Ask 9: How much rain did we get, and what's next in the forecast?

[00:02:20]Hello and welcome back to Ask N. I'm Becky Phelps.

[00:02:24]>> I'm meteorologist Corey Thompson.

[00:02:25]>> You are. We have every meteorologist working around the clock the last like 48 hours. It feels like you guys have been busy.

[00:02:32]>> Sure. Uh it's been pretty active. I I would say that we've probably gotten away with it not being as bad perhaps as the the ceiling of this last couple of days could have been. Uh and so that's the good news there. Though we did see uh plenty of rain. We did get some severe weather reports as well. Uh but uh in terms of really bad stuff, it was limited at least.

[00:02:55]>> We got a lot of rain. I don't know if you if you're joining us from the TV9 News at 5, you saw that insane video of um some of the streets in Cedar Rapids looking more like rivers of Cedar Rapids.

[00:03:09]>> Yeah, which happens >> which does happen, >> especially in cities.

[00:03:12]>> So much rain like all at once with four rounds of storms.

[00:03:16]>> Yeah, if Yeah, pretty much. I would say that probably be a good way to characterize it. Today's kind of there wasn't like a really clear break for a lot of folks. Uh, and so it kind of blended, but it was certainly split across those four different periods early and late each day, yesterday and today.

[00:03:33]>> Are we now? Are we good?

[00:03:35]>> Yes.

[00:03:36]>> That's a relief.

[00:03:37]>> We're good. Um, I believe if it hasn't already, the tornado watch for eastern Iowa certainly should be uh eliminated soon.

[00:03:46]>> Uh, and so uh we'll take a look at that here in a moment. But uh terms of storm activity, it's all gone. It's off to the east. Uh you can see now in Illinois and down toward Missouri, Wisconsin, uh there's a little bit of shower activity way up in our northwestern counties because there is kind of like a secondary uh frontal boundary moving through.

[00:04:08]>> Uh there's kind of one that was here and that's driving this stuff. But then there's another one that's kind of back here. You can see there's a little thin green line near De Moines uh moving through and that's that secondary boundary. This one seems to have drier air behind it and so it's sort of a two-stage thing here. So if you stepped outside right now in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, it's still a little muggy, >> but back in western Iowa due points are down in the 50s. So they're they're much much better. But yeah, >> cannot wait for that.

[00:04:35]>> Cannot wait. And it'll be here sooner than you think. But lots of storms off in Missouri and Illinois. This is kind of where uh you know, again, we we could have had it worse. And that's kind of the good thing.

[00:04:48]>> Yeah. is that uh we did not get it too much worse. And let's double check and see.

[00:04:53]>> Stayed to the south of us.

[00:04:55]>> It did. Tornado watch still there. Uh but you can you can see it for yourself on radar that the uh threat the heavy storms have moved east of the Mississippi and there's no threat for severe weather behind those. So, >> yay.

[00:05:08]>> Even though the watch may still technically be in in effect, uh if they they are likely going to cancel it very very soon.

[00:05:14]>> Perhaps an abundance of caution. They're just >> perhaps. Yeah. I mean, they're busy with other stuff, too. They've got other things to to watch. And >> yeah, >> uh it doesn't hurt to have a watch still stay in effect. So, we'll see. But in terms of storm reports, >> uh is over the last 24 hours, you can see >> mostly south.

[00:05:31]>> Well, and and just west, right? West or east. So, yesterday >> Wow.

[00:05:36]>> So, yesterday's storms kind of uh were a bit more expansive in their damage. Now, remember this is just 24 hours. So, let's actually go and I can change it to a longer period of time and that will show a bit more in Eastern Iowa. So, let's do 48 hours. And yeah.

[00:05:54]Okay. So, we're filling in we're filling in the gaps a little bit uh in terms of what was actually there.

[00:06:00]>> Where do these icons come from?

[00:06:02]>> Who's reporting the storm?

[00:06:04]>> Oh, okay. I thought you meant the pictures themselves.

[00:06:06]>> No, no, no, not the graphic, the the reports.

[00:06:09]>> Uh National Weather Service.

[00:06:10]>> Okay. So this is all reports that were related to them from spotters and law enforcement and various other sources.

[00:06:16]Uh so yes, this does illustrate that there was that or rather there were more reports in eastern Iowa. Uh but the concentration still again I know listen this is population bias over here. It's not that there was a much much worse storm in Chicago.

[00:06:30]>> Those could be the same thing, >> right? It's all the same storm or a lot of the same storms, right? Or maybe a couple rounds of storms, but just because there's a lot of people in Chicago, you're going to get more reports where there's more >> darn people in Chicago. Well, I wouldn't say that >> clogging up the reports, >> but I but it is a factor that you have to consider. So, in Iowa, >> um again, there's a little bit of sparseness here in eastern Iowa. These primarily coming from this morning storms, that line that took shape as we really expected to really played out very much like it should have or at least as our our predictions or were expecting storms that developed to our west turned into a line moved eastward.

[00:07:08]Uh but they did not pro provide a lot of reports of severe weather here in eastern Iowa. It was up in northeast Iowa yesterday morning that first round.

[00:07:16]>> Yes, >> we had a lot of reports up in the Debuke area, especially trees down and damage and power outages and and etc. So it was concentrated in different rounds. Uh but the morning rounds tended to reduce the threat for those later day rounds each each case. yesterday.

[00:07:32]>> That is so interesting that the the atmosphere needs to reset in between storms.

[00:07:38]>> It does. Uh and it just didn't have a chance as much to do so. I mean, think about pretty much everywhere except for those uh south of Interstate 80, you know, everyone up here for the rest of the afternoon or rest of the morning into the afternoon. It was pretty cloudy, rainy, and so we just didn't get that. It was down here where the threat was a little bit higher this afternoon.

[00:07:58]Uh but luckily, uh storms didn't really get organized. still didn't have enough energy for them to get organized uh here in eastern Iowa and so instead we uh like I said got away with it but as you pointed out Becky uh rainfall totals were heavy and so this is >> this is just >> that makes it look like we got >> and we did we got a lot of storms right over the last over the last 48 hours this is just 24 hours again >> and so estimated rainfall totals for just between yesterday at the same time to now everywhere you see yellow is an inch plus.

[00:08:33]>> Everywhere everywhere you see red, you're starting to get to two to three inches potentially.

[00:08:38]>> And so if we just sort of click around, we can kind of give a little sample of some of those totals in various spots.

[00:08:45]And so you can see uh it varies and there may be a little bit in some cases, although we haven't had a lot of hail reports, but hail gets picked up by >> I don't know that I've seen any viewer pictures.

[00:08:56]>> Not many. Again, mostly stayed away from us. Yeah, exactly.

[00:09:02]Uh so that's the good news there. But you can see lots of big numbers there in just 24 hours. Uh which is again it's the wetest time of year so it's not shocking that we've seen a lot. Official observations over the last 24 hours. Uh Debuke checks in with another 2.18 in.

[00:09:16]Uh Iowa City at 1.25 in Cedar Rapids just about an inch and a half at the airport. And Waterloo close to 2 inches as well. Hawaiian pretty close to 2 in.

[00:09:25]Uh you can see just a variety of different outcomes in different places.

[00:09:29]Now, we've got our storm net sites as well to give us more information. Uh, and they checked in with a little bit higher tolls in the Cedar Rapids metro, generally two plus. And this is again just since midnight. So, it's it's today's rounds of storms. It doesn't have anything from yesterday.

[00:09:43]>> Uh, but there's that. Uh, down toward the Iowa City area >> between a little bit less.

[00:09:49]>> Yeah, a little bit less. 3/4 of an inch to an inch, a little over an inch and a half, but yeah, substantial. Molly Drive got up to two inches. But, you know, still very very healthy rainfall for just one day. Debuke area that sort of checks in with what we saw from the airport.

[00:10:04]>> Yeah.

[00:10:04]>> Yeah. 2 in two and a quarter uh one and 3/4 you know that and and more. And then off toward the water Cedar Falls area again just a hint less although some of the totals up toward Cedar Falls a little higher than those over toward say Evansdale where it's just 1.52.

[00:10:20]But saying just for that again that's a lot of rain.

[00:10:23]>> It is. no matter where where you look, uh the totals were pretty high. Uh and so very wet. But the good news is is that uh the effect of this because it's been dry >> other than that flash flooding, you know, we've had a couple instances of that. There's a flash flood warning in Debuke right now.

[00:10:37]>> There's uh we have those videos from when the rain was falling.

[00:10:41]>> The river impacts at this point still seem to be fairly limited. There's a couple that are going to run a little bit high, but in terms of significant flooding, most folks will miss out, which again makes sense. It's just been pretty dry.

[00:10:51]>> That's good. I did see a I saw a Facebook post. I think it was from Debuke County Conservation who was saying, you know, we thought I believe it was Debuke City. They say we thought a couple weeks ago, we're so worried about drought.

[00:11:02]>> Yeah.

[00:11:02]>> Uh oh, we're in a bad spot and here we are now like cleaning up after all this rain and look at all this.

[00:11:08]>> So, it has it has turned around a little bit for people >> and that's how it goes. And it was looking and it was dry for a long time and then it was looking dry for quite a while. Uh but the pattern flipped and so that's where we wound up. So, uh, here's our, uh, look from, uh, the National Weather Service forecasts. Uh, and so these are the, uh, rivers. Each dot represents a place along the river. The brighter green surrounding them is where flood warnings are in effect.

[00:11:33]>> Oh. Oh, I see. Okay.

[00:11:35]>> And so you've got just a couple and and we're talking about minor flooding. This is the this is what they represent.

[00:11:40]Those colors represent the forecast. And so minor flooding in a few spots, not too bad. uh English River, uh the very southern end of the Cedar River, uh and down toward Musketine, and then you talk about the area near Columbus Junction.

[00:11:57]Uh you've got I believe that's a arm of the De Moines River potentially or no, the skunk. Excuse me.

[00:12:04]>> I'm not going to be helpful here.

[00:12:05]>> Excuse me, folks. In >> my geography with rivers is um limited.

[00:12:10]>> Not very good. Uh >> yeah, >> fair. Uh clearly mine needs a little work as well. Uh you can see the even Iowa River and Mingo just sort of elevated but not near flood stage and Cedar River at this point looking like it will stay even below that. So uh things still looking pretty good but running higher than they have been. So if you're if you are a person that enjoys uh water activities on rivers >> keep an eye because keep in mind yeah especially if you're if you're like a palisades thing can be dangerous.

[00:12:41]>> Exactly. kayakers or people that are, you know, floating trips, stuff like that.

[00:12:46]>> Fishers, fishermen, >> when you get those slight, you know, those running faster, higher elevated things, you just want to be careful.

[00:12:52]>> And also with all the winds, there was a lot of tree debris, a lot of tree damage. So, that could be hiding in the river. Hard to see that. Just extra caution after storms like this.

[00:13:01]>> Yeah, for sure. That is a very good advice, too. Uh the good thing is that things are changing and so that's going to bring in quite a bit of relief. We already, like we said, are starting to see it in the western part of the state.

[00:13:10]still have some gusty winds this evening potentially uh coming from the northwest.

[00:13:14]>> That's what's pulling in that nicer air mass.

[00:13:17]>> Yeah, for sure. And overnight the winds will get lighter, too. And they're going to come around from a more westerly direction. What's going to do is continue to put our due points lower.

[00:13:25]So, going from what has been the 70s for a lot of the last several days. Yeah, it's been muggy.

[00:13:30]>> I have been unwell.

[00:13:32]>> Yeah, a lot of folks uh I think are ready for a break. Uh and that's the thing. It's it's nice to get these back back and forth kind of time frames where you can get because you need the rain too, right? You can't have D points in the 50s all summer because then you're in big drought.

[00:13:45]>> True. We don't want big drought.

[00:13:47]>> Yeah. So, it it's it's good to see a bit of relief though coming. It comes as soon as tomorrow morning. You'll really notice the difference by then, if not later this evening. If you're headed out, you know, we're still out and about at 9 10 11:00. D points will be way lower and it sets up a nicer day tomorrow. Uh still warm, right? It's summer. Oh, but 80s and lower due points.

[00:14:07]>> Yeah, upper 70s, low 80s. Looks really nice.

[00:14:09]>> Stunning summer weather.

[00:14:11]>> Should be really good. Mostly sunny, too. Uh, and there will be a little bit of wind coming from the west. And so, that will make uh even if you feel a little bit warm, that may be a little bit of relief there, too. And like we said, >> nothing to worry about. Storm stay away.

[00:14:25]We just let it run. Clear skies to start.

[00:14:28]>> Look at that.

[00:14:28]>> Mostly clear skies all the way throughout. Maybe a few clouds as we get toward the evening. That's about it.

[00:14:34]Perfect.

[00:14:35]>> Nothing much to worry about.

[00:14:36]>> The the ideal um day after all these storms, I think.

[00:14:40]>> Yeah, for sure. I think especially if anybody's doing some cleanup. Again, we know that there have been some folks that have experienced some damage in sporadic parts of eastern Iowa. Uh and that will just give you a better chance to do it because today obviously from Debuke yesterday, you know, you could do some of that initial stuff during the day on Thursday, but today's been kind of a literal wash out.

[00:14:58]>> Yes.

[00:14:58]>> Uh and so you just haven't had a chance.

[00:15:01]tomorrow and the weekend probably offer some decent chances.

[00:15:04]>> We had some viewers saying, you know, they got up at 9 or 10 and thought it was the middle of the night. They were confused like it's been dark outside for so long.

[00:15:12]>> I had trouble getting out of bed the last two days cuz it was just not the sunny 6 a.m. I was used to. So, I am very, very excited.

[00:15:20]>> And so, you need to have that. It sounds like >> I need a sunny 6 a.m. I lost my sleep mask.

[00:15:26]>> Oh, >> this is a whole other thing, guys. I lost my sleep mask and so I have been just experiencing um my my natural circadian rhythm. When it gets dark I get sleepy. When it gets light I wake up.

[00:15:39]>> Fair.

[00:15:40]>> I've been sleepy the last couple days.

[00:15:42]My body's confused.

[00:15:43]>> Well, I'm glad that we've got it sorted out.

[00:15:45]>> Thank you.

[00:15:46]>> Cuz I was getting worried. Uh so that's good. I'm glad. No, seriously. That's great. Um >> no, seriously. No, for real.

[00:15:56]>> Yeah. I'm not joking around here. Who would >> who would dare joke about that?

[00:16:01]>> Uh yes. And we're starting to get into because we're kind of blending our traditional 6:30 uh weekend show.

[00:16:10]>> Yes.

[00:16:11]>> Which is better known as Weekend Watch.

[00:16:13]>> Yes. Welcome to 5:30 Weekend Watch.

[00:16:15]>> Yes.

[00:16:15]>> We don't want to, you know, make you disrupt your dinner time. So, we thought we would just bring an earlier preview of the weekend. Oh, and Corey's dropping in some events.

[00:16:27]>> Yeah. So, we're going to take a look at some of those because we're really ramping up into uh >> excited >> busy uh season for example, uh festivals and other stuff around eastern Iowa.

[00:16:40]>> It does seem like there are 14 things happening every night and I can't decide which thing to go do. We were getting into that >> like like >> Emily and I want to go strawberry picking.

[00:16:55]We can't go strawberry picking this morning that we looked at because we already have puppy yoga scheduled outdoors. Like there's so many things happening.

[00:17:02]>> Yes.

[00:17:02]>> You have to be very um I don't know. You have so many choices.

[00:17:08]>> It's hard to pick.

[00:17:09]>> Yeah, for sure. I just want to make sure that I'm not getting ahead of myself.

[00:17:12]We're we're formulating these uh graphics for these events uh for Eastern Iowa and so we just want to be ahead of the curve. I just want to make sure I'm not giving a forecast uh for an event that isn't until next weekend. I'm pretty sure about all these, but I'm just double checking uh in terms of what's going on because we're really again we're really starting to ramp them up.

[00:17:34]>> This is fun.

[00:17:36]>> I'm Becky learning about some of these events.

[00:17:38]>> I am learning about some of these.

[00:17:39]Speaking of strawberries, >> so let's get into it. uh Saturday or rather we already talked about Friday.

[00:17:47]So Saturday is uh a little bit of a mixed bag and Sunday offers uh a bit more certainty in terms of what we can expect.

[00:17:56]>> Okay, what's in the bag?

[00:17:57]>> A little bit of storm activity on Saturday. Now, it doesn't look like we're going to see really really strong storms. The widespread severe weather threat isn't there. Uh but there is an opportunity for some wet weather potentially by afternoon evening.

[00:18:12]>> Sunday though will be dry. That at this point looks really likely. Cooler, less humid, a little breezy but with at least some sunshine during the day. Some a few clouds here or there.

[00:18:23]>> Perfect.

[00:18:23]>> Uh but it does look like a nice day. So a little bit cooler though. So just be kind of ready for that. Upper 60s, low 70s though with any sort of sunshine will be plenty warm, plenty comfortable to be out and about. So that is not bad at all. So things going on.

[00:18:39]>> What you got?

[00:18:40]>> Famously the St. Ludm Miller Catholic Church collatch festival.

[00:18:46]>> Famously.

[00:18:47]>> Yes.

[00:18:47]>> I remember covering this in years past.

[00:18:50]>> They'll be shipping out colatches as fast as they can make them.

[00:18:53]>> That operation like a ship.

[00:18:56]>> Yes.

[00:18:56]>> It's incredible actually.

[00:18:58]>> It is >> how they how they put this together.

[00:19:00]>> Again, as fast as they can make them. So get ready for that. Be excited. Uh that is coming up. Again, Saturday is a little bit of a wrinkle for the afternoon hours. It's more afternoon and evening for those, >> but it's worth it for the colatches.

[00:19:14]>> Yes. And they do drive-through pickups, so you >> There you go. You don't even have to get out of your car.

[00:19:18]>> Let them stand in the rain.

[00:19:19]>> Let them bring it to you.

[00:19:21]>> Strawberry Days also going on in Strawberry Point.

[00:19:24]>> Narrowly made it.

[00:19:26]>> A famous one. Uh it has a lot going on, I believe, if I'm not mistaken. Saturday is really the day with the biggest action.

[00:19:35]>> But they've got stuff going on Friday.

[00:19:36]They got music and I thought they >> a pet show and a farmers market. Uh they have 5K on Saturday morning. You could still enter, Becky, if you'd like.

[00:19:44]Probably. I bet. Uh >> some strawberry.

[00:19:47]>> Yeah, because you I believe Saturday is the day that you can get uh for a free will donation. But you know what that means? You can get free strawberries and ice cream from 1 to three.

[00:19:59]>> This is an awesome lineup actually.

[00:20:01]Starts at 7 a.m. with a breakfast and it goes all the way to 7:30 with a derby.

[00:20:06]>> Yep. They got a parade.

[00:20:07]>> Oh my gosh.

[00:20:08]>> They got a parade at 11 a.m.

[00:20:10]>> Live music all night.

[00:20:12]>> Mhm.

[00:20:12]>> Pickle ball tournament. H we got to get you back on the pickle ball court.

[00:20:16]>> I'm not trained up enough to go for this weekend.

[00:20:18]>> We got to get you back in the in the training regimen.

[00:20:20]>> But conditions again generally throughout the weekend looking pretty good. If strawberries aren't your thing, it's also root beer festival at the history center in Cedar Rapids. this I do not know about.

[00:20:29]>> One free root beer or root beer float and music, bounce house, all sorts of stuff.

[00:20:36]>> Okay, center.

[00:20:37]>> Good times, right? So, let's let's look at Pinpoint Futurecast. And again, uh this is where we kind of stand on our chances. Bear with me as I scroll through here. But Saturday, most of the day spent dry, but by the afternoon, there's that redevelopment. Uh it looks like the chance for stronger storms is better well to our south. You see it gets a bit more organized down toward Mount Pleasant and points to the south.

[00:20:58]So, if you're traveling that way this weekend, yeah, watch out for that. Here in Eastern Iowa, Saturday, Sunday, uh, looking still pretty decent Sunday. Not too much to worry about. Another event going on Saturday, cheese curd fest.

[00:21:10]>> Oh my god, our town walk-on.

[00:21:12]>> Yes, way up uh way up north, but perhaps worth the trip, especially if you like cheese curds.

[00:21:18]>> Walk on is gorgeous, guys. You should drive up there.

[00:21:20]>> Got food truck going. They've got other activities. They've got live music.

[00:21:26]Always a staple at these festivals. Yes.

[00:21:28]>> And homemade ice cream, too, which sounds really, really good.

[00:21:30]>> I recall during our Tanwa Conan, Joe getting some cheese curds and being very enthusiastic about them.

[00:21:37]>> Sure.

[00:21:38]>> So, >> I mean, he can't help himself as a Wisconsin native.

[00:21:41]>> That's true. But >> but that makes him an expert, right?

[00:21:44]>> Yeah. Did you hear the bad news, Kurd related news this weekend of the last 24 hours?

[00:21:50]>> I have not heard this.

[00:21:52]>> So, Culver's a famous restaurant, right?

[00:21:54]>> Yes. Yes, >> Wisconsinbased famously.

[00:21:57]>> They are very clear about that.

[00:21:59]>> It's in every commercial >> in their advertising and in their uh >> their posters and stuff.

[00:22:06]>> They have a picture of a barn.

[00:22:09]>> Yes, >> the barn has been damaged significantly in storms.

[00:22:16]>> Now, I think they're going to rebuild.

[00:22:17]>> I was going to say >> it's too early to tell for sure.

[00:22:20]>> Mr. Culver has got barn fix and money.

[00:22:23]>> You think he's got barn money? I do. I I frequent Culver's rather often.

[00:22:28]>> Have you ever tried to raise a barn?

[00:22:30]>> Personally, no.

[00:22:31]>> Okay. Well, >> you don't think Mr. Culver can do it?

[00:22:34]>> I don't know.

[00:22:35]>> I believe in you, Mr. Culver.

[00:22:37]>> So, yeah, that is a thing.

[00:22:38]>> That is actually upsetting.

[00:22:40]>> I'm sorry to bring you the bad news.

[00:22:41]>> Are we aware? Were there operations happening in the barn or was like a >> I think it's a decorative Okay.

[00:22:45]situation.

[00:22:46]>> I was curious about that. It doesn't look based on the pictures, it doesn't look like an enormous barn, but it is like the barn from the the stuff. And I think they've moved on to other stuff, but it's it's related to their original their origins.

[00:23:00]>> I wish um all the best for this barn.

[00:23:05]And don't laugh. I'm being serious.

[00:23:09]>> Another thing we would never joke about.

[00:23:12]>> Never joke about a barn.

[00:23:14]>> Never joke about a barn.

[00:23:17]ever. We're very supportive of the Culver's barn and we hope to see it repaired.

[00:23:21]>> Yes.

[00:23:22]>> And that's our official statement, >> but for just for you and I. We do not speak for the station.

[00:23:26]>> We do not speak for the station >> or our uh corporate parents.

[00:23:30]>> Becky and Cory's thoughts on the Clover spot.

[00:23:32]>> Our views alone.

[00:23:33]>> All right. Anything else we should know?

[00:23:36]No. We this weekend, it's looking good.

[00:23:38]>> Yeah, the this the severe weather threat's over. That's the big headline as we go into the evening. So, if you have Thursday evening plans, they're good. Just keep in mind it's going to be wet and soggy out there. Maybe not the best night for a hike. Uh, but we'll at least see some drier weather going forward Saturday. Again, afternoon, evening, especially the farther south you go. Just keep an eye on it.

[00:23:57]>> All right. Thank you, Corey.

[00:23:59]>> And thanks for joining us here on tonight's Ask N. Stay tuned. We'll have more in the six o'clock. If you want to see that uh flooding video, I'm sure they'll have that in the in the newscast. It's uh it's pretty dramatic footage out of Cedar Rapids of the of that rain in the streets. Um but have a great evening.