Storms

Firefighters battle blaze in midst of winter storm (02/16/10)
Snow began falling early and really picked up in the evening Saturday as firefighters from the Spencer and Royal volunteer fire departments battled a commercial fire at General Traffic Controls, south of Spencer along Highway 71 -- spending approximately six hours on site and using 15,000 gallons of water to get the blaze under control...

Wintery mix predicted for Spencer area (01/19/10)
Numerous rumors have been circulating about yet another dose of winter weather this week. Different models render different versions of the impending storm, KICD Weather Director Mark Bruggom said. The North American Mesoscale model shows freezing rain beginning in northwest Iowa Wednesday afternoon and continuing through Thursday at 6 p.m., which would result in about a quarter inch of ice accumulation...

The big dig: Season's first winter storm is a whopper (12/10/09)
Nine inches of snow, and it didn't want to stay in one place. That was the challenge faced Tuesday and Wednesday by the law enforcement officers and road crews in the aftermath of the season's first winter storm. A blizzard warning remained in place for much of the region Wednesday morning. By mid-afternoon, the warning area was being trimmed from west to east, with a wind chill advisory in its place...

WEATHER UPDATE: Blizzard warning issued; sheriff calls for no travel (12/08/09)
A winter storm warning was cancelled for the area and a blizzard warning was put in its place by the National Weather Service at about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. Clay County Sheriff Randy Krukow urged residents to stay home, saying deputies will only respond to "medical, life-or-death situations" as the sun goes down...

State promotes awareness as winter creeps in (11/14/09)
Rake while you can, because shovel season is on its way. The National Weather Service is getting ready for the next season, and used Thursday as "Winter Awareness Day" in Iowa. "This time of year we start looking at winter precipitation becoming an issue," said Ben Moyer, senior meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Des Moines. ...

Storm cited as factor in fatal crash (07/11/09)
The Clay County Sheriff's Department said Thursday's stormy weather may have contributed to a fatal, head-on collision one mile west of Ruthven near the Palo Alto County line. The crash claimed 77-year-old Opal Lucille Frerichs of Spencer. Deputies think she was traveling east in a 1991 Corsica. She drifted into the westbound lane and into the path of oncoming traffic along U.S. Highway 18 at 4:20 p.m. Frerichs was pronounced dead at the Palo Alto County Hospital in Emmetsburg...

Lightning science charged with danger, a few myths (06/27/09)
It's ringing phones, not thunder that John Jensenius hears this time of year. He's the lighting expert at the National Weather Service and helped launch Lightning Safety Awareness Week nine years ago. The 2009 campaign comes to a conclusion Saturday...

Tornado warning issued for Clay County (05/06/09)
Areas west and south of Spencer had a brief, but rocky, patch of severe weather Wednesday night. The National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, S.D. issued a severe thunderstorm warning for northwestern Clay County, southern Dickinson County and eastern Osceola County at 5:15 p.m. Meteorologists were concerned about quarter-size hail with the system. The cell was located near Ocheyedan when the warning was issued...

Severe Weather Awareness Week (04/08/09)
Todd Heitkamp knows northwest Iowans will venture out and look to the skies as a severe storm approaches. The warning coordination meteorologist and his colleagues at the National Weather Service office in Sioux Falls, S.D., count on it...

Blizzard conditions possible for Spencer area (04/04/09)
The good news: The National Weather Service canceled a winter storm watch for the region at 4 p.m. Friday. The bad news: They put a blizzard watch in its place. The watch will become a warning barring changes late Friday. A mix of rain and snow were expected to develop late Saturday morning, then become all snow by Saturday evening. Snowfall amounts of 12 to 15 inches were possible, according to projections for Spencer at 6:15 p.m. Friday...

City to consider West 18th storm shelter (03/14/09)
Fairgoers could have additional shelter and a safer route to the Clay County Fairgrounds under a proposal that will be considered by Spencer City Council members at their 6:30 p.m. meeting Monday night. Spencer City Manager Bob Fagen is requesting authorization to send a Notice of Intent (NOI) to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a proposed storm shelter on West 18th Street...

Storm shelter, culvert route possible for Fair (03/11/09)
Emergency management officials may have an unexpected option for shelter space at the Clay County Fair. Ted Kourousis, executive director of Northwest Iowa Planning and Development is working with Iowa Department of Homeland Security about the potential of creating shelter space, under West 18th Street, for the fairgrounds...

Streak of no snow may come to end (02/26/09)
Hopefully you took one last look at the dry streets and brown landscape Wednesday. Winter is expected to make a curtain call Thursday, but Spencer may have caught a break as forecasters shifted the heart of a winter storm north. Earlier Wednesday, Spencer was under a winter storm watch; snow totals of about 4 inches were expected...

Snow melt causes minor flood problems (02/12/09)
The warm temperatures that brought thunderstorms to the state earlier in the week left a reminder behind. The National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, S.D., issued a flood warning for the Little Sioux and Ocheyedan rivers near Spencer. The area saw unusually heavy snowfalls in December and unusually warm weather within the past week. It prompted the agency to issue flood warnings for:...

'Green Power Express' could come to area (02/11/09)
The Spencer, Storm Lake and Iowa Great Lakes areas could be in line to land a segment of a $10- to $12 billion network of wind energy transmission lines, according to officials at Michigan-based ITC Holdings Corp. The company on Monday announced plans to develop what it calls the "Green Power Express." The network of transmission lines would capture power from wind turbines in the Upper Midwest and carry them to load centers in places like Chicago, Minneapolis and southeast Wisconsin...

City completes EPA, billboard negotiations (01/20/09)
The city of Spencer cleared a major hurdle in negotiations to separate its storm water from the sewer system as part of Monday's Spencer City Council meeting. The vote to approve an Environmental Protection Agency administrative order to eliminate combined sewer overflows capped negotiations that began in late 2007...

Blizzard conditions add to tough winter (01/13/09)
Monday morning was a trick. The temperatures were mild, the wind was calm and residents were moving about the city scooping snow. But, meteorologists and school superintendents knew better. The calm conditions that spilled over into the noon hour disappeared quickly and matched the predictions of Greg Harmon, the Meteorologist-in-Charge at the National Weather Service office in Sioux Falls, S.D...

Let it snow… and snow… and snow… (12/19/08)
As of 5 p.m. Thursday, according to the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, S.D.: ---- Travel, especially to the north, will not be advised this weekend as northwest Iowa's on-again, off-again winter storm pattern continues...

Remembering, honoring those who served (11/13/08)
This West Point graduate was later killed when his convoy was hit by an explosive device east of Bagdad, Iraq. Five days after writing this letter, Private Robinson caught his foot on a trip wire, setting off a mine that killed him instantly. "Captain Pete Cleary and Captain Lenny Lenore had just finished going over the final details for the day's combat mission over southern North Vietnam. ...

Rainy night makes way for clear skies at fair (09/12/08)
As predicted, thunderstorms rolled through the area during the overnight hours between Wednesday's and Thursday's fair operating hours. About the time the gates opened, the rain slowed to a stop and, by mid-morning, the clouds were breaking and the sun was shining. ...

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