9 Nov 2010 Extended Forecast

A CHANGE IS IN STORE FOR IOWA BEGINNING ON WEDNESDAY AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER THE WEST LIFTS ACROSS THE UPPER MIDWEST AND INTO MINNESOTA DRAGGING A COLD FRONT ACROSS THE REGION LATE WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS TO THE REGION ALONG WITH THE START OF A COOL DOWN TO
MORE SEASONAL TEMPERATURES. A STRONGER SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE REGION THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. MORE WIDESPREAD RAINFALL WILL OCCUR WITH THIS SYSTEM THROUGH FRIDAY ALONG WITH SOME ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY EVENING INTO FRIDAY. MUCH COLDER AIR WILL MOVE IN FOR THE END OF THE WEEK - BRINGING A GOOD SHOT A RAIN/SNOW MIX BEFORE ENDING LATER SATURADY.


9 Nov 2010 Extended Forecast

Today and Wed 9/10th - Dry/Breezy - Highs Mid 60's - Lows 40-45.

Thurs 11th - Increasing Clouds with Showers - Tshowers develop Late - Temps 55/40.

Fri 12th - TShowers - Breezy - Temp 45/33.

Sat 13th - Rain changing to Lt Rian/Snow Mix before going Mostly Cloudy during the afternoon - Temps 40/28.

Sun Thru Tue 14th thru 16th - Partly Cloudy Sunday - Snowshowers Monday and Tue.

Wed 17th - Dry

On this day in Iowa weather history...

1975: A rare November tornado outbreak occurred in eastern and northeastern Iowa with at least nine tornadoes touching down. One storm produced several tornadoes intermittently along a path from near Traer in Tama County to the southeastern corner of Bremer County. Extensive damage was done to about 20 farms and numerous homes were destroyed in Evansdale, Dewar, and Dunkerton as the storm narrowly missed Waterloo. Another tornado struck areas from Toronto to near Maquoketa. In total 7 people were injured but thankfully there were no fatalities.


WINTER WEATHER AWARENESS DAY IN IOWA IS TODAY NOVEMBER 9 2010...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE IOWA HOMELAND
SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT HAS DECLARED NOVEMBER 9...2010 AS
WINTER WEATHER AWARENESS DAY IN IOWA.

EACH YEAR...WINTER RETURNS TO IOWA AND PRODUCES WINTER STORMS...
BLIZZARDS...ICE STORMS AND PERIODS OF EXTREMELY COLD TEMPERATURES
AND DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS. TO HELP PREPARE FOR THE UPCOMING WINTER
SEASON...INFORMATIVE WINTER SAFETY INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE...DES MOINES...WEB SITE IN THE IN THE NEWS
SECTION AT: WWW.WEATHER.GOV/DESMOINES. THE PAGE CONTAINS WINTER
WEATHER SAFETY TIPS AND LINKS TO NATIONAL WINTER WEATHER SAFETY
INFORMATION.

WINTER STORMS...
HEAVY SNOW CAN IMMOBILIZE A REGION AND PARALYZE A CITY...STRANDING
COMMUTERS...STOPPING THE FLOW OF PLIES...AND DISRUPTING
EMERGENCY AND MEDICAL SERVICES. THE ACCUMULATION OF SNOW CAN
COLLAPSE BUILDINGS AND KNOCK DOWN TREES AND POWER LINES. IN RURAL
AREAS...HOMES AND FARMS MAY BE ISOLATED FOR DAYS...AND UNPROTECTED
LIVESTOCK MAY BE LOST.

THE COST OF SNOW REMOVAL AND THE LOSS OF BUSINESS CAN HAVE A LARGE
ECONOMIC IMPACT ON CITIES AND TOWNS.

HEAVY ACCUMULATION OF ICE CAN BRING DOWN TREES...ELECTRICAL
WIRES...TELEPHONE POLES AND LINES...AS WELL AS COMMUNICATION TOWERS.
COMMUNICATION AND POWER CAN BE DISRUPTED FOR DAYS WHILE UTILITY
COMPANIES WORK TO REPAIR THE EXTENSIVE DAMAGE. EVEN A SMALL
ACCUMULATION OF ICE MAY CAUSE EXTREME HAZARDS TO MOTORISTS AND
PEDESTRIANS.

TYPES OF WINTER STORMS WHICH IMPACT IOWA...

HEAVY SNOW...HEAVY SNOW OF 6 INCHES OR MORE IN SIX HOURS OR EIGHT
INCHES OR MORE IN TWELVE HOURS. WIND SPEEDS GENERALLY LESS THAN 20
MPH KEEP BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW TO A MINIMUM.

ICE STORM...A STORM PRODUCING A QUARTER INCH OR MORE OF ICE. ICE
STORMS SEVERELY IMPACT TRAVEL AND CAN CAUSE POWER OUTAGES DUE TO
BREAKING POWER LINES.

HEAVY SLEET...A STORM PRODUCING A HALF INCH OF SLEET OR MORE. SLEET
STORM IMPACTS ARE LESS SEVERE THAN ICE STORMS.

WINTER STORM...A COMBINATION OF SNOW...SLEET...ICE OR WINDS OF 25 TO
34 MPH CAUSING CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.

BLIZZARD...VISIBILITIES OF A QUARTER MILE OR LESS FOR THREE HOURS OR
MORE FROM BLOWING AND/OR FALLING SNOW AND WINDS OF 35 MPH OR
GREATER. THE BLIZZARD IS THE MORE SERIOUS TYPE OF WINTER STORM.
BLIZZARDS CAN CRIPPLE TRAVEL MAKING IT EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TO TRAVEL
AT ALL.

EXTREME COLD AND WIND CHILL IS ANOTHER SERIOUS HAZARD IN THE WINTER
MONTHS.

NEARLY EVERY YEAR EPISODES OF EXTREMELY COLD AIR ACCOMPANY
WINTER STORMS OR ARE LEFT IN THEIR WAKE. WHEN AN ARCTIC OUTBREAK
IS ACCOMPANIED BY STRONG WINDS ... BITTERLY COLD WIND CHILLS CAN
RESULT. PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO THE COLD CAN CAUSE FROSTBITE OR
HYPOTHERMIA AND CAN BECOME LIFE THREATENING. INFANTS AND ELDERLY
PEOPLE ARE MOST SUSCEPTIBLE.

THERE ARE TWO DANGERS DURING COLD SPELLS ... FROSTBITE AND
HYPOTHERMIA.

FROSTBITE IS DAMAGE TO BODY TISSUE CAUSED BY THAT TISSUE BEING
FROZEN. FROSTBITE CAUSES A LOSS OF FEELING AND A WHITE OR PALE
APPEARANCE IN EXTREMITIES SUCH AS FINGERS ... TOES ... EAR LOBES ...
OR THE TIP OF THE NOSE. IF SYMPTOMS ARE DETECTED ... GET MEDICAL
HELP IMMEDIATELY. IF HELP IS NOT AVAILABLE ... SLOWLY WARM AFFECTED
AREAS. HOWEVER ... IF SIGNS OF HYPOTHERMIA ARE PRESENT ... WARM THE
BODY CORE BEFORE THE EXTREMITIES.

HYPOTHERMIA IS HAVING A LOW BODY TEMPERATURE. WARNING SIGNS INCLUDE
UNCONTROLLABLE SHIVERING ... MEMORY LOSS ... DISORIENTATION ...
INCOHERENCE ... SLURRED SPEECH ... DROWSINESS ... AND APPARENT
EXHAUSTION. TO DETECTION HYPOTHERMIA ... TAKE THE PERSON/S
TEMPERATURE. IF IT IS BELOW 95 DEGREES ... IMMEDIATELY SEEK MEDICAL
CARE. IF MEDICAL CARE IS NOT AVAILABLE ... BEGIN WARMING THE BODY
SLOWLY. WARM THE CORE FIRST. IF NEEDED ... USE YOUR OWN BODY HEAT
TO HELP. GET THE PERSON INTO DRY CLOTHING AND WRAP HIM/HER IN A WARM
BLANKET ... COVERING THE HEAD AND NECK. DO NOT WARM EXTREMITIES
FIRST. THIS DRIVES THE COLD BLOOD TOWARD THE HEART AND CAN LEAD TO
HEART FAILURE.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE USES WIND-CHILL TEMPERATURES TO EXPRESS
THE EFFECT OF WIND AND COLD TEMPERATURES. THE WIND CHILL
TEMPERATURE IS WHAT THE HUMAN BODY FELLS LIKE WITH THE EFFECT OF
WIND AND COLD ARE ACCOUNTED FOR.

INFORMATION ABOUT FAMILY SAFETY AND OTHER IMPORTANT PREPAREDNESS
TOPICS CAN BE FOUND ON THE BE READY IOWA WEB SITE AT
WWW.BEREADYIOWA.ORG.

ATTENTION CENTRAL IOWA MEDIA: GETTING THE WORD OUT ABOUT WINTER
WEATHER PREPAREDNESS IS VITAL TO THE SUCCESS OF WINTER WEATHER
AWARENESS DAY. PLEASE CONTACT JEFF JOHNSON...NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE...DES MOINES...AT 515-270-4501 515-270-4501 EXT. 726 OR E-MAIL AT
JEFF.JOHNSON@NOAA.GOV TO SCHEDULE AN INTERVIEW. THANK YOU.

JEFF JOHNSON
WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST
WEATHER FORECAST OFFICE
JOHNSTON IOWA
515-270-4501 515-270-4501
JEFF.JOHNSON@NOAA.GOV (ALL LOWER CASE)