Tonight's Low Could Be Coldest In 12 Years (Des Moines Iowa)

KCCI.com Des Moines ^ | 5:04 pm CST January 14, 2009 | Tad Davis, KCCI.com

[justa-hairyape]

DES MOINES, Iowa --A blast of arctic air settling in over Iowa on Wednesday could bring the Des Moines area's lowest temperatures in 12 years, said KCCI meteorologist Kurtis Gertz.

Temperatures could dip to -15 degrees tonight, a low not touched since 1996.

[justa-hairyape]

That temperature record has just been broken. Please note Freepers in the Heartland, this Arctic blast is spreading and heading south very fast tonight. No longer confined to the northern tier states. The weather forecasters were stating that once the Alberta Clipper went through, the door would be open for the Arctic air to move south, and move south it is. There is curently a -26 F temp reported from the Clinton Iowa Airport. Stay safe !

[dbehsman]

I’m up in the Minneapolis area. I just got a ride home from work. My car battery was totally dead. It is FROSTY out there tonight!

I guess it’s time to put away the sandals for a while.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Another reason I don’t live in Des Moines anymore (my ex being the big one).

[justa-hairyape]

I guess it’s time to put away the sandals for a while.

Hopefully the High Pressure out west will eventually move the Arctic cold east once it settles in low, but it may take awhile. Unfortunately the temps are also dropping over the Rockies under that High Pressure. That Arctic Air Mass is huge and has basically grown to cover all of Canada for the past few days. What I have been noticing tonight is the temps in the northern tier states have somewhat stabilized the past 2 hours. That probably means the Arctic mass is enlarging and spreading out, which may be confirmed by the incredibly low readings right now in Iowa. 10 degrees lower then predicted all ready.

[OldTCS]

Hmmm. My daughter wants me to move closer to her, from San Diego to the northern-most point in WV. Having second thoughts . . .

[GeronL]

-26 F??????????????????????

[DoneWithDems]

it was in the 80’s today in L.A.
The weather is the only good thing about my hometown!

[justa-hairyape]

Been thinking of moving out of So Cal sometime in the next few years myself. Difficult to find a place with the same weather. Don't like too humid, but too dry can also be a problem. Been watching the temps for areas I am considering. Probably best to watch the areas temperatures for a couple of seasons before making up your mind. I use the following link to see temps real quick.

[FarRightFanatic]

At this very moment in Mpls, it is -20ºF ambient with a -40ºF windchill.

http://weather.wcco.com/US/MN/Minneapolis.html

With weather like this, I have to ask myself WHY did I ever move out of Anchorage?

[justa-hairyape]

Right after I posted this thread, Clinton Airport started reporting - 24 F instead of - 26 F. Adding windchill makes it - 43 F right now. Can cause frostbite in a couple of minutes to exposed skin. They broke their record for this date which was - 20 F in 1979.

[backhoe]

 

[justa-hairyape]

With weather like this, I have to ask myself WHY did I ever move out of Anchorage?

Living near ocean water has its advantages, until the ocean freezes over. Down south we have Hurricanes and El Nino storms to worry about. Probably wont need to worry about them for awhile since La Nina has now returned.

[justa-hairyape]

To get a good idea what is the lowest temp that West Virginia can drop too, check the temp there this Friday and Saturday morning. About 1 hour before the sun rises.

[GeronL]

Thats crazy. I wouldn’t even go outside except to start a grassfire

[justa-hairyape]

Funny you mention fire.

Fire Risk Soars As Temperature Drops

Improper Heating Methods Often Eyed In Winter House Fires

Imagine having to run from a house fire and you run out into - 40 F Wind Chills.

[GeronL]

38 ABOVE zero here right now

[justa-hairyape]

Looks like about 1/2 of Iowa is going to be at -20 F or below in about an hour. Over 90 % of the nation will be at freezing or lower when day breaks.

[GeronL]

I blame global worming, too many worms

[WheresMyBailout]

How’s that global warming coming?

[justa-hairyape]

Another Global Warming Age will eventually come again, but we may have to live through this Global Cooling Age to have a chance to witness it.

[Lancey Howard]

Where’s that “global warming” the scumbags promised us?

[RSmithOpt]

Cool!!

[justa-hairyape]

Where’s that “global warming” the scumbags promised us?

Its in their wallets and offshore accounts.

Actually we should probably encourage these idiots to go ahead with their plans to stop global warming. As stupid and inefficient as history has proven them to be, whatever plans they conceive to try to cool the planet, will probably end up warming the planet instead. Which as you point out is exactly what we need right now.

[Joya]

Thanks for this info. Stay warm.

[justa-hairyape]

Watch how this beast is building very strong north of New York. If all of that comes south after the Alberta Clipper moves through, New York and New England will be absolutely nailed Thursday/nite Friday Morning.

[TYVets]

Did the 4 minute Idle Law go into effect ?

[EternalVigilance]

Almost 5 am. Got up to feed the fire. It’s 23 below here in NW Iowa.

[Jimmy Valentine's brother]

I guess it’s time to put away the sandals for a while.
But whay will you wear when you go fishing?

[Allegra]

-26 F?

I can't even imagine that kind of cold.

Stay warm and safe, Flyover Country FReepers.

[steelyourfaith]

 

Beam me to Planet Gore !

[Marinefamilyx3]

I knew there was a reason why I left Iowa 30 years ago and never looked back!

[Thermalseeker]

We're going to be breaking some records (and probably some water pipes, too) tonight here in SE Tennessee. The leading edge of the cold air plunging south is here now. Currently at my hacienda it's 10.5F. The forecast tonight is for 2F in the valley. Here on the mountain at 2200' msl that will mean an ambient temp of about -8F, not including the wind chill factor.

If we get any more of this "globull warming" we're all going to freeze to death.....

[njmaugbill]

Is Al Gore in town?

[GRRRRR]

-8DegF here in NE ILL. WInd chill is -35DegF

Still have to go to work.

Hundreds of schools closed though. Back when I was a kid we had to walk a mile to school AND back again in all types of weather...and WE LIKED IT!

[justa-hairyape]

One of the forecasters on Accuweather.com said you might see a few negative F's in the Tennessee valley at the height of the Arctic blast.

[Thermalseeker]

One of the forecasters on Accuweather.com said you might see a few negative F's in the Tennessee valley at the height of the Arctic blast.

Yeah, Accuweather rocks! They blow the Weather Channel away. I've been watching the forecast for the past several days and they keep adjusting the forecast lows lower every day. Friday morning is going to be "crisp" for sure. We're always a good 10 degrees colder here on the mountain (2200 msl) as opposed to the valley (700 msl), especially over in the Tennessee River Valley. It tends to be a little warmer over there, probably due to the Tennessee river. Fortunately, I have about 3 years worth of fire wood in my crib.....

[justa-hairyape]

The computer models early on really made this look like a 20-30 year historic Arctic blast, but then they backed off a little. So now the models are saying its a 10-12 year record blast. So far however the temps are running in-between the 10-12 year record and the 20-30 year historic record levels. The one forming up to come down on the east side of the Great Lakes has a lot of potential if it moves straight south. Now some are joking that its as if the North Pole shifted and moved south over North America.

[Sig Sauer P220]

Good thing they changed it from “Global Warming” to “Global Climate Change”.

[Sig Sauer P220]

Lets hope this kind of weather lingers next Tuesday in D.C.

[RoadTest]

Algore gets real quiet at times like this.

[RoadTest]

“Lets hope this kind of weather lingers next Tuesday in D.C.”

Amen.

[Marauder]

I live close to the Mission Valley area in South Texas, and I haven’t had to wear my overcoat since I moved back here.

I grew up in this area and saw snow twice by the time I graduated from high school; once when I was six and again in the 12th grade.

[BerryDingle]

Algore gets real quiet at times like this.

Agree. Somewhere in Bali nursing down umbrella drinks in a hammock.

[2111USMC]

Yep.

We got -25 here in Davenport, Iowa with a wind chill of -44.

The temp has actually dropped 4 degrees since I got up at 5:30 this morning.

[justa-hairyape]

How is the humidity down there ? It seems like East Texas is humid with decent rain, while West Texas is dry with little rain. Walking outside a hotel in Dallas on a 80 degree day was a shocker. Currently living between the deserts and the socal coast right now. Mostly mild to a little dry, but we occasionally get some Mexican hurricane remnants bringing the humidity up this way. Will check back into this thread later today.

[justa-hairyape]

Supposedly there is some strange effect where the temps drop by a couple of degrees right before or right as the suns disk breaks the horizon. Earlier it looked like the arctic temps stabilized after expanding out southward. These Arctic beasts are gonna do whatever they want to do once they set up house within the lower 48. Will see how long they last. Looks like the blast west of the Great Lakes still has some more juice back up in Canada. Will see how or if the sun can tame that one a little today. The beast to the east of the Great Lakes will be breaking out later today and tonight. Stay warm. Will check in later.

[reformedliberal]

Here in SW WI, we had -35 for several nights in a row last year. Many people had frozen pipes. We had a frozen septic system and had to change lids on the double tanks so the second tank which has the water pumped off the sludge got no outside air. We also had to hang a tank heater out there for 20 minutes, first. According to plumber friends, this was common in the valleys that day. The same morning, our well froze where it came into the pressure tank in the cellar and we had to double the heaters down there for an hour or so to thaw it. No problems last night. Wednesday morning, though, we has an ice clog in the cold water line of the washing machine, but nowhere else.

One more day and night of this, then it gradually warms up. 20s over the weekend and then 30s M-T-W so far next week.

It was officially -23.6 at 6 am this morning and the Weather Underground shows it still the same at almost 8 am. Our outside thermometer agreed.

It IS very cold and all, but this is normal, if not slightly *warmer* than years past. I think the media frenzy is because 1) it is going further south than usual and 2) it will impact NYC, where they seem to freak out if it goes below zero at all.

Still, do not fear: 2009 will be ranked among the *warmest* years ever by the time it is over. The Weather Underground blog is featuring a *story* today on the *unprecedented* loss of sea ice in the arctic this past summer. Of course, every time they predicted 90s here last summer, it never got above 85.

[texas booster]

Nice.

It is warmer in Greenland than most of the Midwest this morning.

[palmer]

Another reason I don't live in Des Moines anymore (my ex being the big one).

But that fat keeps her warm.

[FarRightFanatic]

“Living near ocean water has its advantages”

Yes, it sure does.