Iowa Weather Report January 19th 2015: Where Has Winter Gone?

NOTHING BIG: The week ahead looks rather dull weather wise across the state with no real big systems moving through the area. That doesn’t mean that it will be dry. A disturbance on Tuesday which may last into Wednesday as well may bring some light precipitation to the area. Some of it may be in the form of rain or snow. As for the weather today, it will be partly to mostly sunny today with readings well into the 40s across the state with some areas in the southern counties seeing some lower and middle 50s. This will likely be the warmest day of the week as the rest of the week will see readings drop back into at least the 30s for highs which is still a bit above the typical temperatures we see in the middle of January.

INTO THE WEEKEND: The pattern becomes a bit more active as we head into the weekend, especially on Sunday as a system drops in from the northwest. This may bring some light snow to the state at that time which would replenish much of the snow pack that has melted in the last few days. It’s too early to tell how much may come with this system but some light accumulations look possible. This system may linger into next Monday as well. Readings at this point look to be in the 20s and 30s across the state for highs at that point with the coldest readings across the northeastern counties.

EXTENDED PERIOD: Looking at the extended period, the northwesterly flow looks to continue as we head into the middle of next week with another clipper that may graze the state next Wednesday (28th). Most of the precipitation at this time looks to stay to the north and northeast of the state but wouldn’t be surprised if there could be some in the northeastern quarter of the state. Temperatures look to warm ahead of this system, however behind it is much colder air that will likely drop readings back into the teens and 20s for highs for most of the state. The southwestern counties may not be as cold as the GFS is showing most of the cold air will be aimed at the Great Lakes. We’ll see if later runs moves the cold arctic-like air farther to the west. Another disturbance comes down the northwesterly flow next Saturday (31st) with some light snow. The flow out of the northwest looks to continue into the first couple days of February as well. It looks like Iowa will be in the battle lines between the cold air to the northeast and the warmer air to the southwest. One slight shift could significantly change the outlook across the state one way or the other. Stay tuned.