[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wIWKcRR51U&w=640&h=480]
CALM COOL WEEK: Sunshine will dominate the weather over the next week across the state. Temperatures will be in the 40s to lower 50s for highs with lows in the 20s to lower 30s.
SANDY: Hurricane Sandy is going to be the biggest weather story not only of this week, but of this year if not longer. The GFS which has fallen in line with many of the other global models as of late will bring Sandy northward and then swing it back to the west making landfall (as a tropical or post tropical system) over New Jersey or very close to New York City sometime on Tuesday (perhaps as early as late Monday night). This would create major problems across the northeast and Mid-Atlantic with coastal flooding, beach erosion etc. Iowa’s impact is slight (the weather we have now will stick around for several days due to the blocking pattern of Sandy and a Greenland high to the north of Labrador. More on Sandy will be forthcoming in future posts.
ELECTION DAY: The weather could be a bit wet across the state on Election day if the GFS is right. A frontal system may move in from the west that could kick off a few showers, perhaps some embedded thunder as well. This shouldn’t keep anyone from casting ballots as the election is a very important one no matter who you choose to vote for.
DROUGHT UPDATE: The drought in the state has improved ‘slightly’ over the last week or so. 92% of the state is now in severe or worse drought, down from over 95% last week. 2.5% still remains in exceptional drought (mainly in NW Iowa)