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Articles by Garrett Heyd
Why do leaves change color in the fall?
The fall equinox has passed and the days are getting shorter with cooler temperatures, the trees are gearing up for winter, putting on a show of vibrant colors. Leaves get their colors due to two main compounds during the growing season, chlorophyll and carotenoids. Chlorophyll is the key component that converts sunlight into sugars, giving plants their green coloring. At the same time, carotenoids are pigments that give off warmer colors, like yellow and orange.
Reminders for cyclists and drivers as temperatures continue to warm up
With spring well on its way, you've probably already noticed an uptick in the presence of bicyclists and motorcyclists. As we continue into the warmer months here are a few good reminders for both drivers and cyclists. Firstly, for drivers, the first thing you can do is just be aware. Keep an eye out and check your blind spots. During this time of the year, we commonly see signs pop up with the message "Look Twice, Save a Life". And that's really all it takes to be safer around cyclists.
New Methods to Monitor Crop Stress from Space Original
As the planting and growing season nears, a common concern for many farmers is the overall water content for their crops to grow and thrive through the growing season. While tracking the exact amount of water the crops have is rather difficult to do. A team of researchers at Iowa State University led by Professor Brian Hornbuckle has been looking at ways to monitor plant and soil water content to keep a better eye on crop stress.
Helping nurses and employees cope with negative interactions
Healthcare workers are dealing with a ton of burnout from the pandemic, and a lot of nurses say they're dealing with patients who just don't treat them all that well. A new study from the University of Iowa is trying to find ways for them to cope with the extra stresses. Multiple studies have shown within the past few years, there have been increased reports of incivility between curses and their patients. Especially in the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Weather Observer & Storm Spotter Spring 2023 Training
As we begin to move into the severe weather season, the National Weather Service is reminding you that they are always looking for volunteers for precipitation observers as well as storm spotters. Firstly, what is storm spotting? Storm Spotting is a network through the National Weather Service called Skywarn.
Seasonal Lag: Why there's a month difference between summer solstice and warmest month
A look at what the main driver of seasonal lag is
Iowa City Holiday Lights Recycling Program
With the holiday season well underway, you've probably already set up some of those holiday decorations only to find strands not working anymore, or you might b
Another round of storms today (5/26/22)
Like yesterday we are looking at the potential for another round of severe weather in the QCA. This time around the focus will be further to the East. Due to atmospheric conditions the potential for tornadoes is significantly lower than yesterday but is still a small risk. Our main focus will be on the winds. Hail is still possible but the most likely threat for today will be for damaging winds.
Signals point to a warm end to May
Over the next week or so we will slowly see our temperatures move upward, just in time for Memorial Day Weekend! Through most of this week, we will remain cooler due to the setup of high pressure on both coasts and a deep pocket of low pressure bringing with it cooler temperatures. As the upper-level pattern progresses forward and to the East, a building ridge of high pressure will develop on the Southern edge of the Rockies.
Why weather systems rotate counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere
If you’ve ever noticed all low pressure systems, systems that bring rain and thunderstorms, always spin counter-clockwise. Meteorologists call this motion cyclonic. This cyclonic rotation in the Northern Hemisphere is due to a product of rotational physics, called the Coriolis Effect. This is an effect where a mass moving in a rotating system experiences a force acting perpendicular to the direction of motion and to the axis of rotation.
Preliminary Storm Reports - May 13th, 2022
During our on-air coverage of a few tornado warnings that were issued around 5 PM. Only two reports came in for the Warren county tornado warnings. Preliminary reports from warren county was a landspout tornado (A small non-moving tornado) in a cornfield. This warranted the warning in Southern Warren County near Roseville. Then more promising rotation appeared over Monmouth which warranted another warning. This is the look at the warned storm at 5:08 PM when the report came in.
Ever wonder why lightning usually appears purple? Well here’s why!
Lightning is a fascinating phenomenon due to discharges with in the clouds of thunderstorms. As areas of positive and negative electromagnetic fields separate and build we see quick discharges of energy as lightning. Pecos Hank on YouTube has an excellent video going into further depth as to how lightning forms. For a quick overview here’s the general gist.
Late spring “summer” like heat wave this week
Through out this week a minor blocking patter will form over the Eastern United States causing a warm upper level ridge to build up and bring well above normal temperatures to much of the central U.S. . To add to the incoming heat wave the Low Level Jetstream will become southerly and help to direct moist gulf air into the Midwest. This will bring our dew points from the 40s and 50s up into the muggy 60s and soggy 70s.
Next week cranks the outdoor thermostat!
Over the past few days temperatures have been quite cool for this time of the year. Normally our highs should be around 70 degrees, but lately things have been much cooler with highs struggling to get out of the 50s lately. Next week things are going to look much much different, an upper level blocking pattern will occur next week which will help to rise temperatures and allow for a moisture connection to the gulf.
The drought monitor continues to improve!
Over the past few weeks, we’ve picked up a good amount of rain here in the Quad Cities and across the Midwest! For the month of April, we’ve managed to stay anywhere from a half-inch up to an inch of rain above normal! The plethora of rain over the past month has meant we’ve seen nonstop improvement in our drought conditions! Our last drought monitor story came out on April 7th showing the improvement from mid-March through the very beginning of April.
NWS Quad Cities Radar is back up and operational!
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Apr 27, 2022 / 06:27 PM CDT Updated: Apr 27, 2022 / 06:27 PM CDT Last Tuesday the NWS Quad Cities radar went offline and Thursday, April 21st, maintenance on their radar to upgrade the pedestal to allow the radar to continue being operational for another 20 years. After 8 days the NWS Quad Cities radar has been turned back on and is operational just in time for severe weather season later this year! Copyright 2022 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved.
Cool and breezy week ahead
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Apr 24, 2022 / 10:19 PM CDT Updated: Apr 24, 2022 / 10:19 PM CDT After the warmest day of the year on Saturday a cold front moved through the QCA Saturday night and into Sunday morning. The unfortunate nature of these fronts is they do typically bring in cooler and drier air. That will be the case for us this week especially as high pressure follows up and the upper level pattern all week does remain Northwesterly.
Up comes the temps this weekend!
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Apr 20, 2022 / 05:37 PM CDT Updated: Apr 20, 2022 / 05:37 PM CDT So, if you’ve been outside at all in the past few days we’ve been rather cool for this time of the year. Our average high temperatures should be in the mid-60s and yet we’ve been 10 to 20 degrees cooler than that.
This weeks starts cold but spring to return!
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Apr 18, 2022 / 10:05 AM CDT Updated: Apr 18, 2022 / 10:05 AM CDT Over the past weekend we’ve definitely felt rather chilly but it wasn’t until Sunday night that a few showers moved in and we saw a few flakes fell too. Fortunately, here in Eastern Iowa and Northwestern Illinois we did not pick up much of any accumulations, this was mainly due to the rain that fell prior.
Mini hail today?! Not really… but what exactly was it?
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Apr 15, 2022 / 05:56 PM CDT Updated: Apr 15, 2022 / 05:56 PM CDT If you were out and about this afternoon you might have seen small “hail” falling. By small were talking a millimeter or two across. If you’re asking yourself “I thought hail formed only in thunderstorms?”, you’d be correct. What fell today wasn’t hail at all, what fell is called graupel.
Winds increase as temps fall to close out the week
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Apr 13, 2022 / 05:56 PM CDT Updated: Apr 13, 2022 / 05:56 PM CDT Since Monday temperatures have been quite nice for us in the Quad Cities! Sadly, as we close out the week temperatures will be going in the opposite direction for us. The large low-pressure system that brought severe weather to western and central Iowa yesterday will now drop temps and make for a very windy day tomorrow. This was within the last 12 hours alone.
Severe storms possible midweek
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Apr 10, 2022 / 09:55 PM CDT Updated: Apr 10, 2022 / 09:55 PM CDT Over the past 3 weeks we’ve seen back to back to back soggy weeks. As we move into the upcoming work week it looks like we will go ahead and add another “to back” to that ever growing list, week 4 in a row.
A windy Sunday!
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Apr 10, 2022 / 09:40 PM CDT Updated: Apr 10, 2022 / 09:40 PM CDT Quite the windy day across the Quad Cities Area today! The top 5 wind gusts today was Dubuque/Galena at 52 MPH, Quad Cities and Clinton at 47 MPH, Iowa City at 43 MPH, and Savanna/Mount Carroll at 41 MPH. Here’s a look at some of the other peak gusts across the area today.
Drought monitor keeps improving!
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Apr 7, 2022 / 05:16 PM CDT Updated: Apr 7, 2022 / 05:16 PM CDT Over the past few weeks, we’ve been talking a lot about the improvements of our drought monitor here in the QCA. Most of the improvements can be traced back to a large amount of rain we’ve picked up over the past three and a half weeks.
Showers and rain/snow to end the week
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Apr 6, 2022 / 04:03 PM CDT Updated: Apr 6, 2022 / 04:03 PM CDT On and off showers are likely this evening, but more showers are expected to be back again by Thursday night and will continue through Friday and be done by Saturday morning. By Thursday afternoon, another round of showers is expected to return. This will continue through the remainder of Thursday night and linger into Friday morning.
Another soggy week ahead next week
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Apr 1, 2022 / 09:51 AM CDT Updated: Apr 1, 2022 / 09:51 AM CDT Over the past few weeks we’ve been dealt with almost week long showers. On one hand it has been really nice as a drought buster, but made for rather dreary weeks. With in the last two weeks almost 80% of this month’s rain was recorded. Of the 3.45 inches of rain this month 2.74 inches has been collected from March 18th-March 31st.
Excess rain last week shows improvement in drought conditions
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Mar 31, 2022 / 09:48 AM CDT Updated: Mar 31, 2022 / 09:48 AM CDT This morning the latest update on the drought monitor was released from NOAA. With all of the extra rainfall we received last week we saw improvements in this week’s update which was expected.
More rain for the last week of March
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Mar 27, 2022 / 09:26 PM CDT Updated: Mar 27, 2022 / 09:26 PM CDT Much like this past week we are looking at yet another rainy week ahead. Another low pressure system will slowly make it’s way across the Rockies and bring more showers to the Mississippi Valley region. As temperatures fall overnight Tuesday and Wednesday night it’s possible to see rain become mixed with some snow.
Windy conditions to wrap up a soggy week
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Mar 25, 2022 / 09:40 AM CDT Updated: Mar 25, 2022 / 09:40 AM CDT After a week full of rain, today will be a bit drier. I can’t say perfectly dry as there is a chance for very light rain this afternoon as one of two cold fronts move through the QCA early this afternoon. This little bit of instability could kick up some light rain again this afternoon, but not really enough to warrant an umbrella.
A possible improvement to our drought conditions?
Over the past few days, we’ve picked up a fair amount of rain! The good news for us is our ground is pretty close to thawed out, meaning absorbing all of this rain is very likely. Something that is much needed for ending or improving drought conditions. Over the past few seasons, we’ve been quite dry. Last summer we saw a deficit of almost 2.5 inches below normal, followed by a record-setting fall season for the driest the QC has ever seen at only 6.26 inches on the season.
Traveling for the Sweet 16 or Elite 8? Here’s what to expect.
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Mar 21, 2022 / 05:58 PM CDT Updated: Mar 21, 2022 / 05:58 PM CDT With rounds 1 and 2 completed 16 teams remain. This includes Arkansas, Gonzaga, Texas Tech, Duke, Michigan, Villanova, Arizona, Houston, Saint Peter’s, Purdue, North Carolina, UCLA, Providence, Kansas, Miami, and Iowa State.
A cooler and rainy week ahead
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Mar 20, 2022 / 05:51 PM CDT Updated: Mar 20, 2022 / 05:51 PM CDT After a warm up for us in the QCA this weekend temperatures will be a bit warmer tomorrow before temps drop again this week. Along with that cool down, comes much needed rain and possibly some snow too. For now here’s where this system is located (As of 5pm Sunday). Showers will arrive in Western Iowa tomorrow but for us in the QCA temps will be even warmer and breezy.
Traveling for March Madness? Here’s what to expect.
With the biggest tournament for college basketball tipping off later this week, many are traveling to watch their teams compete. For the first round of the tournament, these games will be played on March 17th and 18th. For both the first and second rounds games will be played in Indianapolis, Buffalo, Portland, Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, Greenville, San Diego, and Milwaukee.
10 year anniversary of the March record-high temperature stretch
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Mar 14, 2022 / 06:06 PM CDT Updated: Mar 14, 2022 / 06:06 PM CDT 10 years ago, starting today, the Quad Cities saw one of the longest stretches of record-setting high temperatures. This came in at 7 days in a row breaking old record high temperatures! March 14th a large area of high pressure began to build over the Eastern United States.
2022 was the coldest start to the CASI St. Patrick’s Day Race!
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Mar 12, 2022 / 10:24 PM CST Updated: Mar 12, 2022 / 10:53 PM CST This year marked CASI’s 40th annual St. Patrick’s Day 5K, and if you were out there running this morning you know it was a cold race. That might just be an understatement… Low temperatures this morning dropped all the way to 9º! To add insult to injury, winds dropped feel like temperatures down to -10º. Fortunately, by the time the race started it had warmed to a balmy 15º with a wind chill value around -1º.
Snow Totals: March 10th-11th
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Mar 11, 2022 / 05:42 PM CST Updated: Mar 11, 2022 / 05:44 PM CST As we try to move further into the spring season, winter just does not want to leave quite yet. Another round of snow moved through the QCA Thursday night through Friday morning. Here’s a look at snow totals from around the QCA.
How does the 2021/2022 winter season compare to past winters?
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Mar 10, 2022 / 06:35 PM CST Updated: Mar 10, 2022 / 06:35 PM CST Throughout this winter season, we’ve talked about the overall lack of snowfall here in the Quad Cities, so far picking up only 17.5 inches this season. This will lead to possible drought issues down the road as we head into the planting season. Snowfall is just one of many factors that play into how we view our winters at a human level.
March 5th tornado count update
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Mar 9, 2022 / 06:06 PM CST Updated: Mar 9, 2022 / 06:06 PM CST This week the National Weather Service in the Quad Cities has been busy conducting damage surveys from the storms that occurred this past weekend. As early as Sunday there were initially 3 tornadoes confirmed in the NWS Quad Cities coverage area. Recently a new assessment confirmed a 4th tornado touching down in the QCA.
From severe storms to winter weather in just 24 hours
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Mar 6, 2022 / 06:47 PM CST Updated: Mar 6, 2022 / 06:47 PM CST After yesterday’s weather moved through the state of Iowa, two tornadoes were confirmed south of Des Moines. One in Lucas County rated at an EF-2, the other in Whiteside rated at an EF-3. By the time the line of storms got to the Quad Cities we had a handful of tornado warnings. It wasn’t until today that preliminary damage assessments confirmed 2 tornadoes briefly touching down in the Quad Cities Metro Area.
NWS Storm Spotters Needed!
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Mar 4, 2022 / 11:17 AM CST Updated: Mar 4, 2022 / 11:21 AM CST Do you have an interest in weather or severe weather? Would you like to be apart of the most important aspect of keeping the public safe during severe weather? Or, would like to learn more about the crazy world of weather around you?
Strong storms possible for Saturday
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Mar 4, 2022 / 10:14 AM CST Updated: Mar 4, 2022 / 10:14 AM CST Just in time with Illinois Severe Weather Awareness Week we are looking at the first severe weather risk of the season! If you’d like to read more about the National Weather Service’s Severe Weather Awareness Week follow this link here! Temperatures felt quite nice earlier this week before Thursday’s cool down.
Snow Totals from Feb. 24th
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Feb 25, 2022 / 01:42 PM CST Updated: Feb 25, 2022 / 01:42 PM CST Here’s a look at some of the reported snow totals around the Quad Cities Area.
Nice warm up before more winter weather
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Feb 19, 2022 / 09:31 PM CST Updated: Feb 19, 2022 / 09:31 PM CST High temperatures to kick off the weekend really wasn’t that nice. Sure we had a fair amount of sunshine but that doesn’t change the fact that temps didn’t get close to being above freezing.
Snow totals around the QCA
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Feb 17, 2022 / 10:40 PM CST Updated: Feb 17, 2022 / 10:40 PM CST With the remainder of the snow completely exiting Illinois, tonight will be much quieter and colder. Here is a look at some of the totals that were picked up south of the Quad Cities Metro Area.
Record tying highs quickly fall to near freezing
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Feb 16, 2022 / 11:26 PM CST Updated: Feb 16, 2022 / 11:26 PM CST Temperatures this afternoon tied the record high temperature for February 15th at 60º, originally set back in 1921! Certainly felt nice today up until the rain and cold settled in. For now temperatures aren’t anywhere near what they were just 24 hours ago… and unfortunately temperatures will only continue to fall until Friday morning.
Roses are red, violets are blue, even sometimes apples work too!
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Feb 14, 2022 / 11:04 PM CST Updated: Feb 14, 2022 / 11:04 PM CST For those of you who saw today’s weather trivia question, or if you didn’t catch it today this is what was asked. True or False, Roses and apples are related through the same plant classification family. That statement is in fact true! So here’s why. The way scientists classify plants is a fairly large but fairly straightforward hierarchy. Here’s what that looks like from most general to very specific.
Midweek storm, what we know so far
by: Garrett Heyd Posted: Feb 13, 2022 / 10:21 PM CST Updated: Feb 13, 2022 / 10:21 PM CST Over the past week our team has been closely monitoring this week’s potential winter storm. For those who aren’t looking forward to more snow there is some good news with our more recent model updates. So, for the time being we’re still a few days out and there are still some major factors that will dramatically change the outcome of this weeks snow chances.
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