Wayne Byers Show – Evening – Oct 11

CSi Weather…

UPDATED  SUNDAY…

.SUNDAY…Cloudy. A 30 percent chance of snow in the morning.

Highs in the lower 30s. Northwest winds 5 to 15 mph with gusts to

around 30 mph.

.TONIGHT…Decreasing clouds. Lows in the lower 20s. West winds

around 5 mph.

.COLUMBUS DAY…Mostly cloudy. Highs in the lower 30s. South

winds around 5 mph.

 

 

Update…

The official Jamestown Snow Storm Total was 17 inches.

Friday’s official precipitation total was 9-hundretgs of an inch.

Previously

As of 4-p.m., Friday the Jamestown Weather Station had recorded 14 inches of  storm snowfall.  Precipitation on Thursday officially was 1-hundreths of an inch, at 4-p.m., Friday 9-hundreths of an inch.  Friday’s official peak wind gust was 61 MPH.

Valley City  (CSi)  While crews continue to keep Valley City Emergency Routes open, snow removal crews will begin with clearing the downtown business district after midnight on Saturday October 12.

Valley City Public Works Director Jeff Differding says after downtown is cleared

crews will then begin clearing residential areas, which may take until this Sunday.

MINOT, N.D. (AP) — Hundreds of miles of major highways in North Dakota have been closed due to what forecasters are calling a crippling fall snowstorm.

Transportation officials shut portions of Interstates 29 and 94 and U.S. Highway 2 on Friday due to severe winter conditions and poor visibility.

The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for northern North Dakota and winter storm warnings and watches elsewhere in the state and into parts of South Dakota and Minnesota through Saturday afternoon. One to 2 feet (0.3 to 0.6 meters) of snow was expected to accumulate with winds gusting up to 65 mph (105 kph).

Dozens of schools in the Dakotas were closed Friday because of deteriorating travel conditions. That follows school closures and travel headaches Thursday in the Great Plains.

Bismarck  (OCT. 11, 2019)  Governor Doug Burgum informs residents that, the North Dakotas State Emergency Operations Plan has been activated and state agencies are closely monitoring this winter storm in case local response capabilities become overwhelmed.

The extraordinary intensity of this early winter storm threatens to test the limits
of local response capabilities across a large portion of our state, Burgum said.
Were committed to a whole-of-government approach to protect human life and
property and ensure our citizens have the resources necessary to respond and recover
from this crippling event.

The North Dakota Department of Emergency Services (DES) is closely monitoring
conditions to support local and tribal officials during this storm. Response
resources, including those of the North Dakota National Guard, are pre-positioned
across the state, and required personnel are on notice, if needed, to aid the
citizens of North Dakota.

State agencies also have been in close contact with one another and with local
emergency managers to anticipate equipment and personnel needs should the storm
exceed local response capabilities. As of now, no local or tribal emergency
declarations have been issued.

Agencies that have collaborated on these efforts this week include the North Dakota
Department of Transportation, Highway Patrol, National Guard, Department of
Agriculture, Department of Human Services, Department of Health, Civil Air Patrol,
State Radio, State Water Commission, National Weather Service, Rural Electric
Cooperative Association and voluntary agencies, including the Red Cross.

As the storm works across the state over the weekend, DES will continue to monitor
conditions.

In the wake of this storm, we need to keep our agricultural community in mind.
After an unusually wet late summer and early fall, this current weather pattern will
only exacerbate some of the challenges farmers and ranchers are facing. The state is
exploring all possible means to assist the agricultural community, said Burgum, who
issued a joint release<https://www.governor.nd.gov/news/options-producers-sought-wet-weather-continues> Thursday with state Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring about the state’s efforts.

North Dakotans are encouraged to keep their neighbors in mind during these stressful
times. There are many resources available for those who may be struggling and need
someone to visit with, including local health care providers and mental health
professionals, local counselors, social workers or clergy members. The National
Suicide Prevention Hotline also is available at 800-273-TALK.

Areas of North Dakota may face heightened flood risk next spring if this abnormally
high precipitation lingers over the winter. Those who think they may benefit from it
are encouraged to consider purchasing flood insurance. Information is available
through the North Dakota Insurance Department website at
www.nd.gov/ndins/flood<http://www.nd.gov/ndins/flood>.

Omaha  (USACE)  — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers increased the releases from Pipestem Dam Friday to 800 cubic feet per second after evaluating channel conditions through the city of Jamestown..

Additional precipitation continues to increase reservoir runoff forecasts.  The Corps is planning to step up releases from Jamestown Dam from 600 cfs to a total of 1,000 cfs by Monday.  Jamestown is making the necessary preparations for this increase and downstream channel capacity will continue to be closely monitored.

Pipestem Reservoir is currently at pool elevation 1460.6 feet, about 18 feet above the base of the flood control zone, and rising.  The inflow is near 900 cfs.  Jamestown Reservoir is currently at pool elevation 1434.1 feet, about 3 feet above the base of the flood control zone, and rising.  The inflow is near 1,500 cfs.

Basin conditions will be continuously evaluated and adjustments to the releases will be made as needed.  High river flows continue downstream of Jamestown into South Dakota on the James River, and conditions on the entire James River basin are considered in determining project releases.  The target date for evacuation of flood control storage from Pipestem and Jamestown reservoirs is November 1.

The Corps of Engineers is coordinating with the Bureau of Reclamation and the City of Jamestown.  Combined releases could increase if basin conditions warrant.

Jamestown  (Valley News Live) — Jamestown Police and the Jamestown Fire Department are extinguishing a car fire amid blizzard conditions.

Police Lt. Sid Mann reports that a vehicle fire at Thomas Avenue and 10th Street NE is causing more blocked roads.

“And first responders [are responding] in already treacherous conditions,” Lt. Mann reports. “Please respect the no travel advisory.”

Police and Stutsman County Sheriff’s Office have both issued a no travel advisory that is currently still in place. Do not travel if you don’t need to.

More details on the car fire will be released when they become available

ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) — Authorities are searching for a missing plane and its pilot between South Dakota and North Dakota.

The blue and white single-engine Cessna went missing Thursday between Aberdeen, South Dakota, and Oakes, North Dakota. The plane never arrived at its destination in Oakes.

Brown County Emergency Management Director Scott Meints tells the Aberdeen News that blizzard-like conditions have hampered an aerial search, but ground crews continue to search.

Meints says ground searches continued until dark Thursday and resumed Friday.

Valley City  (CSi)  Due to the snowstorm the Monthly Bluegrass Valley City Jam Session for Saturday, October 12 is CANCELLED.

In world and national news…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairmen of three Democratic committees say they subpoenaed Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, before she began closed-door testimony Friday.

House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel and House Oversight and Reform Chairman Elijah Cummings said in a statement that they learned late Thursday that the State Department had directed Yovanovitch not to testify. They then issued a subpoena to compel her testimony Friday morning.

In prepared remarks obtained by The Associated Press, Yovanovitch said that she was told President Donald Trump had pushed to oust her from the position. She left the post in May.

The chairmen said efforts by the Trump administration “will be deemed obstruction” in their impeachment inquiry.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is suspending a tariff hike on $250 billion in Chinese imports that was set to take effect Tuesday, and China agreed to buy $40 billion to $50 billion in U.S. farm products as the world’s two biggest economies reached a cease-fire in their 15-month trade war.

The two countries are leaving the thornier issues — including U.S. allegations that China forces foreign countries to hand over trade secrets in return for access to the Chinese market — until later negotiations.

The tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese imports was set to rise Tuesday from 25% to 30%.

 

BEIRUT (AP) — A U.S. official and a Syria war monitor say there has been an explosion near an outpost where U.S. troops are located in northern Syria amid intense shelling during the Turkish offensive in the area.

The official said a projectile landed near the outpost but it wasn’t clear who fired it and that no American troops were hurt. The explosion marked the first time a coalition base has come in the line of fire since Turkey launched its offensive into Syria on Wednesday.

Syrian Observatory Director Rami Abdurrahman said there was intense Turkish shelling of the Kurdish-held town of Kobani Friday. He said projectiles landed near the coalition base on a hill at the edge of town.

The Kurdish news agency Hawar reported that it was an artillery shell. Both the Observatory and Hawar said U.S. warplanes flew over the base immediately after the incident.

U.S. President Donald Trump pulled troops back from the border this week, saying he wanted American forces out of harm’s way.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is calling Turkey’s military incursion into Syria a threat to progress in combating the Islamic State group and a potential threat to American troops there.

In a written statement Friday, the chief Pentagon spokesman, Jonathan Hoffman, said that in a phone call Thursday with his Turkish counterpart, Defense Secretary Mark Esper “made it clear” that the U.S. opposes the incursion.

The Pentagon had said before the assault was launched that it did not endorse it.

Hoffman said Esper told his counterpart that the military actions “place at risk” the progress made to defeat the extremists, and Esper urged Turkey to stop its incursion.

Esper also said the incursion “risks serious consequences” for Turkey, and he expressed his concern that it could harm U.S. personnel in Syria.

 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — People who fled the wind-driven wildfire burning in Los Angeles describe getting out of the area as it spread rapidly.

Melissa Moffett was pet-sitting for friends in the Grenada Hills area Thursday night when she went outside before going to bed and saw fire coming down a hill.

Moffett says she quickly loaded three dogs and four cats into a car.

One cat slipped its leash and ran off, but she and the other animals reached an evacuation center an hour later.

Jonathan Stahl was driving home when he saw a plume of smoke and went to a mobile home park in Sylmar to evacuate his 91-year-old grandmother, Beverly Stahl.

She, her daughter and nephew quickly collected clothes, medication and their two dogs and left with Jonathan Stahl, ending up at an evacuation center at 2 a.m. Friday.

Beverly Stahl says, “We’re all alive, nobody’s hurt.”