Iowa storm brought on by unseasonable weather

By Thomas Nelson, tnelson@charlescitypress.com

The storm that blew through Monday was born from the unseasonable weather that Iowa has been experiencing lately.

“It has been a bit of an unusual winter in that its been abnormally warm at times and also cold as well,” said Peter Roger, meteorologist with the La Crosse office of the National Weather Service.

A strong cold front came through that caused the strong winds that pushed the thunder storms developing across Iowa, Roger said.

The amount of sun and lack of clouds on Monday allowed the the thunder storms to build, Roger said.

“There was more sunshine than expected out to our west and that sunshine allows for instability to build in the atmosphere which is the fuel for the thunder storms,” Roger said. “When you have the really strong winds along the front and the strong instability, that’s a good combination for those thunder storms to develop.”

Those thunder storms went across Iowa and created hail that caused damage in parts of Floyd County, and knocked down power lines in Rudd, according the National Weather Service reports.

Charles City received .77 inches of rain during the storm. Some places in Floyd County had inch sized hail, such as Rudd, Nora Springs, Floyd and Riceville according the National Weather Service.

The hail began to hit Floyd around 7 p.m. according to the National Weather Service and the severe rain started in Charles City at 9:30 p.m.

In Colwell gusts up to 48 mph hit at 7:05 p.m., according the National Weather Service

Marble Rock also received hail, though it was only .88 inches according to the National Weather Service.

The only damage reported in Floyd County was in Rudd.

“For the most part it was damaging wind, though we did get sporadic reports of some larger hail as well, for the most part hail was around a half inch or less,” Roger said. “Most of the warnings last night were related to the wind gusts.”

On Tuesday, the winds didn’t get nearly as strong as they were predicted to, Roger said.

The wind advisory continued till 9 p.m. on Tuesday.

Rain continued in the north and south of Charles City through Tuesday, Roger said.

“When you have a thunder storm interact with strong winds it can to bring those stronger winds to the surface,” Roger said. “There still could be some gusts in that 45 to 50 mph range before this evening is over.”

There isn’t any more severe weather expected in Charles City anytime in the next seven days, Roger said.

“We’re transitioning to (the weather) what we should be this time of year,” Roger said. “From a temperature perspective.”

The weather is getting colder over the week, with Saturday being projected to have a high of 28 degrees, according the National Weather Service.

There is a chance of snow, late Sunday into Monday, Roger said.

“Some accumulation is probably likely with that system,” Roger said.

That snow may not be much more than a flurry, if the snow ends up going more north, Roger said.

“That’s something we’ll be watching over the next couple of days,” Roger said. “It’s too early to put any type of amounts on anything… it’s just that it’s cold enough to snow instead of rain.”