[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR4P8EnA4Ps&w=480&h=360]
NO WARMTH AROUND: It’s going to be hard pressed to find temperatures close to seasonal levels this week with a trough overhead and many days with chances of precipitation around. Today will see a front departing the state to the southeast but not quite leave the area entirely. Some rain showers are possible across far southeastern Iowa off and on while the rest of the state will see partly to mostly sunny skies but only with temperatures in the 40s to middle 50s across the state, at least 5-10 degrees below average. Clouds will be keeping a blanket over most of the state so temperatures won’t drop much below the upper 20s to middle 30s. The Chance of precipitation remains confined to the eastern and southern counties on Tuesday with readings about the same as today, 40s to mid 50s.
ANOTHER SYSTEM SOAKER: A low pressure center will develop in the four corners region Tuesday and begin to lift out Wednesday into the Plains. Ahead of it, warm southerly winds will feed the system with gulf moisture and thus rain showers are expected to break out across the state by the middle of the day. There could be a brief wintry mix in the far northeastern counties but all precip should be rain by mid-morning at the latest. Showers and thunderstorms will become more numerous Wednesday evening through Thursday morning as the low pressure center approaches our southeastern counties. It is not likely that any of the possible thunderstorms will be severe but there is a chance some of them could contain some hail or perhaps some graupel as well. As the low pressure center moves to our east, colder air will come in behind the system Thursday night and this may switch the rain over to a wintry mix or some snow in the eastern half of the state. It’s too early to determine amounts at this time but given the time of year and amount of rain we’ll have received and the ground temperatures, any snow is likely not to stick to much except cold exposed things (cars, signs, metal poles etc). It does remain cold with readings likely in the 40s to near 50 all week and perhaps only in the upper 30s to upper 40s Friday depending on the amount of cloudiness that remains after the system departs the state to the northeast. Warmer weather looks to return Sunday but along with it comes a chance of rain as well.
ENDING THE MONTH: Another system could drop some more rainfall around the 24th and 25th of the month although it doesn’t look to be too heavy at this time. Much warmer air looks to be the rule for the last few days of the months with some drier weather by that time, a good time for the farmers to head out to their fields to do some planting by that time.