are in the 30s. the planner shows cloudy skies, drizzle, and fog tonight. temperatures will be in the lower 30s. we'll still have some fog at 10 am with a temperature of 32. ll be back with more chances for rain and snow in the 7-day forecast. it's time for local news that matters! "i've never seen anything like this in december " siouxland sees record december rain... our meteorologists take a look at the cause. "we can solve this "i've never seen anything like this in december " siouxland record december rain... our meteorologists take a look at the cause. "we can solve this whole problem."

solution she's seen around d r community and, iowa's governor sets a record for his time leading the state. " " jenna: good evening and thank you for joining us tonight im jenna rehnstrom tim has the night off... we're usually prepared for the snow to pile up around this time of year. but instead if the fluffy white stuff... siouxland is saturated with rain. meteorologist elisa raffa met with some local farmers and ins us now from outside to tell us more. jenna: elisa how's it going out there?? elisa: jenna it's colder now but it's been fairly warm for december... that helped our last system come down as mostly rain instead of snow. and that rain was a soaking one.....ields looking g ke rivers leaving farmers are scratchingheir heads.

it's a farm near hornick, iowa. this weekend's rain has really soaked some areas, especially those prone to flooding like the west fork rivers. sioux city has recieved over one and a half inches of rain so far this month, which is double the nthly average r december of eight tenths of an inch. on monday, sioux city broke it's daily precipitation record with a month's worth in one day... eight tenths of an inch, smashing the old record of six tenths from 1891! local farmers say their fields are pretty soggy. "down here in onawa where i farm some heavy ground, it's wet. it's saturated.... we've had over 5-6 inches in december. i much rain in croker, a farmerern crokok says he's never dealt with flooded fields in luckily for him he has harvested already. he says haven't harvested will probably the spring. going to have to wait until it freezes very harand try to get going when it's really cold. if there is water there, it's not going to freeze underneath there so they'll have trouble going through that... so they might have to wait until spring" says brian croker, a monona county farmer. so w wt's going on? ? y the rain thisisonth? it's actually the same

eastern seaboard has been experiencing record warmth. the answer: the jet stream. our usually sits farther south in the winter, allowing cold air to make its way to the midwest and week or so the or buldge that sits far north allowing warm air in from the south. that meant mostly rain instead of system. in the jet stream coco air in from coming for next temperatures elisa that warm air also broke over three dozen record highs on the eastern seabord as temperatures soared to the 70s. the warm december temperatures and stormy rain system are examples of what an el nino winter could really shape up to be. fred will have a bit colder look at

now in sioux city, meteorologist t elisa raffa.. abc9 news. . jenna: thank you elisa.. jenna: police in storm lake found two children they believe were being hidden by family. the children were supposed to be turned over to the state's care this mornini. according to officials, three year old ymani (ya-mon-ee) banks and one year old yamir (ya-meer) banks were suppose to be removed from their parents' home for evaluation of their well being. their father, 32 year old scott banks was held in contempt of court this morning for not turning them over to d-h-s custody. the children were found by storm lake police this afternoon and are now in their custody. jenna: tonight, in des s moines, , litical leaders and constituan honor iowa's terry branstad. longest serving governor in u-s history. amanda krenz from des moines takes a look at where it all started. fresh-faced branstad, in his mid

lead the state of iowa. this room inside of in foresescity, iowa is a place where the public can see a collection of memorabilia from branstad's first three terms. riley 30:31 it's been a know the roots he had. the love he had for the state of iowa and our country. governor branstad city, and grew up in was friends the governor who he calls by his first 33:24 terry always had trouble with charlie horses when it got cold he'd get pulled out of game with c crlie horses bubuhe'd get right riley is the president of the historical society. when he walks into the branstad room, out of all the memorbilia - he always takes note of the duffy cartoons. he says they're a sign of the times,and portray what the mood was among iowans and the government. this room has become a treasure to north central iowa, one they'd like to share with anyone who's inrested in learning more about the longest serving governor in u.s. history. 34:56 it's a place we want people to reflect and children to learn that even though we're a small town of 4200, the governor of the state of iowa came from here. riley says he's not only proud of this room and what it

he's proud of the man he calls his friend, governor branstad. 36:9 he could be sitting in an easy chair retired, but he decided iowa was where he wanted to put his efforts in, we all back him on that. jenna: work is already underway to get the old bryantelementary school site ready for a new school to be built. that was one of the things on the

school board the school board approved plans for the new of $3.1 million. bought eight the project and demolition has already started on some of them. the school board so approved system worth million dollars. board president forward with a project that will replace an antequated school building that does of students in the 21st century so this is a happy day for the district." construction on the new bryant will start this summer. it's set to open in the fall of 2019. some sioux c cy homeowners spoke out against rates at tonight's city council meeting. but, the council still approved the increase unanimously. starting january first, the cost for sioux city up 86 cents. the average household ys $15.50 for trash removal services. that will go up to about 16 dollars and 30 cents. council member

council member says, "basically i think what their concerns were is that we didn't have we did with the 2% increase and we did. we did our homework, we did our homework before it was in front of council in front of the people so we knew what we change starts in gill hauling says the increase will the increase w wl cover growing also at city council members contract with the operates sioux city's automated traffic cameras. at the recommendation of the city's legal department, council members agreed to add language to its contract with redflex that says either sididcould end their agreement with 90-days s tice. right nono the iowa dot is challenging the use of those red light and speed cameras, saying not all lead to safer roads. jenna: the u.s.-led military coalition is hitting isis "harder than ever." that's the word from president obama today after meeting with

jim sciutto has details ononhe meeting. ( two weeks after the deadliest terror attack on u-s soil president convened his entire national security staff at the the president's strong. (pres. obama) "as we squeeze its heart, we are hitting isil harder than ever." progress - isis losing territory in losing senior leaders to coalition air strikes and special forces raids. (pres. obama) the point is isil les cannot hide and our next message to them is simple -- you are next but like his speech from the oval office last sunday, mr. obama announced no new military steps, other than sending his defense secretary to the middle east to build up coalition military support. (pres. obama) we recognize that progress needs to keep coming faster. no one knows that more than the countless syrians and iraqis living everyday under isil's terror, as well as the families in san bernardino and paris and elsewhere who are grieving the loss of their loved ones. the pentagon visit - his first since july - comes as hard questions arise about missed signalsls before the sanbernardino shooting. authorities have discovered online discussions about jihad between the attackers syed faro and tashfeen malik before the two even began dating -- and before malik applied for a visa to the u-s. u-s authorities only began reviewing the social media activity of visa applicants in the past several months. secretary of state john kerry says the state department is giving the issue further attention. (john kerry,

media has placed a whole new burden and a whole new set of questions, but not impossible ones to resolve. and i think we need d look at this v vy, very carefully which is what we're doing. (nats)a three-day search of the lake near the shooters' home has turned up nothing. the crucial hard drive from their personal computer remains missing. jenna: u-s law enforcement officials said today that malik's social media postings advocating for jihad were done under a different name and on accounts with tight privacy settings. that means they might not have been found, even if u-s authorities had reviewed her social media when she applied for a visa. officials said today that malik's social media postings advocating for jihad were done under a different name and on accounts with tight privacy settings. that means they might not have been found, even if u-s authorities had reviewed her social media when she applied for a visa. jenna: christmas is right

in your future... for you health: keep moving. when we sit for long periods of time, blood clots blood clots most the legs. they can affect experts says two are more prone. joyce: "especially if you get older or you are prnant or genetic forming blood clots that really if you are on a long plane ride you should get up and move at least probably every hour and a half." doctors suggest of rest stops while you're on the road so you can get out and stretch. still to come... we'll take a look at one u-s-d student who's lookign to make a difference in the lives of some stray cats..thats up next (fred) light rain and light snow will be seen in our weather, along with cooler temperatures. see you after the break! " "

inside and warm up ... stray animals,however often don't have that luxery.

setting up sheltersor stray cats in vermillion. lukas voss tells us more. in: thank's jenna ... and it's as easy as spending five dollars. allaina howard has set up three small shelters for feral cats around vermillion. the city has had problems with colonies of cats spreading throughout ... and the shelter's could help. nats: interview start sot " it's very inexpensive ... everybody can make it.? yeah i probably took me seveminutes tops. vo: the construction? a simple cat shelter to provide warmth and safety for stray cats during the winter. u-s-d student allaina howard has made it her mission to help the so called "verm cats" of vermillion, south dakota. all through a simple picture. sot: "i was looking on pintrest just cat related things and i saw this cat shelter picture and i thought it was interesting, so i clicked on it and it had a link for alley cat allies it's a failed cat advocacy group." alley cat allies provides information for people who want to help, ininuding the inststctions on how to built a ahelter. there e a large amount of options and room f creativity. what howard hopes though is that her sheltering efforts lead to a larger engagement with vermillion's feral cat population and eventually a better solution. sot: "i hope that this leads to a trap neuter return program and i think it's a community problem and i think with a whole community effort. it's entirely possible and we can solve this

programs are common through out the u.s. stray cats get caught ... neutered and the properly vaccinated before releasing them back into their respective colony. experts agree ... that shelter is only part ofhe solution. " they may be the solution to giving these animals shelter but a good program is a trap- neuter-release program. they should all be fixed otherwise getting a cat colony start you are just going to be reproducing and that colony is going to turn into huge numbers of cats in a relatively short period of time." howard's shelter is right next to a domino's pizza and some seem to like that ... "there is always cats out here ... and ere is even a regular ... they call him domino." and while i haven't identified domino yet ... he is sure to cone back to his shelter. tag: and howard has been getting a lot of positive feedback from the community ... pointing her to certain hotspots and connecting her with likeminded organizations. she hopes that people will join her in creating more shelters. reporting in studio ... lukas voss ... abc9 news. (jenna) fred, how is the forecast looking? (fred) we have more chances for rain and snow. 2 line super: fred hexom

om (fred) the hd radar shows that our current patchy dirzzle is light enough to not regiester on radar, but rainvision shows that up to 3" of rain has fallen over the past 24 hours in southeastern parts of siouxland. let's take a moment to

midnight today in sioux city. other rain tots around siouxland were 1.90" in cherokee, 0.93" in concord, ne, 0.91" in richland, sd, 0.83" in norfolk, ne, 0.70" in vermillion, sd, and 0.14" in neligh, ne. the port neal welding company skycam hd in sioux city shows the scene from the ho chunk centre. 39 has been our high today and 36 the low. 36 is our current temperature with a relative humidity of 89 percent as a result of a dew point of 33. local temperatures are in the 30s. winds are from the nor at 5 to 10 miles per hour. wind chills are in the 20s and lower 30s for most of us. lower visibility is seen around some parts of siouxland, especially wayne and sioux falls. the midwest satellite/radar shows snow west of us. th's the next system that will slide through. we will get off easy. west and north of us, winter storm watches, warnings, and advisories have been posted, so be aware if you are headed that way. heavy snow of up to 6-10" may be seen in the warning areas which are yellow. the stormcast hd shows low pressure moving northeast from denver, co. we expect a light rain/snow mix tomorrow, espeically late in the day. light snow and breezy winds will be seen wednesday. the snow forecast shows 0.5" to 2.0" of snow in the northwestern half of siouxland, and less than 0.5" in the southeastern half. your forecast tonight is for a low of 32 with drizzle and fog. tomorrow's high will be 38 with a chance of light rain and snow. the 7-day shows a chanan of snow and breezy winds wednesday, then cooler weather for thursday and friday. we'll warm back to the 40s over the weekend. tomorrow's ask fred prize is 4 tickets to q102's birthday bash featuring echosmith and andy grammer! you can email your weather questions to fhexom@kcautv.c om! i'll answer the winning question tomorrow night on

(jenna) you bet. coming up in sports...akron westfield went across the border to battle elk point jefferson tonight. highlights from the hardwood up ahead. tim plus the abc9 top plays returns with action from e past two weeks. stay tuned to see what made the countdown up ahead.

best of the best from the 2015 football season. tonight, we're back to normal with five plays that are anything

as always, these are made by local athletes for local viewers. we'll kick things th siouxland community christian. and this is great on both ends...parker moss, th the swat down low and that leads to christian kyle out on the break check it out again, first--moss, all ball on the rejection and then the acrobatic finish from kyles to lay it up and under for the pair for s-c-c. play number four, takes us to the gridiron...morning side hosting southern oregon in the natnal semifinals. a well-executed fade in the red zone, is impossible to stop...and this is a well- executed fade. ryan kasdorf drops a dime and michael whitehead, makes the adjustment and gets not one, but two feet down in the corner of the endzone...that's a catch on sundays folks. more from this game later. back to the hardwood we go for play number three...last year's state championship team

was one of my favorite teams i've ever covered. this year, they might be just as fun. david wingett might have his mail delivered to the gym because this kid lives above the rim...but he's more than just a high- flyer...this makes every coach smile, keeps working hard on defense and gets rewarded with another steal and lay in. more from thqs game coming up. we head back to olsen stadium for play number two. this catch from jason vander kooi was among our football plays of the year and another week would challenge for the top spot because he could catch a cold in the middle of july. the former hinton ststdout gets two fingers and a thumb ononhe deep ball and that's all he needs to corral it with the left hand and roll on top of it for the big gain. but our top play takes us back to winnebago and not only is this play great because it was sent into us, i've also never seen

high school level. out on the break...bago, misses the layup, but it's ok because david wingett comes flying in and stuffs it home on the put back. and if this doesn't give other coaches in class c-2 nightmares, this will...wingett's a junior. david wingett, the top spot in the abc9 top plays of the week. chris: there wasn't a ton of high school basketball on the schedule tonight, but one of the pairings had state bragging rights on the line. elk point jefferson welcomed akron-westfield to town in a battle of rushmore state versus hawkeye state. we'll start with the 3-1 westerner girls taking on the fourth ranked huskies. second quarter.....josie heeren attacks the rack and gets it to fall.....ep-j up 25-11.... next akron- westfield possession....broo ke koele goes up and over a defender to get it donene.westerner ns down 12.... third arter now...bailey davis finds an opening and makes the husky defense pay......a-w hanging around.... but ep-j would run away with it....morgan flynn with an easy bucket in the paint.....they win

and on the boys end of the double- header...same two teams battling in elk point. early in this one....presston kollbaum goes baseline and hits the runner.....huski take the early lead..... a-w would respond quickly...wyatt heyl high off the glass......great touch! westerners tie it up.... later in the quarter.....austin allard spins off his defender and connects on the baseline jumper......... but the flood gates would open for ep-j.......alex grashoff.......two- man ga at its finest......huskies complete the sweep...77-43 the final. chris: