The strength of the secondary low along the KS/NE borders has brought increasing winds ahead of it across KS/MO/NE/IA and points even further north. These increased winds have pushed temperatures above the freezing mark as far north as North Dakota and central Minnesota, which has decreased the previous estimates of freezing rain across the northern plains. With these temperatures rising through the night, only minor accumulations of freezing rain are expected across extreme northern NE/IA and points northward. As the low moves eastward, northwest winds will move in behind the system and change over the precipitation to light snow across parts of IA/NE northward, but accumulations are not expected to be significant.
This is much needed news for parts of Iowa where today three counties were state declared disaster areas to increase the aid provided for these regions. I traveled through parts of Crawford and Ida counties which saw upwards of a half-inch of ice and more rime ice on top of power lines and all other objects. It was an impressive site, with several power lines snapped and other hanging significantly towards the ground impending more power outages. Back through the area late this evening I saw several dozen electric cooperative vehicles attempting to fix as many lines as possible despite the fogging and windy conditions. With the increased wind tonight out of the east, there was undoubtedly even more problems with ice falling and bouncing power lines. This holds true as over 15,000 homes/businesses in Iowa are still without power tonight, an increase from Thursday. You can check out the latest updates on the Iowa Electric Cooperatives Power Outage Map.
As mentioned, most areas of NE/IA and points southward will see light to moderate rain during the overnight hours, with a few rumbles of thunder likely mixed in as well. An update tomorrow morning will address the transitioning from liquid precipitation to some frozen type across a majority of the northern Plains.
0 comments:
Post a Comment