Author: Henry Luker

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Midday Update: Best Threat across Southwest Iowa

The latest update from the Storm Prediction Center continues the elevated risk of severe weather over most areas south of Interstate 80 in the state. A look at the satellite imagery this afternoon shows a thinning cloud deck and some clearing even in many spots throughout the region, critical for peak daytime heating to occur, and henceforth, …

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Morning Update: All Modes Possible with Severe Weather Later Today

A low pressure system will be moving across the region today, making it’s way from eastern Nebraska through central Iowa during the overnight tonight. A cold front will extend to the south of this, overtaking a dry line in the process and setting up the stage for storm development later today. As temperatures rise across …

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Confidence Increasing in Severe Weather Event Wednesday

Active weather is expected to pulse into the region once again as an upper-level low shifts into the region tomorrow afternoon. Models are slowly coming into better agreement with the evolution of the system, with the the exception being some small synoptic features that will need to be tweaked out. The majority of the models …

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Calm Weather before Severe Chances Wednesday

High temperatures today ranged from the mid 30s northwest to the mid 50s east. Low pressure over northwest Iowa had associated counter clockwise winds around this low… around 5-10 MPH for most sites. This system will move northeast along with the rain chances. Breezy northwest winds and cloudy conditions will be the story for the …

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Late Evening Update on Winter Storm

A strong storm system continues to track across the region and will do so through Thursday. Rain, freezing rain, and sleet over the north part of the state will begin to transition to snow during the overnight hours. The heaviest snow is anticipated over northern Iowa where 8-12″ of snow is possible for some areas. A few tenths of an inch of ice is possible across north central Iowa. The snow combined with strong north-to-northeasterly winds will lead to near-blizzard conditions across the warning area.

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Tornado Watch Likely for Southwestern Iowa by 3:30 PM

The Storm Prediction Center is Norman, Oklahoma is currently monitoring southwest Iowa for severe potential this afternoon. A Tornado Watch will likely be needed by 3:30 p.m. or so with the risk of tornadoes being confined to a wedge-shaped area immediately ahead of the low pressure system to the east of an arcing dryline and …

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Severe Weather Awareness Week 2016 – Tornadoes

A tornado is a rapidly rotating column of air in contact with the ground. A visible cloud is not needed for a tornado to be in progress. Some tornadoes may not appear to extend to the ground but are causing considerable damage. Tornadoes take on various shapes and sizes, and most produce winds less than 120 MPH. However, a few are capable of producing winds over 200 MPH. Some tornadoes are very small and last for only a minute or so, while others can be a mile wide or larger and stay on the ground for over an hour.