Iowa Weather Report April 7th 2015: Rain and Storms

AN ACTIVE PERIOD AHEAD: Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms will be possible through at least Thursday night across the state. Some of the storms could become strong to severe. This would be especially the case in our far southern counties Wednesday night and in the eastern half of the state Thursday afternoon. The timing is still a bit up in the air at this point with regards to the possible severe weather events, but any of the storms could produce all modes of severe weather with large hail, damaging winds and perhaps a tornado or two. We’ll have a better handle on this in the next 24 hours. Meanwhile readings today and tomorrow will be in the upper 40s north to the lower 60s south with cloudy skies outside the rain chances. Thursday with warmer air around, we should see readings boost into the 70s in the eastern counties with 50s and 60s elsewhere. Rainfall amounts of 1-2” are certainly possible through late Thursday night across the state, however given the lack of rain we’ve seen over the last few weeks, flooding is not a big concern at this time. Friday should start with some lingering showers in the eastern counties of the state with some slow clearing from west to east. Temperatures on Friday will be noticeably cooler with upper 40s to near 60 across the state at that time.

THE WEEKEND: Partly to Mostly sunny skies look to return on Saturday as the winds also turn back around to the south. This will bring temperatures well into the 60s and perhaps even a few lower 70s in the southern counties of the state. Clouds will be on the increase late in the day as the next storm system will move in late Saturday night and looks to last through Monday. This will bring another chance of some showers and thunderstorms. It’s too early to determine any potential severe weather risk but we’ll keep watching in the next couple of days.

INTO THE FUTURE: As we look into the extended period, another system will approach the state around the 16th and 17th with showers and thunderstorms possible. Temperatures will be warm ahead of the system with a brief cool down behind it. A few more systems are seen moving through the area through the end of the period. Temperatures are expected to be fairly close to seasonal levels as an average. We’ll watch to see if this changes in the coming model runs.