Terry Swails | Midwest Weather

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IN SEARCH OF RAIN....

IN SEARCH OF RAIN....

The weather is going to get more pleasant around here, but with the nice conditions also comes drier weather. And that's not something we need right now. The latest Drought Monitor came out Thursday morning and dry and drought conditions have been expanding across Iowa and other parts of the Midwest. The worst of it is centered in western Iowa where severe drought conditions exist. As an example, Carroll, Iowa has only seen 1.44" of rain in July (a month where there's normall

THANK A TROPICAL STORM...

THANK A TROPICAL STORM...

You won't get blasted by the winds and torrential rains but you will feel the impacts of what should at the very least be a tropical storm by the end of the weekend (perhaps a hurricane). Let me show you what's going on and why you should care. The best place to start is on the GOES high resolution satellite imagery. I've highlighted two pieces of energy that eventually will interact with one another. The disturbance dropping into the Midwest Thursday will act like an ice cre

STEVE'S "WILD" WORLD OF WEATHER...

STEVE'S "WILD" WORLD OF WEATHER...

When I'm wondering about weather folklore and historical events this is the man I go to. With more than 50 years of statistical and observational research, he's the dude! When it comes to lunar cycles, woolly bear caterpillars, insects, bugs, and animals, he tracks them, records them, and establishes ties to weather patterns. He's a knowledgeable and interesting man. His name is Steve Gottschalk by way of Lowden, Iowa. I'm grateful to him for lending his unique perspective to

SOME THOUGHTS ON WINTER....

SOME THOUGHTS ON WINTER....

Getting into the "dog days" of summer like we are now, our weather tends to grow sluggish and slow down. The jet is at its seasonal weakest as the cold air that powers it much of late fall through spring vacations in Canada. Without the strong thermal contrast to intensify cyclones, late summer storms are fewer and often far between. Severe weather (which was minimal this year) has long since peaked and precipitation episodes now become scattered and hit and miss in nature. F

THAT'S HOW I SPELL RELIEF...

THAT'S HOW I SPELL RELIEF...

In the world of weather, nothing brings relief from a hot steamy air mass better than a "cold front". One of those crossed the central Midwest Sunday night and boy did it do a number on the heat in more ways than one. First, look at the 24 hour temperature change from Sunday afternoon to Monday afternoon. Much of my area 9-13 degrees cooler. Then you get into the dew points and the reduced moisture in the atmosphere was even more dramatic. Many area dew points were down 11-16

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Satellite and Radar