By Matt Kelley (Radio Iowa)

Wide sections of Iowa were hit with a whopper winter storm this week that dumped up to ten inches of snow, thanks in part to the La Nina weather pattern that’s impacting the climate across the continent. Meteorologist Dennis Todey, director of the USDA’s Midwest Climate Hub in Ames, says we’ve been in La Nina for three straight years now.

“That’s not completely unheard of but a little bit rare,” Todey says. “The last couple of years, there has been this idea that it looks like we may get out of it. Well, this time it really does look like we’re probably going to get out of La Nina and start moving towards El Nino, and that usually is a relatively slow process.” The La Nina forms when there’s a cooling of Pacific Ocean surface temperatures.

Todey says it appears those temps are warming and the La Nina may vanish.

“It does look like we are starting to weaken relatively quickly, which is not a surprise, but the idea that we could shift very quickly and be in El Nino even by next winter would be fairly quick,” Todey says. “Some of the projections now have us that we could be in El Nino territory by the end of the growing season.” An El Nino occurs when sea surface temperatures rise above normal. Todey says seeing signs of an El Nino appearing that quickly would be unusual.

“We do have to look at this with a jaundiced eye and looking at some of these outlooks from that far out and being able to say, yes, we’re going to be there by the end of the growing season — we can’t say that with certainty,” Todey says. “Certainly, I think we could consider that we could be in El Nino territory by the fall and maybe even at the end of the growing season.” He notes, there are concerns an El Nino could add more heat to an already warming climate, which would be foul news for Iowa, most of which remains in very dry or drought conditions.

By Dar Danielson (Radio Iowa)

A spokesperson for the TSA says the number of guns found at Iowa airport security checkpoints was up in 2022.

TSA spokesperson, Jessica Mayle says 22 guns were found in Iowa, compared to 14 in 2021. “Not what we see in many other parts of the country– but, you know, it’s incredibly dangerous, we just want to remind people that you should never bring a gun through the checkpoint, it’s never going to make its way onto the aircraft in the cabin,” she says “And if you do need to travel with a firearm, there is a way to do it safely.”

Fifteen guns were found at the Des Moines Airport, up six from the previous year. Six guns were found in Cedar Rapids, one in Waterloo, which was an increase of one gun for each airport. The nationwide number of guns found was a record for the second year in a row.

“Overwhelmingly, when we find a guy and on the X-ray, and we say ‘whose the bag is this’ and we identify the passenger, they say, ‘Oh, my gosh, I totally forgot I had that I did not mean to do that, I did not mean to bring that bag or that item in that bag’, Mayle says. “And we always say responsible firearm owners always know where their firearms are.”

Mayle says having a gun in the airport is dangerous, and when one is found it can back things up. “The entire screening process stops, we don’t even take the gun out of the X-ray machine. Everything stops until the police arrive. They’re the ones who come and take the gun out and handle it,” she says. “So don’t just think about yourself and slowing yourself down and having a big fine on yourself. But everyone in line behind you is going to have their day disturbed as well. So just don’t do it.”

Mayle says each city handles the process a little differently when a gun is found — but you can be sure you will hear later from the TSA. “You are going to get a fine in the mail. It doesn’t happen that day when you’re at the airport. You get a ticket in the mail, and then you have the option to contest it later. But it can be in the hundreds or even thousands of dollars. So it’s not a cheap mistake by any means,” she says.

Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are unloaded, packed separately from ammunition in a locked hardback case, and declared at the airline check-in counter. Mayle says they advise you to start packing with an empty bag to avoid any mistakes.

“If you start with an empty bag, you’re much less likely to put one of those items you shouldn’t have in, and you just you’re a lot more conscious of your decisions,” Mayle says. “And I think all of these people who we caught with firearms probably really wish they had just started with an empty bag that day because they never would have put it in.”

The Atlanta airport had the most guns found in 2022 at 448, followed by Dallas/Fort Worth at 385 and Houston at 298.