Iowa Weather Report December 11th 2014: Walking in a Snowless Wonderland

TOO MANY CLOUDS: It is looking more and more like clouds will be the main feature in the weather through the weekend, however temperatures are still going to rise into the 40s and 50s by the weekend ahead of the next storm system. There will be times when the sun may peak out of the clouds, but this won’t be long lasting. Highs today will be in the 30s and 40s across the state with mostly cloudy skies for most. This pattern will continue Friday and Saturday as well with the temperatures rising as mentioned. If we can see more sunshine, we could see readings bump up a bit more, however it will be a good weekend to go outside and perhaps even get the grill out one last time before the true winter returns in earnest.

SOGGY: The next system will move into the state Sunday and Monday bringing with it a chance of some rain across the state. Some of the precipitation may mix with some snow especially in the northwestern counties of the state Monday afternoon as the colder air filters in from the northwest. Most of the day on Sunday will be dry although we can’t rule out an isolated shower in the western counties of the state as the storm approaches. The main event will come in Sunday night through the day on Monday. The amount of clouds and precipitation occurring will keep temperatures down into the 30s and 40s across the state. As the system moves off to the east on Tuesday, the precipitation will switchover to some light snow before ending. There could be a chance that most of the precipitation will be out of the area before the cold sets in, which would mean that little more than a few flurries would be possible at the end, but timing is still key and we should be able to pinpoint the timing down in the coming days. Most of the day Tuesday however will be much colder and mainly cloudy with only some slow clearing by late in the day out in the western counties. The rest of next week shows readings at or just below seasonal levels for mid-December.

YULETIDE: The extended period on this model run is showing mainly dry conditions across the area outside of a system that may skirt the state with some precipitation around the 20th. Outside of that, the temperatures remain near seasonal levels until Christmas Day when the GFS has an arctic front slamming into the area from the northwest, bringing much colder temperatures to the state. We saw this on the model yesterday and we’ll continue to watch it in the coming days. This warm weather we’re having now will not last much longer.