	75			29.79	1007.7
27	00:54	SE 9	10.00	Fair	CLR	83	75	91	83	29.77	1007.0
26	23:54	SE 6	10.00	Fair	CLR	83	77			29.78	1007.3
26	22:54	SE 8	10.00	Fair	CLR	84	77			29.77	1007.1
26	21:54	SE 8	10.00	A Few Clouds	FEW060	85	77			29.76	1006.7
26	20:54	E 8	10.00	A Few Clouds	FEW050	88	77			29.76	1006.7

This is going to mean some very warm heat index temperatures this afternoon. We could top out around 110 for the "feels like" conditions later today.

There were a few showers and isolated storms in western IA this morning...but they did not have a punch for central Iowa.

This also will be the 13th straight day of 90 or warmer for the high in Des Moines. The record is 25...set during the dust bowl era...1936.

There is a chance for severe weather later today and again tomorrow. The slight risk areas are highlighted in yellow.

The heat buckled the road at 100th/Hickman in Clive this morning. Crews had it patched by Noon.

Highs today will be warmer than yesterday. I expect Des Moines will be right at 100 by 4PM or 6PM.

Tomorrow there is a good chance for some isolated storms over central Iowa by afternoon. Some of the storms could be strong to severe. There is a chance for some pretty decent amounts of rainfall.

This will also help knock our temperatures down.

Be careful out there today. Heat index temperature at 1 was already 108.

Below you will find the crazy heat index temps from yesterday.

...SELECTED HIGH HEAT INDEX VALUES FROM TUESDAY JUL 19 2011...

...IOWA...
NEWTON 129
KNOXVILLE 123
COUNCIL BLUFFS 122
ATLANTIC 119
FAIRFIELD 118
ORANGE CITY 117
DES MOINES 111

...ILLINOIS...
TAYLORVILLE 121
RANTOUL 120
CHAMPAIGN/URBANA 117
PEORIA 116
PONTIAC 116
BLOOMINGTON 115
MACOMB 115

...INDIANA...
TERRE HAUTE 115
LAFAYETTE 112
SHELBYVILLE 112
BLOOMINGTON 110
INDIANAPOLIS 110

...KANSAS...
LAWRENCE 106
TOPEKA 106
HUTCHINSON 105
MANHATTAN 105
WICHITA 105

...KENTUCKY...
FORT KNOX 109
LOUISVILLE 109
COVINGTON 108
OWENSBORO 108
HENDERSON CITY 105

...MINNESOTA...
HUTCHINSON 123
MADISON 120
MINNEAPOLIS 118
OWATONNA 117
GRANITE FALLS 114
NEW ULM 114
ST. CLOUD 114

...MISSOURI...
ST. LOUIS 110
WHITEMAN AFB 108
KANSAS CITY 107
KIRKSVILLE 107
POPLAR BLUFF 105

...MONTANA...
SIDNEY 110

...OHIO...
HAMILTON 106
WILMINGTON 105
DAYTON 103

...OKLAHOMA...
ARDMORE 107
SHAWNEE 107

...NEBRASKA...
OFFUTT AFB 112
TEKAMAH 110
NORFOLK 107
COLUMBUS 105
NEBRASKA CITY 105

...NORTH DAKOTA...
GWINNER 122
BISMARCK 117
LINTON 117
FARGO 115
CARRINGTON 114
JAMESTOWN 114

...SOUTH DAKOTA...
ABERDEEN 119
MITCHELL 114
MOBRIDGE 112
HURON 111
PIERRE 110

...TENNESSEE...
MEMPHIS 112

...TEXAS...
FORT HOOD 111
GRANBURY 107
MINERAL WELLS 107
TYLER 107

...WISCONSIN...
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN 116
BOSCOBEL 114
LA CROSSE 109
VOLK 108
MADISON 105

Big Hits From Storms Overnight

The severe storms left their mark across the state this early morning.

The first picture is of the empty Mega Doppler Tower in Allemna. We lost the trasmitter dish and radome that covers the antenna. The grain bin is from damage near Marshalltown..and the tree damage is from Kellogg.

We are sad to loose our Mega Doppler...but have crews on the way to assess the damage and help us get back on the air with a new Doppler soon.

We have always used the NWS NEXRAD radar along with our own live radar. The NEXRAD sites from around the state and the region are up and running as always and will allow us to continue to keep all of Central Iowa safe with complete radar coverage of the next round of storms.

80 to 100 mph wind swept through the state around 3 to 4:30 this morning.

Many are without power in Tama and Marshall Counties.

This is going to be very dangerous for those who have to deal with the heat and humidity the next few days.

More storms are possible tonight and again tomorrow night to early Wednesday. Some of those storms could be severe.

I'm off today to celebrate my daughter's 13th birthday! Megan will be on the evening news to show you more damage and to give you the latest on the severe weather chances over the next few days.

Stay cool and check on those who can't.