Moisture, Spring Blooms and Eagles

The snow and rain that fell over the state yesterday was welcomed by most. We need to soak up every inch of rainfall and snow melt.

Most of the state is considered to be in a moderate to severe drought. The map from the Iowa State University Agronomy Department shows most of the moisture fell over the western 1/2 of Iowa. It was primarily rain.

There is very little frost in the soil south of Highway 30. This will allow the moisture to seep into the ground. Usually the snow melt is run-off this time of the year.


We had this picture of crocuses sent to our photolink file yesterday. Annette Johnson sent this hope for spring from Pella. I was expecting tulips.

The picture is perfect...love to see the flowers but my concern is for freezing temperatures in March. We have mild weather right now...but there is good chance for cold air to snap into the area next week.
The frost and freeze could destroy many a garden with early blooms.


More signs of spring. The Eagles in Decorah are watching over a couple eggs in their nifty nest. This picture of the second egg was sent to our photolink file as the snow was falling over the eagle camera.
You can see the live stream of the nest on this link.
http://www.whotv.com/who-decorah-eagle-nest-cam-20120105,0,1147216.htmlstory

Enjoy the sunshine today. It will be windy, but high will again make it up to the middle 40s. I expect we will be close to 50 tomorrow.
Colder temperatures are back for the end of the week.

Follow along on Twitter for the latest updates @EdWilsonWX13HD
See you on the air tonight.

Warm Winter

This graph from Iowa State University shows just how warm this winter has been in Des Moines.

Daryl Harzmann works out of the Agronomy Building on the ISU campus and puts together some of the most detailed and interesting weather facts imaginable for central Iowa.

The recent graph of climate information shows the departure from the average temperatures this season.

From Daryl: "The featured chart is another illustration of how warm this winter has
been. The chart shows the number of days this winter season that the
low temperature has been at or below a given temperature threshold.
The blue line represents the minimum total for any year prior to this
year. The teal line is this winter and it closely hugs or exceeds the
previous minimum at some thresholds. The overall minimum temperature
has only been 1 degree this year, which would be the warmest on record
if it stands for the rest of winter. Our last winter is plotted in red
and shows how much different it was than this year."

You can check out great weather information that is updated just about every day on the Iowa Environmental Mesonet. http://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/index.phtml


This recent picture from Clive shows the open water of the ponds in that area and the water fowl that has stayed in the area through the winter.

40s are in the forecast through the rest of the week. After the brief rain this afternoon and evening... we will have a dry end of the week and weekend.

The next storm will move into Iowa Monday. This has the potential to mix rain and snow over the state.

Follow along with updated forecast information on Twitter... @EdWilsonWX13HD

Have a great rest of the week.

Storm Update

Storm is still coming. We are going to see the slow-moving system leave us with rain this afternoon and evening.

The rain will switch to snow early tomorrow morning. You can see the snow total map that shows most of the snow will be in Southwest Iowa.

That is the area that has a winter storm watch through 12:00 AM Sunday.

The snow Saturday morning will be heavy at times, then we are expecting a drier period during the mid-day hours. More snow will move through the area Saturday evening as the wind picks up and the storm starts to move east.

Travel to the west will be difficult at best tomorrow. Up to 18 inches of snow is expected in central Nebraska.

Tune in for the 5,6 and 10 newscasts...updates are always on 13.2 and you can follow me on Twitter @EdWilsonWX13HD for constant updates.

Have a great day and be ready for a mess Saturday.

Weekend Storm Pushing South

The big storm is still moving in our direction..but now is taking a turn farther south. This will mean less rain and snow for central Iowa.
There is a winter storm watch for the southwest corner of Iowa. It does not include Des Moines.
Rain will start tomorrow afternoon. The rain will change to snow by early Saturday morning.
More dry air is going to get pulled into this storm and the track will stay in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. That will mean about 1 to 3 inches of snow in Des Moines...but up to 6 or 8 inches of snow over SW Iowa, NE Nebraska and NW Missouri.



There is also a Dense Fog Advisory for portions of eastern Iowa. Fog has been a huge problem there over the last few days. Visibilities will fall below 1/4 mile.


It will be windy Saturday night and Sunday.
Travel will be difficult south and west of Des Moines.
Folks north of Highway 30 could miss all the weather action this weekend.

Finally....it was warm enough today for Vicki Van Donselaar to use the clothes line to dry the wash. Great weather for now... but stay tuned for the big changes this weekend.



As always...tune into 13.2 for the latest forecasts. Also follow on Twitter @EdWilsonWX13HD for more updates on this storm.

3 days in the 60s, Dense Fog, Winter Storm

The warm temperatures have busted another record today. At 3:05 this afternoon we topped out at 60 degrees. It is the new record for Feb. 1st. It is the third day in a row that Des Moines was 60 degrees or warmer. That has never happened during our meteorological winter (Dec 1-March 1).

Now we have a Dense Fog Advisory for the NE 1/4 of Iowa. It does not include Des Moines.

Calm wind and warm air flowing over the snow in that part of the state will reduce visibilities to under 1/4 mile tonight. The advisory is in effect through 10AM.


We will have great weather again tomorrow...but a winter storm with a potential to rock Iowa is moving our way. It will hit Friday night. First we will see rain and then the rain will change to snow. Saturday is going to be a mess. We could see some areas with over 5 inches of snow. Higher amount are possible. This storm is still 36 hours out...but the forecast models continue to show it on track for much of central Iowa.

I will update the storm tonight at 10 on 13 HD.

Follow all storm updates on Twitter. @EdWilsonWX13HD.

Do you wonder where winter has been hanging out? Alaska! One of the coldest winters on record has left Alaska in the deep freeze this year. Check out the co-eds at University of Alaska in Fairbanks. -45 and beachwear... fantastic.

Monday morning Prospect Creek, Alaska had a temperature of -79. The record low temperature for the U.S. was recorded at Prospect Creek in 1971. It hit -79.8. When the temp hits -30 ...oil will not pour out of a can. Hot water turns to ice dust when thrown into temperatures around -25.

Heavy snow has also plagued the Denali state. Snow that has collapsed homes and business. A few reports of 70+ inches of snow in 48 hours.

Our winter... not so wintry. We have received 6.4 inches of snow since Dec. 1. 10 inches of snow has fallen since last Fall. Record high temperatures were recorded yesterday. Des Moines had a high of 65. The old record was 57. Busted!!!



Here is a picture of the creek in our back yard. Still frozen...but not enough to support the weight of parent or kids. We had a story of two folks who lost their lives while ice fishing in Madison County yesterday. Another story of a kid how fell through ice on the Des Moines River as he tried to stop his dog from falling into the cold water. Thankfully the child was safe...and the Des Moines river rescue team saved the dog.

More 50s are in the forecast through the next couple days. The ice is too thin. Make sure you stay safe and on solid ground.

We are watching another storm that will impact the area Friday night and Saturday. Rain is expected to change to snow. Stay tuned....winter still has time to make up for the spring temps this week.

Wimpy Storm

This storm of wintry mix is slowing down and wimping out. Dryer has set up over Central Iowa and is sucking away all of the moisture.

There will be some areas of slick roads later today... but measurable snow will be very difficult to accumulate here.

The messy weather will move in before noon but we'll finish by 3 o'clock this afternoon.

Watch out for slick patches of roadway this afternoon and evening. The weekend is still looking dry and I think you're going like the temperatures next week.

Check out central Iowa's only 24 hour local weather news channel...13.2. We will have new updates on this changing forecast all day long.