- Feb 8, 2021

BITTER WEEK OF WEATHER....

LIMITED COPIES LEFT:

A SECOND PRINTING OF TERRY'S NEW BOOK IS ON THE WAY...

NEW COPIES OF DERECHO 911, IOWA'S INLAND HURRICANE ARE AVAILABLE. Around Christmas we sold the last of the 1500 copies of our book on this historic thunderstorm, the most damaging in U.S. history. Due to continued demand we ordered a limited number of 250 for those of you interested in having the most authoritative account of this extreme event. Books are selling fast so don't miss this opportunity to own the weather story of a generation. You can get yours at derechobook.com

I ordered one of your Derecho books about the storm in Cedar Rapids, IA back in December. I love it! I had also bought one that the Cedar Rapids Gazette sold. Your book by far is so much better, you have a lot more pictures and it just shows more. Thank you for putting a wonderful keepsake together! Do you have any left? If so can you tell me how to get at least one more.

Thank you so much! Penny Brecke

Arctic air has it's grip on there northern United States and it made itself known on Sunday. Temperatures were well below zero in the morning... nearing records and the coldest levels we've seen since the polar air outbreak of 2019 (when many of us set all-time record lows). You can see this animation from Sunday morning of locations in the U.S. that set or were close to records (blue dots):

In the afternoon temperatures in my local area remained below zero in many spots... in others just above by a few degrees.

Now unlike the record cold in 2019, which improved rather quickly, we are going to be caught under the spell of this arctic air for... a while. One thing that will help temperatures from dropping too far in the overnight hours will be clouds with clippers passing by.

There will be a series of clippers that move through Monday morning, afternoon, and another on Tuesday. Due to the very cold air in place the snow could add up to a few inches in spots.

Here's a look at the snowfall totals on the hi-resolution NAM through Tuesday:

The clouds will hold temperatures down on Monday afternoon, but most of us should manage to AT LEAST get above the zero mark:

Monday night will be yet another night below the zero mark:

And then the cycle repeats... bitter cold days and even colder nights with periodic chances for snow. As we've been talking about this is going to be a PROLONGED cold snap. Here's a look at the Climate Prediction Center's Outlook for February 13th to 17th:

Temperatures are expected to remain well below normal and well below freezing for... a while. Here's a look at some of the numbers, BUT take this with a grain of salt. Long-range temperatures will change but this will give you an idea of just how long we're expecting the bitter cold.

Here's the European ensemble's temperatures for the next 15 days for Cedar Rapids: