Iowa Weather Report January 19th 2014 – Iowa Weather Network Archives

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THE ARCTIC CHILL: Today will be sunny across the state with readings that are well above seasonal levels for this time of year. Highs will range from the middle 30s northeast to the lower and middle 50s in southwest Iowa. A new surge of arctic air will come into the state later tonight into Monday. This will bring with it some light snow and flurry activity that may bring a dusting up to a half inch in some areas, mainly over the northern and northeastern counties of the state. Highs on Monday are likely to be set during the morning hours and then fall quickly during the afternoon into the evening. By Tuesday morning, the northern half of the state will be below zero while the southern counties will be in the single digits above zero as skies begin to slowly clear from northwest to southeast. This cold air will last through the rest of the week with several reinforcing shots coming during the week. One on Wednesday could bring some more flurries around followed by a large arctic high pressure that will settle into the state on Thursday morning. Current thinking is the entire state except perhaps the far southwestern counties will be sub-zero with highs that day only making it back into the single digits above zero, perhaps the lower teens in the southwest.

NEXT WEEKEND INTO NEXT MONTH: Another plunge of cold air comes down late Friday night into Saturday with some accumulating snow possible at that time. Readings on Friday will be much warmer than on Thursday with readings back into at least the teens in the north and east to near 30 in the south and west before readings fall back once again. Looking into the extended period through the end of the month and into February, the GFS once again is showing warmer weather for the last few days of the month, something that showed up yesterday after many days of showing well below average temperatures. It shows the trough over the eastern half of the country and the ridge over the western half breaking down into a more zonal west to east flow across the country with seasonal to slightly above seasonal readings for the last few days of the month. A system is still on track around the 30th and 31st that could bring some substantial precipitation to the area. It’s way too early to determine amounts this far out but we’ll continue to watch it. Another storm around the 3rd of February will be monitored as well.