Past IEM Features tagged: apr11
Lack of SW winds continues
19 May 2011 07:35 AMOur winds are again out of the east this morning with an approaching storm system to our west. These winds are not as warm as those from our southwest. The featured chart presents the number of unique hours during which a wind observation of at least 5 knots was reported by the Des Moines ASOS since the first of April. Since 1973, this calculation would indicate that this year has seen the fewest number of hours.
Voting:
Good: 15
Bad: 3
Tags: may11 apr11
Southwesterly winds continue to be rare
16 May 2011 05:53 AMThis weekend saw temperatures struggle to reach 50 on Saturday and 60 on Sunday thanks to cloud cover and northerly winds. The featured chart presents the wind direction and air temperature since 15 April for Ames. The observations where the winds were from a direction between south and west are highlighted in red. These winds typically bring us warm air this time of year. This week will start off with plenty of sunshine and slowly warming temperatures.
Voting:
Good: 9
Bad: 4
Tags: apr11 may11
April started off warm
02 May 2011 05:57 AMThe featured chart displays the April temperature percentile from the first of the month to the given date. So on April 10, the average temperature was above the 80th percentile for the 1-10 April period. This value plunged for the rest of the month and finished cooler than average below the 40th percentile. May has not started much better with a cool northwest breeze and near freezing temperatures this morning. Really warm air is nowhere in the immediate forecast period!
Voting:
Good: 10
Bad: 3
Tags: apr11
Finally above 60
29 Apr 2011 05:55 AMFor some locations in Iowa, our recent stretch of sub 60 degree weather finally came to an end on Thursday. For Ames, this was the longest such stretch this late in the spring season at 14 days. The featured chart shows the longest stretches for Ames and then the coldest low and high temperature afterwards until the end of August. The forecast has highs mostly in the 60s for the next seven days.
Voting:
Good: 22
Bad: 8
Tags: apr11
Not helping the soils much
22 Apr 2011 05:48 AMOur recent stretch of cool and cloudy weather has cooled off soil temperatures to well below normal values for this time of year as illustrated by the featured chart. Normal temperatures are approaching 50 degrees, which is warm enough to support corn growth. With temperatures this year well below that value, it will take a few warm and sunny days to get the ground warmed up again and also dried out to allow equipment to pass over fields.
Voting:
Good: 26
Bad: 12
Tags: apr11
Severe April
20 Apr 2011 12:56 PMAnd yet another explosive round of severe weather visited the United States last night with numerous reports of large hail, extreme winds, and tornadoes. These reports were south and east of Iowa as we suffered through a cold easterly wind and snow over northern Iowa. The featured chart presents the number of county based severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings issued by the NWS during April. This year's total is already nearly double of last April and well above the previous maximum of 2009.
Voting:
Good: 9
Bad: 2
Tags: apr11
Lately under performing
19 Apr 2011 05:51 AMOur recent stretch of weather has seen high temperatures well below normal and, as shown by the featured chart, below the 25th percentile. The forecast does not hold much hope for breaking out of this any time soon with more rain and highs near 50 expected to continue. This is not good news for farmers who wish to start planting corn this time of year.
Voting:
Good: 20
Bad: 8
Tags: apr11
Dry April for some
12 Apr 2011 05:53 AMThe featured map presents rainfall estimates for April. Some portions of the state have missed out on the rainfall events this month, while most others have not seen extreme totals to this point. Our next chance of rain and even snow arrives later this week with the heaviest totals expected over eastern Iowa.
Voting:
Good: 14
Bad: 5
Tags: apr11