TWAS THE WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS AND ALL THROUGH THE MIDWEST...

Monday was a cold December day around the central Midwest with highs relegated to the 20s, one of those rare days the past 6 weeks with below normal temperatures. Most areas were a good 5-7 day below the norms as you can see in the departures.

A contributing factor to the cold was snow cover deposited by the weekend storm. 2-6" blankets the ground in many parts of my area NW of the Quad Cities

Here's where Saturday's snow finally made it look and feel more like Christmas.

Some of the heavier pockets of 6" or more were noted near Ames and Dubuque.

This is what the seasonal snow totals are looking like around the nation. Outside of the high elevations and a few lake effect locations, the year is off to a pretty slow start.

Oh, and I almost forgot. These pictures were sent to me by Tony Senio, the head grounds keeper at the University of Iowa. He's the guy responsible for removing snow when necessary inside and outside of Kinnick stadium. He knows I'm a big Hawkeye fan and he reached out for my opinion on what to expect for last Saturday's game against Wisconsin. Several times we communicated about the timing of the storm and how much snow he would have to clear off the turf before the start of the game. The general forecast for Iowa City was for 1-2" totals. These are my last words of advice to him at 3:36AM eastern time.

On Dec 12, 2020, at 3:36 AM, Terry Swails <terryswails1@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey Tony, I'm finally headed to bed but wanted to throw this HRRR forecast at you. This came out at 2:00 am your time. It's pretty bullish in Iowa City. You are going to need to monitor this closely the next couple hours as this model shows nearly 8" between 3:00 and 10:00am. That still seems high to me but the model has been consistent. Even if you cut it in half you still come in at 4". Just wanted you to know what's on the table. A model is nothing more than guidance so it is not a sure thing. However, the trend is concerning and I would alert your boys to the potential. You can always back down! TS

In the end nearly 5" of heavy wet snow made Kinnick look like this as dawn broke. Tony had his team in position and they were already going to town pushing snow. If you saw the game later that afternoon you would never know it snowed. The field was so clean you could eat off it. It was really impressive. Rarely do you hear about the guys behind the scenes who do the heavy lifting and I just wanted to give him and his team a big shout out. Mr. Barta, give the man a raise. Just as good, Kirk and the boys drilled the Badgers. A fine day to be a Hawk!

Well, to be honest there's not much to get excited about the rest of this week here in the Midwest The weather looks seasonally cold and very much on the quiet side. The EURO shows this for precipitation the next 6 days

It also has this for snowfall. The black hole of weather returns to my old stomping grounds.

On a positive note, a warming trend is in the cards for the weekend. Highs might touch 40 and where there is snow on the ground, it looks like much of it will be gone by the end of the weekend. Colder weather returns just in time for Christmas. Gotta run, roll weather...TS

HOW TO GIVE DERECHO 911 WITHOUT THE BOOK.

The postal service is swamped and they say it is now too late to order and receive a copy of my new book, Derecho 911, Iowa's Inland Hurricane by Christmas. However, we have come up with a couple creative ways you can still give the book on the costliest thunderstorm in U.S. history as a gift. All you need to do is click derechobook.com and make your order, Then, later this week we will prepare a festive card with a picture of the books cover, Carolyn and myself, and a greeting announcing that whomever (fill in the persons name) is a gift recipient of Derecho 911. You can print it out, wrap it up, and use it as a gift substitute until the book arrives.

We will also make a broad based video message on YouTube wishing your loved one a merry Christmas with the announcement they will be receiving a copy of Derecho 911. We will send you the YouTube link which they can open and watch, rather personal if a dare say so myself. Make it easy on yourself and order one up today, we only have 200 left! Thanks and happy holidays...TS