[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GLRpiTH4mg?hl=en&fs=1&w=425&h=349]

WARM AND QUIET: Warmer weather continues into the weekend, even with a slight cool down in temps. Readings today will be in the 40s to near 50°. Some locations may get above 50. A cold front will move through later today with no precipitation along it. It will drop readings down into the 30s to lower 40s for Saturday and Sunday, still slightly above average for this time of year.

PRECIP ON THE WAY: Another storm moves through the state with some rain and wintry mix Monday night into Tuesday. Right now amounts look to remain under a half inch of melted precipitation. Most of the precip will fall in the form of rain and the heaviest amounts look to be over the western half of the state.

THAT STORM: The storm we’ve been discussing for days now is still on board. This run has slowed it down considerably. So much so that it will be a two day event on the 26th and 27th if this pans out. The low is now much closer to the state thus there is a chance that the precipitation over the southeastern sections could begin as rain if not some isolated thunderstorms. The northern and western counties would see some moderate to heavy snow with near blizzard conditions possible. Again, this is still 9-10 days out and things could still change, however this storm has been on the model for several days to nearly a week. By the weekend we’ll be able to get a better idea on the track and strength of this storm.

BIG CHANGES: Note, The Iowa Weather Blog is making some big changes on March 1st. Stay tuned!