By Tom Brown MIAMI (Reuters) – The U.S. National Weather Service is getting a quantum jump in computing power that will significantly improve its forecasting and storm tracking abilities to better protect the country from severe weather. “This is a game changer,” Louis Uccellini, who took over as director of the National Weather Service in [...]
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By Kamyar Enshayan —- It is year 2018, and after several weeks of intense rainfall, the National Weather Service is forecasting another week of rain and superstorms and possibly record floods. Future I Immediately following the 2008 flood, residents worked with local, state and federal officials to develop a comprehensive 10-year plan. The [...]
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Despite concerns about lingering drought conditions in the Midwest, area seed companies are optimistic about the upcoming growing season. “The drought was first and foremost on everyone’s minds going into this year,” said Tim Schanbacher, owner of Schanbacher Seed of Shellsburg. “But we’re planning on having a tremendous year.” Iowa’s topsoil remains at drier than [...]
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Rain is expected to soak much of Eastern Iowa for the rest of the week, raising concerns over flash flooding in the short-term and adding to the potential for more flooding later in the season. “We have some significant rises on our land already,” said Terry Simmons, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in the [...]
continue »The Hawk Eye — When President Barack Obama crafted his 2013 federal budget, it included $36 million in cuts to the National Weather Service. The budget is still being debated, but the NWS and its Storm Prediction Center are getting well-deserved credit for correctly forecasting a deadly storm over the weekend. Both long-range and short-range [...]
continue »Drivers in Iowa will get another chance to perfect their winter driving skills today. According to the National Weather Service, widespread snow accumulation of one to three inches is expected across Iowa today. Some freezing drizzle will be possible over the south this afternoon. The snow will end by late tonight. With the relatively mild [...]
continue »Whether or not the groundhog sees its shadow today, winter will continue, but it’s likely to remain warmer than normal, experts say. The National Weather Service on Monday released a 30-day outlook predicting above-normal temperatures for Eastern Iowa and precipitation at or slightly above the approximately 1 inch that typically falls in February. “The jet stream has stayed [...]
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IOWA CITY – Residents, business owners and city leaders around Iowa likely will have a new tool during future floods – inundation maps that show flood risk well beyond the reaches of a community’s 100-year floodplain and can be called up with the click of a mouse. The Iowa City-area flood inundation map was [...]
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An inconspicuous wader often catches glimpses of the wild and free creatures that inhabit Iowa’s rivers, but even I, a frequent Wapsipinicon visitor for the past 50 years, was ill prepared for those I encountered a week ago. At noon last Friday, I checked the hydrograph of the Wapsi on the National Weather Service website [...]
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The chance that thousands of RAGBRAI cyclists scheduled to set up camp in Coralville on Friday will be greeted with rain showers and thunderstorms is at 40 percent right now, and local authorities have a detailed “emergency operations plan” should those storms produce a thunderstorm watch or warning. “That is a huge concern of ours,” [...]
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