Iowa Weather Report March 4th 2015: Spring Around the Corner

QUICK COLD SNAP: The next two days will be cold once again across the state with readings in the teens and 20s for highs. Lows will be down below zero Thursday morning for most of the state except the far southern and western counties where single digits to near 10 will be likely. Friday morning will be a bit warmer with single digits and teens for most of the state. There will be plenty of sunshine around with a few high clouds from time to time.

SPRING ARRIVES: Readings will finally get to seasonal averages as we head into the weekend and even rise further as we head into early next week. Highs in the 40s and 50s will be likely by the end of the weekend into early next week for most of the state. This will lead to plenty of snow melt across the state. The GFS has a weak disturbance that may graze the far northeastern counties of the state on Saturday with some light snow but it doesn’t look to be a big issue at this time, otherwise partly to mostly sunny skies will be common for most of the period into early next week. Watch out for some fog in the morning hours with all the snow melting. Reminder that this Sunday we turn our clocks ahead one hour at 2am to begin Daylight Saving Time.

HEADING INTO MID-MARCH: Looking into the extended period with the GFS, it is showing that the warm temperatures look to cool off as we head into the middle of the month, perhaps back below seasonal levels but nothing like what we’ve been seeing the last month. A few systems around the 12th and 16th could bring us some rain and or snow to the area but it’s too early to determine amounts at this point, however we’ll continue watching for any trends in the coming days.