Winter Storm 2/19-20
Today
Okay so today we have a Wind Advisory going into effect at 9 AM until 2 PM this afternoon for a good chunk of the state for sustained winds of 30 MPH with gusts up to 45 MPH. We also have a Dense Fog Advisory for east central Iowa until 10 AM.
Monday & Tuesday
Two rounds of freezing rain will move through the state with some areas seeing around a tenth of an inch, while others may see more significant icing with accumulations of around a quarter to half of an inch, potentially resulting in power outages and tree damage. The areas with the greatest icing potential have had Winter Storm Watches posted. More details will be coming later today.
Current Advisories by County
Monona, Woodbury, Plymouth, Sioux – Winter Weather Advisory from 12 AM to 12 PM Monday
Osceola, Dickinson, O’Brien, Clay, Cherokee, Buena Vista, Ida – Wind Advisory from 9 AM to 2 PM Today, Winter Weather Advisory from 12 AM tonight to 12 PM Monday
Emmet, Kossuth, Winnebago, Worth, Palo Alto, Hancock, Cerro Gordo, Pocahontas, Humboldt, Wright, Franklin, Sac, Calhoun, Webster, Hamilton, Crawford, Carroll, Greene, Boone, Audubon, Guthrie – Wind Advisory from 9 AM to 2 PM Today, Winter Weather Advisory from 12 AM tonight until 3PM Monday
Butler, Bremer, Hardin, Grundy, Black Hawk, Story, Marshall, Dallas, Polk, Jasper, Madison, Warren, Union, Clarke, Ringgold, Decatur – Wind Advisory from 9 AM to 2 PM Today, Winter Storm Watch from Monday Evening to Tuesday Morning
Tama, Poweshiek, Marion, Lucas – Winter Storm Watch from Monday Evening to Tuesday Morning
Mitchell, Floyd – Wind Advisory from 9 AM this morning to 3PM this afternoon, Winter Weather Advisory from 12 AM tonight to 6 PM Tuesday
Howard, Winneshiek, Chickasaw – Wind Advisory from 9 AM this morning to 3PM this afternoon, Winter Storm Watch from Monday Morning through Tuesday Afternoon
Allamakee, Fayette, Clayton – Winter Storm Watch from Monday Afternoon through Tuesday Afternoon
Net Neutrality III – Grassley Response
So I received an email from Senator Grassley yesterday regarding Net Neutrality.
Winter Storm Update 2
The NWS in Des Moines sent out an update after the previous post went live. The map above shows the latest warnings and advisories, thanks to Henry over at Iowa Weather Network.
1/21-23 NW IA Winter Storm Update
Just a short post as the National Weather Service just released some updates regarding the approaching winter storm.
The Winter Storm Watch in effect for northwest Iowa has been upgraded to a Blizzard Warning which goes into effect at 9 PM tonight until midnight Monday night (Tuesday morning) for the following counties: Plymouth, Lyon, Osceola, Dickinson, Sioux, O’Brien, Clay, Cherokee, Buena Vista, Ida, and Woodbury. This warning includes the entire Sioux City metro area (IA/SD/NE).
The Winter Storm Watch in effect for Monona County has been upgraded to a Winter Weather Advisory which goes into effect at midnight tonight until 6 PM Monday.
Winter Storm Warning remains in effect from 9 PM Sunday until midnight Monday night (Tuesday morning) for Emmet, Kossuth, and Palo Alto counties in Iowa.
Brrr..
I think this graphic from earlier says it all. If you’re out celebrating this evening stay safe and have a happy new year!
Net Neutrality II – King, Ernst Responses
Unfortunately the FCC lost it’s mind this morning and voted to roll back the Net Neutrality rules, which so far seems to be supported by Iowa’s Congressional delegation. Responses from both Senator Ernst and Representative King are below. I’m told Representative Blum gave a similar response to one of his constituents. I have yet to hear anything from Senator Grassley.
I previously posted the letters on Facebook but decided to add them here as well..but since they were in email I had a hard time figuring out how to extract them.
Comments from Sen. Ernst – 11/22/17
Comments from Rep. Steve King – 11/27/17
Net Neutrality
I’ve shared a number of posts regarding this topic on Facebook and Twitter but there’s a few things that I feel like delving into here. I’ve seen a number of items talking about how “Trump’s FCC” is trying to repeal the rules “Obama’s FCC” implemented, as if this is somehow only because of Trump. This started long before Trump, and the difference between the two groups is literally ONE guy. Four out of the five current Commissioners, including Chairman Pai, served on the FCC under President Obama. The only one not to serve under Obama is Brendan Carr, Commissioners Pai, Clyburn, O’Rielly, and Rosenworcel were all previously appointed to the commission by President Obama. Now, is Trump innocent in all of this? Absolutely not, but he’s not the sole person responsible.
I sent notes off to both Iowa Senators and Rep. Steve King earlier in the week, thus far the only person to give a relevant response is Sen. Ernst. I received an auto-reply from Sen. Grassley’s office but I imagine a real response will come at some point in the next week or two.
While I’m not surprised by the content of Senator Ernst’s response, it is rather disappointing. Claiming that attempting to ensure the Internet continues to operate the way it has for the last 20+ years amounts to overregulation. Then there is the most baffling statement of the entire letter, “Internet bandwidth is a finite resource and must be allocated somehow.” Because more capacity cannot be built? Further, why should ISPs be allowed to determine how that bandwidth is allocated?
“Overregulation can hurt an industry by stifling investment and limiting competition, thereby hurting the consumer.” Competition? We are talking about internet access here, not buying a car. I have a whole two choices where I live, the telephone company and the cable company, hardly a competitive market.
I imagine any responses from the rest of the state’s congressional delegation will likely be filled with similar bull. I’ll probably follow up when/if I receive a response to the two remaining inquiries.
Football Forecast: Saturday 11/24/17
Saturday marks the quarterfinal round of the NAIA National Football Championship Series. At this point only two Iowa teams remain, with Grand View losing on the road last weekend to Saint Xavier in Chicago. I thought I would try to piece together a quick forecast, not really expecting precipitation at either game with dew points in the 30s & 40s forecast for both Fort Wayne and Sioux City.
Northwestern (10-1) at Saint Francis (Ind.) (11-0) – Fort Wayne, IN – 12 PM EST Kickoff
Pre-game tailgating/Kickoff: Temperatures in the mid 40s, northwest winds around 10-15 MPH
Postgame: Temperatures around 40, northwest winds around 15 MPH.
Saint Xavier (Ill.) (10-1) at Morningside (12-0) – Sioux City, IA – 12 PM CST Kickoff
Pregame tailgating: Temperature in the mid-upper 40s, northwest winds around 5-10 MPH
Kickoff: Temperature around 50, northwest winds around 5-10 MPH
Postgame: Temperatures in the low-mid 50s, northwest winds around 5-10 MPH
Top500 November ’17
So the November edition of the Top500 supercomputer list is now out, and I thought I would revisit my post from June and see where things stack up compared to that issue. From the looks of things most of the movement was introduced by the additions of new systems bumping other systems, ie Titan’s drop to number 5 or nVidia’s new entry. NOAA has two new systems on the list, but I marked them with the ** as I don’t know that these systems are used for meteorology like the other 4 on the list.
| June Ranking | June TFlop | Nov. Ranking | Nov. TFlop | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Meteorological Office | 11 | 7038.9 | 15 | 7038.9 |
| National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) – USA (Cheyenne) | 22 | 4788.2 | 24 | 4788.2 |
| ECMWF – UK | 25 | 3944.7 | 28 | 3944.7 |
| ECMWF – UK | 26 | 3944.7 | 27 | 3944.7 |
| UK Meteorological Office | 42 | 2801.8 | 47 | 2801.8 |
| UK Meteorological Office | 43 | 2801.8 | 46 | 2801.8 |
| Korea Meteorological Administration – South Korea (Miri) | 53 | 2395.7 | 58 | 2395.7 |
| Korea Meteorological Administration – South Korea (Nuri) | 54 | 2395.7 | 57 | 2395.7 |
| Meteo France | 57 | 2168.0 | 61 | 2168.0 |
| Meteo France | 58 | 2157.4 | 62 | 2157.4 |
| NOAA – USA (Surge) | 74 | 1635.0 | 81 | 1635.0 |
| NOAA – USA (Luna) | 75 | 1635.0 | 80 | 1635.0 |
| National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) – USA (Yellowstone) | 92 | 1257.6 | 106 | 1257.6 |
| Meteorological Research Institute, Japan Meteorological Agency | 142 | 989.6 | 185 | 989.6 |
| National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) – USA (Tide) | 273 | 705.9 | 378 | 705.9 |
| National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) – USA (Gyre) | 274 | 705.9 | 379 | 705.9 |
| ‘Meteorological Service’ – China | 363 | 555.3 | 493 | 555.3 |
| China Meteorological Administration | 494 | 434.8 | — | — |
| China Meteorological Administration | 495 | 434.8 | — | — |
| **NOAA – USA (Mars) | 131 | 1121.1 | ||
| **NOAA – USA (Venus) | 132 | 1121.1 | ||
| Non-Weather (Reference) | ||||
| Oak Ridge National Laboratory – USA (Titan) | 4 | 17590.0 | 5 | 17590.0 |
| Facebook – USA | 31 | 3307.0 | 35 | 3307.0 |
| NVIDIA – USA (DGX Saturn V) | 32 | 3307.0 | 36 | 3307.0 |
| NVIDIA – USA (DGX SaturnV Volta) | 149 | 1070.0 | ||
| WETA Digital (SFX Company) – New Zealand | 367 | 549.1 | 498 | 549.1 |
