Lacona Anyhrous Spill

There was a spill of anhydrous ammonia in Lacona, Iowa today. That is south central Iowa near Liberty Center.

SPOT FORECAST FOR LACONA...WARREN COUNTY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1153 AM CDT THU AUG 19 2010

FORECAST IS BASED ON IGNITION TIME OF 1100 CDT ON AUGUST 19.
IF CONDITIONS BECOME UNREPRESENTATIVE...CONTACT THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE.

.DISCUSSION...
SUNNY SKIES AND STEADY SOUTH WINDS ARE EXPECTED TODAY. RAIN IS NOT
ANTICIPATED UNTIL POSSIBLY FRIDAY MORNING.

.TODAY...

SKY/WEATHER.........SUNNY (5-15 PERCENT).
MAX TEMPERATURE.....AROUND 88.
MIN HUMIDITY........59 PERCENT.
EYE LEVEL WINDS.....WINDS BECOMING SOUTH 10 TO 12 MPH.
HAINES INDEX........4 OR LOW POTENTIAL FOR LARGE PLUME DOMINATED
FIRE GROWTH.
MIXING HEIGHT.......1800 FT AGL INCREASING TO 3300 FT AGL IN THE
LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON.
MIXING WINDS........SOUTH 6 TO 15 MPH INCREASING TO 16 TO 20 MPH IN
THE AFTERNOON.
SMOKE DISPERSAL.....GOOD (52000 KNOT-FT).

TIME (CDT) 12P 1PM 2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM 6PM
SKY (%).........9 16 17 18 19 20 21
WEATHER COV.....
WEATHER TYPE....
TEMP............81 84 85 86 87 87 84
RH..............69 63 61 59 59 59 65
EYE LVL WND DIR.S S S S S S S
EYE LVL WND SPD.9 11 12 12 12 12 10
EYE LVL WND GST.15 15 15 15 15 15 15
MIX HGT (KFT)...2.5 2.4 2.7 3.0 3.3 3.0 2.8
MIXNG WIND DIR..S S S S S S S
MIXNG WIND SPD..14 15 16 17 18 20 20
HAINES INDEX....4 4 4 4 4 4 4

.TONIGHT...

SKY/WEATHER.........PARTLY CLOUDY (25-35 PERCENT).
MIN TEMPERATURE.....AROUND 70.
MAX HUMIDITY........84 PERCENT.
EYE LEVEL WINDS.....SOUTH WINDS 6 TO 7 MPH.
HAINES INDEX........5 OR MODERATE POTENTIAL FOR LARGE PLUME
DOMINATED FIRE GROWTH.
MIXING HEIGHT.......2600 FT AGL DECREASING TO 500 FT AGL LATE IN
THE EVENING.
MIXING WINDS........SOUTH 9 TO 18 MPH DECREASING TO AROUND 8 MPH
EARLY IN THE MORNING.
SMOKE DISPERSAL.....FAIR (41000 KNOT-FT).

TIME (CDT) 7 PM 9 PM 11 PM 1 AM 3 AM 5 AM
SKY (%).........22 31 32 33 35 39
WEATHER COV.....
WEATHER TYPE....NONE NONE NONE NONE NONE NONE
TEMP............83 78 76 74 73 72
RH..............67 76 82 84 84 84
EYE LEVEL WIND..S 6 S 5 SE 5 SE 5 S 5 S 5
EYE LEVEL WIND..10 10 10
MIX HGT (FT)....2600 1400 700 300 300 300
MIXNG WIND......S 18 S 13 S 10 S 10 S 9 S 8
HAINES INDEX....4 4 4 4 5 5



The cloud of toxic gas was still hanging over the co-op elevator where the spill happened today. To help with the situation the National Weather Service issued a spot forecast for the area.

It is very important to know the direction of wind and weather conditions in general when there is a major hazardous spill. We watch the wind direction and pass it along to our reporters who are covering dangerous spills like the one this morning in Lacona.