Windy Wednesday

Iowa...where the wind comes sweeping down the plain. It seems like Oklahoma could take a backseat to the wild wind of Iowa. There is a reason why Iowa is the third largest producer of wind energy in the U.S. We are right behind California and Texas. In fact we often are the second largest wind energy provider. Thank those amazing wind farms in northwest Iowa and the fact we build the big wind turbines right up the road in Newton.

Tomorrow the low pressure system that will grace us with some light drizzle and light snow. Little accumulation of snow or freezing drizzle will hamper our travel. The bigger issue will be the wind that is created as the low moves out and a high pressure ridge moves in quickly behind the storm. This creates gradient wind. That is why we use isobars on the weather maps. Those little lines represent about 10 mph of wind per line. So if you count 4 lines across Iowa...that means 40 mph wind. Tightly packed isobars shows big-time wind.

Tonight I will show you those lines on the map...and make sure you remember the high wind tomorrow as you deal with the light drizzle and snow.