September 2nd Forecast

Some rumbles of thunder were heard this morning across NW IA and while no rain fell in SLB, could see it was dark up to the NW of here around 8AM. However, the radar is quiet this afternoon and looks to be a great day with temperatures that should reach into the mid-80s. Perfect day to get out on your favorite lake or just to be outside on this last weekend of summer (unoffically).



1925Z/2:25PM

August 31 - Labor Day Weekend Forecast

Another beautiful day in SLB with temperatures a touch warmer than Thursday, but still fantastic weather. It was also another day of light winds which added to the awesomenisity factor of the day. The Labor Day week appears to be shaping up quite nicely with temperatures dipping into the upper 50s in the overnight hours and lower 80s during the day. Needless to say, it will be a busy weekend for the outdoor waterpark, and thus the hotel as well. Enjoy the unofficial end of summer weather.



As you can tell, I made some improvements. I was fairly happy with the size of the forecast image until I noticed it was cut off after the tomorrow night. I will have to make some adjustments (not tonight) and will finish the rest of the templates over the next week. Any comments or suggestions, please leave a comment or email me (address along the right hand side).

0450Z/11:50PM

Outstanding Late August Weather

A magnificent day here in SLB. Temperatures peaked in the upper 70s with light winds and a picture perfect blue sky. Just outstanding weather. Days like these I wish I could bottle up and sell. Severe weather chances are around nil right now for the quad-state region with high pressure dominating the weather pattern over us. Enjoy!

I'll start to load up a 2.5 day forecast for SLB, but this is prelim stages for the layout. I can already see I will make it a bit wider.

A Storm Lake Sunset

Last evening /28 Aug/ was a spectacular sunset even though there were not a lot of different colors. While I missed the best of the show when the sky turned a golden yellow before 8PM as I was working, it was worth it.

As I left work, I just figured it wouldn't be worth my time as it was getting dark and I didn't have a tripod plus it was still raining. As I started heading west towards home, I realized I still might have enough time to get to the east side of the lake. So I spun a u-turn in a parking lot and headed back east. I found a nice spot to pull in and hopped out. I shot for about 15 minutes in light rain until the best of the show was over...and I was drenched. :) Enjoy Storm Lake's Post-Thunderstorm Sunset!

Storm Lake at its finest.

Thunderstorm tops (right center) are silhouetted and outlined by the setting sun on Storm Lake.

Ducks (near center of the image) swim across the mixture of colors on Storm Lake.

Summer Sunset on Storm Lake.

I couldn't figure out what this boater was doing out, but I think it might have been the shift change for the dredge workers. As I left my spot, the light on the dredge came on. Anyone, an outstanding picture.

Outstanding!

The golden sky and the red horizon (Cyclone colors?) with windmills (center) provided an outstanding show.

Trust.

Knowing who to trust is everything in this business.

Tallying up August's rain so far...

Some of those CoCoRaHS gauges aren't large enough at 4" for a 24 hour period. The totals here at KRJA /the house/:
August 22: 1.58"
Total since August 20: 4.41"
Total for August: 12.92"
August 24 hour Max Rainfall: August 3/7:54"

Current road closures due to flooding include:

• US Hwy 20 bridge over the Cedar Creek in Calhoun County
• Iowa 7 west of Alta, IA in Buena Vista County
• Lower section of Ledges State Park south of Boone

0405Z/11:05PM

Turn Around, Don't Drown

Turn Around, Don't Drown MP3

More heavy rain last night along the Hwy 3, Hwy 9 and I-90 corridors in Iowa and Minnesota have caused another barrage of Flash Flood Warnings across the quad-state area.(IA/MN/NE/SD). Rainfall at the house /KRJA/ on August 21 was 1.83". Through 11:15AM today, August 22, 1.10" has fallen. In addition, a wind gust of 39MPH was observed and some nice CG lightning.

Already this morning, more rain is falling between Hwy 3 and Hwy 30 (roughly) in Iowa (Current Radar), which is a littler further South than last evening's rain path. Nevertheless, more rain on already saturated ground will continue to add to the problems of flooding.

KCCI/ABC5 reports that in Fort Dodge officials are reinforcing levees. The EM for Webster County, IA reported a levee breach on the Des Moines River at the hydroelectric dam around 6:30AM this morning. Last evening, Cherokee, IA reported water/sewage backing up into basements and street flooding.

Here are the projected rainfall totals from NWS Sioux Falls. From NWS HPC, predicted rainfall totals for Day 1 (August 22), Day 2 (August 23), and Day 3 (August 24).

Remember, never try to cross a roadway that has water over as you can not tell the depth of the water, the speed of the water, or if the road is still there. Turn Around, Don't Drown.

1625Z/11:25AM

August 21: Weather Discussion

Another round of thunderstorms, some that may be severe, are progged to make their way across the tri-state area. Currently, 75/70 (temp/dewpoint) in SLB so is already steamy outside. The issue today, again, will be the 700mb temperatures that are very warm across NE. At this hour, if storms tried to go up they would have better luck in western Iowa or South Dakota than eastern NE. Nonetheless, forecast models are showing that storms will try to fire across eastern NE/western IA later this afternoon, and then overnight will cross Iowa between IA 3 and IA 2, roughly. Flash Flood Watch is definitely advisable with onset of more rainfall likely in areas that have already had too much rain and/or are under Flood Warnings. Precipitable water isn't too impressive yet, but will have to monitor as the day progresses.

1607Z/11:07PM

Rainfall Totals for August 20

1.00" even at KRJA (the house) through 11:30PM, and that will likely be the final tally for the day. A gust of 25 MPH was observed at 9:54PM as thunderstorms moved into the area and dropped another 0.19" this evening on top of the 0.81" earlier in the day. I haven't check the other gauge to see if they correlate well, but I have more confidence that the heavier rainfall earlier this month was accurate. Anyway, a few small branches down in the yard, but nothing serious out of this evenings storms in SLB.

0426Z/11:26PM

August 19, 2007 Photos

Just east of SLB around 5PM as TCU build.
















On the shores of Storm Lake looking to the ESE as thunderstorms roar through central Iowa after 7:30PM.














Sunset on Little Storm Lake around 8PM.












Thunderstorms begin to develop on the quasi-stationary front North of SLB. This is the view over Little Storm Lake to the Northwest shortly after 8PM.













Sunset on Little Storm Lake after 8PM with thunderstorms to the Northwest.











The clouds were lit pink to the SE of SLB after sunset. A fisherman on Storm Lake took center stage for this photo.