• Chart of U.S. Annual Tornado Count (click for larger view)

    U.S. Tornado Count "Average" So Far

    With eastern Iowa experiencing its first tornado of the year, I thought it was important to take a look at exactly how this year is shaping up, at least so far.  The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma reports since January 1st, an estimated 358 tornadoes have touched down.  That [...]

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  • Severe threat for Thursday, April 30, 2009

    Severe Threat Easing

    I wanted to say that the weather is turning quiet, but with several rounds of rain possible I didn’t think that was the right way to word it.  Although rain remains in the forecast, the threat of severe weather will likely stay to our south.  Currently the best chance of [...]

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  • Severe Risk for Sunday, April 26, 2009

    400 Miles & Nothing to Show For It

    Anyone that thinks meteorology and forecasting is easy, Sunday was a day Mother Nature again established her dominance over our knowledge of weather.  All signs pointed to a major severe weather outbreak in the great plains.  Long tracked, strong tornadoes were possible in a portion of Kansas and Oklahoma.  There [...]

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  • Shelf Cloud Passes Over Grinnell on April 26, 2009

    Best Pic from Sunday Chase, Full Report Coming Soon

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  • Chase Day Updates Below!

    2:40pm: west of Des Moines now.  Trying to determine how much further west we wanna go before moving south, looks like we will make the turn soon and wait for new development. 2:10pm: Running into moderate to heavy rain just east of Des Moines, remnants of this morning’s storms in [...]

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  • Area under consideration for tornado watch as of 12:45pm

    WXALERT: Tornado Watch Issued

    The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, OK has issued a TORNADO WATCH for southwest and central Iowa.  Atmosphere in region will grow unstable and cap could break sometime after 2pm.  Tornadic cells would be possible along the warm front moving north through Iowa, especially just east of the low that’s [...]

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  • Mother Nature Throws a Curveball

    Mother Nature Throws a Curveball

    So a tough decision must now be made.  The risk for severe weather remains the same as it was last night.  The trouble is an unexpected line of strong thunderstorms is pushing through central Iowa at this hour.  The only question now is how to tackle this.  I have reservations [...]

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  • Severe Weather Outlook for Sunday, April 26, 2009

    Stormy Sunday, Chase in the Works

    Sunday is here and the severe threat remains.  That does not mean that all questions are answered, but I will certainly do my best.  The Storm Prediction Center is holding firm on the slight risk without upgrading to moderate and rightfully so.  The main reason is instability.  With a night [...]

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  • Area under consideration for Thunderstorm Watch on Saturday, April 25, 2009

    Saturday Night Noise

    The Storm Prediction Center is watching a portion of eastern Iowa for a possible watch this evening.  While there is not a major threat of severe weather, the atmospheric conditions are favorable for hail production in some of the elevated storms this evening.  At any rate a noise night is [...]

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  • Severe Weather Risk for Sunday, April 26, 2009

    Chase Debrief and Regroup

    Well the first chase of the year was an all-around dud.  Some nice lightning, but an overrunning and low cloud deck ahead of the storms prevented us from getting any decent shots of the lightning streaking over our heads.  Today I will be ingesting what little footage we have and [...]

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