Oskaloosa Enjoys Mild Weather
This is not a summer reading. Actually, it was taken on December 3, 2012 at 2:46 pm in downtown Oskaloosa.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – Oskaloosa reached 70 degrees on Monday, a temperature normally associated with early fall.
Dressed in short sleeve shirts, people could be found walking their dogs or cleaning up yards or catching a round of golf at Edmundson Golf Course.
“It’s been pretty good,” says Edmundson Golf Course PGA Professional Matt Sherlock, as he tends to the pro shop at Edmundson Golf Course.
“I had to put more gas in my carts than I normally have to do in December,” Sherlock remarks. Filling up the tank on the carts is something Sherlock would continue to do all winter if the weather allowed.
“The golfers love it,” says Sherlock who said that most of the business at this point is from members, “but we do get some green fee play.”
The added business because of the weather goes beyond the green fees. Sherlock said that some golf courses have a set close date no matter what mother nature may provide. Those golfers, anxious to take advantage of the weather, will travel to other courses where they can continue to hone their game. That in turn helps bring more business to Oskaloosa in the form of meals, fuel and shopping.
Purple Heart winner Tyler Sirovy was enjoying the weather to some extent, but he’s also anxious for some snow.
While he was deployed to Afghanistan the snow wasn’t common where he was at. After he was injured in the IED attack, he spent last winter recovering in Texas. Now, home and recovering, he’s looking forward to the snow. “All I want to do is go pheasant hunting and coyote hunting,” Sirovy said.
He’s not going to get his wish for snow in the near future as the forecast, from the National Weather Service in Des Moines, shows high temps mostly in the mid to high 40’s until Saturday. The temps then drop some, but there is no sign of snow.
The mercury found its way pushing the 70 degree mark here in southeast Iowa, with the National Weather Service posting a high of 71 degrees at the Ottumwa Airport, and Knoxville measured 70 degrees at 1:53 pm.
This warm weather tied the record for the warmest day in December for Ottumwa at 71 degrees, which was set back on December 4, 1998. It broke the daily record of 64 degrees, also set on this day in 1998.
This might be warm, but the NWS says that the hottest day in December belongs to Thurman, Iowa. On December 6th, 1939, it reached 74 degrees.
